“Who hasn’t had their makeup done yet?” Emma’s friend Abby scanned the cabin living room—currently being used as wedding-prep central for the women—hungry for her next victim.
Mackenzie had been standing—okay, hiding—near the wall next to Emma’s bedroom. Leaning against it like the beams would crumble without her support. Praying she didn’t spill something on her rust-orange bridesmaid dress while snacking on the fruit and other appetizer items filling their small dining table. Laughing when it fitted. Smiling at the right parts. Generally trying to become one with the wall and avoid notice from The Primpers in the room.
Emma had two friends helping out with hair and makeup—Abby and Kim. They’d been working tirelessly, and Mackenzie had been avoiding them with just as much effort.
“Mackenzie!” Abby zeroed in on her.
Avoid eye contact! Avoid!
“I’ll go light on you. I promise.”
Mackenzie’s noggin shook like a bobblehead on a car dash. “I’m good, really. I don’t think anyone is expecting me to wear makeup, when I never do.”
Abby rounded the couch and curled a hand around her biceps, dragging her to the makeup-torture zone. “But that’s exactly why we should do it. At least a little. Just to highlight those gorgeous cheekbones. I’ve been dying to get my hands on you for years. You’re so naturally beautiful, you’ll hardly need a thing. Just a few touch-ups here and there. Trust me. This won’t hurt a bit.”
Abby gave Mackenzie a slight nudge to get her to drop to the couch cushions, then sat on the coffee table, facing her. She picked up a fat makeup brush and went to work like some kind of master painter.
What was wrong with her face the way it was? Mackenzie swallowed her protest. For Emma. I’m doing this for Emma. Not that Emma cared one iota what she looked like today. Her sister’s eyes would be on Gage and Hudson—with cartoon hearts spilling out, no doubt.
Abby worked quickly—Mackenzie would give her that. Lip gloss, eye shadow, mascara. The items came at her like bullets.
“Oh, I have the perfect idea for your hair!” Kim’s squeal came from behind the couch.
Mackenzie winced. She’d been hoping to at least avoid the hair station.
After Abby finished, Kim directed Mackenzie over to a dining room chair so that she had better access. Bobby pins scraped her scalp as the sound of women filled the room. Emma, being herself, had invited most of the women in the county to get ready with her.
Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration. But with the photographer, and Gage’s mom and sister in the cabin, along with their mom, Cate, the twins, Ruby and The Primpers, things were crowded.
Everly and Savannah didn’t mind though. They’d been passed around plenty and had slept through most of the commotion.
The girls had been home from the hospital for nine days, but Mackenzie had only held each of them for a few sporadic minutes in that time. They were tiny rock stars and had a following of groupies—both friends and family—vying for their attention. Mackenzie had stayed back regarding that, too, because she wasn’t the baby-whispering type. But those moments connecting with her new nieces had still definitely been good.
One day she’d take them out on rides like she did Ruby. Or they’d climb trees like she and Ruby had sneaked off to do this week, during the hubbub of the babies’ arrival. Usually Emma was the aunt who spent more time with Ruby, but she’d been busy with wedding prep lately, so Mackenzie had quietly stepped into that role. She’d made sure Ruby wasn’t forgotten, checking in on her, stealing her away when work allowed.
And Mackenzie had enjoyed every second. Turns out her niece liked to adventure as much as she did.
Another bobby pin tore off a chunk of her scalp. “Kim, I could probably do my own hair.” Since I’ve been managing it for the last twenty-five years. “I’m sure you have other people to help.” Please.
“I don’t actually. You’re the last one!”
Mackenzie resisted another argument. Instead she closed her eyes, straining to find some peace in the midst of the attack on her skull.
Hopefully Jace had been able to do the same after completing the guest turnover this afternoon. He’d been up late last night with another migraine and had been disgruntled about it this morning because it had been the first in a long while. Every time he thought he had them beat, another appeared out of nowhere to derail him. And the vertigo still plagued him at times, too.
Despite those setbacks, he’d begun physical therapy once his spleen and ribs had healed, and now that his cast was off, the arm was included, too. He was obviously preparing to go back.
But at the same time, he’d told her he wouldn’t do anything stupid. Which, in her mind, meant he’d heal fully before returning.
So what did that mean?
If his concussion hung around, would he retire? No one could fault him for that. He’d had a long, successful career. He could easily move on and do something else. Find a new passion. No one could ride bulls forever—their bodies would eventually give out.
Would he stay if he didn’t get better? And if he did...what did that mean for them?
Was there a “them”? Mackenzie wasn’t sure she was okay with that term popping into her brain. Though the man had certainly been sneaking into her thoughts and her world a lot lately. It was so easy to lapse back into old habits with him. To remember why she’d fallen for him the first time around.
Mackenzie still didn’t know why Jace had left the way he had. And she still both wanted and didn’t want to know. Though the first option was gaining momentum.
Oohs and aahs caused her to open her eyes.
Emma had come out of her bedroom in her wedding dress. The living room of ladies highly approved, based on the exclamations and tears.
Rightfully so.
Emma’s dress had delicate spaghetti straps and flowers along the bodice that dripped onto the long, flowing skirt. She was a woodland creature with her hair curled and loosely pulled back on the sides, sprays of flowers tucked into the do.
She was a vision. Striking and glowing and gorgeous.
Mackenzie might not love all of the changes happening around Wilder Ranch, but seeing Emma so happy made the growing pains worthwhile. She couldn’t imagine a better match for her sister. Gage’s world revolved around Emma, and she’d brought him back from the land of cranky and stoic after his ex-wife had done a number on him. The two of them were a perfect pair.
“Aunt Emma, does your dress twirl like mine?” Ruby was in a white flower-girl dress, and she spun in a circle, enthralled with the way the skirt flared.
“Let’s see.” Emma’s eyes twinkled as she joined in. The moment was sweet, and the photographer must have agreed, because her camera sounded repeatedly as she captured each frame.
Emma handled the attention that came with her wedding day like a fairy-tale princess, all calm and gracious. If Mackenzie were in her shoes, she’d need boots, first off, and then a large boulder to hide behind.
If the right match existed for her, Mackenzie hoped her someday wedding wouldn’t include all of this...fussing.
“All finished,” Kim announced.
“Thank you.” Mackenzie forced the appreciation through clenched teeth and then slunk off to the bathroom to investigate the damage.
“I don’t even look like myself.” She pressed over the sink, leaning close to the mirror. There she was...underneath all of the shiny, glimmery concoctions. With a tissue, she dabbed away some of the lip gloss, lightening it, then swabbed gently at the eye shadow—which, thankfully, was a soft color. Mackenzie didn’t want to mess anything up so much that she ended up back in the makeup hot seat, so she quit meddling. The slight adjustments helped. She used the small hand mirror to check her hair. It was actually cute—not that she would ever take the time to do it again. Waves were caught up at the nape of her neck, casual and stylish.
She set the mirror down and met her reflection again. “It’s a wedding. You’re supposed to be dolled up. And this is all for Emma.” The affirmation made her mouth quirk. Hopefully no one could hear her crazy talk through the door. Mackenzie squared her shoulders. She could manage to wear the makeup and leave the hair through the wedding and reception. And then after she’d reward herself with a T-shirt, sweats, pizza and a Western with lots of gunfights.
She exited the bathroom to find everyone getting ready to either walk or ride down the hill to the lodge.
“I can walk.” She volunteered to let some of the others hop in vehicles, since she was wearing cowboy boots with her dress—thank you, Emma, for that saving grace.
“I’ll go with you,” Mom said, also taking Ruby’s hand. “Come with us, kiddo, but let’s lift up your dress while we walk, so it doesn’t get dirty.”
The perfect summer-evening temperature drifted along Mackenzie’s skin as they strolled, and Ruby chattered excitedly about her “fruffy” dress and light-pink-painted fingernails. Scents of grass and dirt and ranch swirled, comforting. The wedding had been scheduled for after dinner because they’d needed time to set up and get ready, but that meant a cooler temperature and twinkle lights—Emma’s favorite. Both wins.
When Ruby spied Luc near the entrance to the lodge, she dropped the skirt of her dress and took off at a run.
“So much for keeping the hem clean.” Mom’s wry comment was spiked with humor, taking years off her already young-looking features. Her hair was a shade darker than Mackenzie’s—more of a light brown—but it held some of the same wave. If not for her mother’s autoimmune disease that flared in Colorado’s fluctuating climate, Mackenzie had no doubt that her parents would still be living here, running Wilder Ranch. “Reminds me of another little girl I once knew.”
“Except I would have thrown a fit about the dress.”
“True. I didn’t know how amazing grandbabies were. Didn’t realize what I was missing until Ruby and Hudson came along. And now we have the twins, too.”
And none from me. Not that Mackenzie was overly maternal. She wasn’t. And maybe that was why no one thought she had that ache inside her, too—for a husband, for kids, for a family of her own.
But she did. It was dull and distant, but there. And ever since Jace’s reappearance, that dull, distant ache had been making itself known with troublesome throbs and sharp, shooting pains.
Jace slipped into a seat for the ceremony at the last second. He and the other staff had handled the turnover today so that the Wilders could prepare for the wedding. A few small issues had sprung up throughout the day, leaving him running behind. But they’d figured things out and managed not to bother any of the Wilder clan.
Thirty minutes ago he’d hustled over to the guys’ lodging to get ready. He’d jumped in the shower and then thrown on his best jeans and a short-sleeved button-up shirt. His hair—too long and in need of a cut—was still slightly damp.
Emma had made it clear that the wedding was to be casual, and he’d taken advantage.
Music started, and Jace swiveled with the rest of the crowd, toward the back of the grass aisle. Sweet mercy. His windpipe closed off so fast, he barely managed not to hack and cough, and cause a scene.
There was most definitely nothing casual about Kenzie Rae.
She walked down the aisle with Luc, confident and relaxed, stunning times a million. The color-of-changing-leaves orange dress she wore accentuated slight curves, and her muscular legs tapered into cowboy boots. She turned at the front, a small batch of flowers in her hands, and watched for Emma.
Mackenzie had on makeup. The effect sent Jace bumping into the back of his chair. She was a knockout. And yet...he was partial to the girl underneath all of that sparkle and shine.
The one who rode faster than him and could probably beat him at most anything. The one who managed to siphon the oxygen from his body with just a glance.
Tuck away her jaw-dropping beauty, and Mackenzie was still a force to be reckoned with—strong and funny, vulnerable and loyal.
And Jace was the idiot who’d let her go. The same idiot who planned to repeat his actions all over again soon.
Not that Mackenzie was anywhere near his this time around.
Ruby came down the aisle next. She paused to wave at Jace, and he winked at her. She’d quickly wormed her way into his heart. There was something about Ruby and her bubbly personality that drew people in. Jace had only lasted a few days at Wilder Ranch before joining her fan club.
She took her time heading down the aisle, doling out precisely three flower petals to each row. When she finally reached the front, she high-fived Mackenzie. When the guests laughed at the gesture, Ruby took a bow.
Charmer.
Next came Emma on her dad’s arm.
He must have said something to Mackenzie after releasing Emma’s hand, because she looked like she was fighting amusement.
Mackenzie had always been a daddy’s girl. What had the man thought when Jace left town after high school? He was afraid to find out. Jace had always respected Wade Wilder. Always wished his own father had been even a quarter of the man.
Things progressed quickly once Pastor Higgin began the ceremony. When they repeated the vows, Gage choked up numerous times while promising to love Emma forever. And then again when she promised the same back to him, her voice clear and strong, her tender gaze glued to the man holding her hands in a grip so tight, it looked like it might hurt her.
Jace didn’t know Gage very well, but if ever there was a man in love, who desperately needed the person across from him and looked as if he’d been granted a second chance in life, it was him.
Mackenzie discreetly attempted to wipe under her lashes, but Jace caught the movement because he couldn’t keep his attention from wandering in her direction over and over again during the ceremony.
After Gage and Emma were declared husband and wife, they kissed, then scooped up one-year-old Hudson on their way back down the aisle.
An instant family, just like that.
But families like the Wilders didn’t grow on trees. Jace knew. He’d practically forced himself into theirs in high school. He’d loved everything about the way they operated as a unit. Teased each other. Worked hard, played hard.
After everyone had been dismissed from their rows and began mingling, Jace sought out Mackenzie. She was a magnet for him. He couldn’t resist being near her, even if the end of that was too close for comfort.
“Kenzie Rae.” At her name, she turned from the punch bowl, a dainty glass cup in her hand that was in stark contrast to the strong, tanned woman. The dress she wore—no doubt while grumbling—only accentuated her toned arms.
“Hawke.” She sipped her punch. “How did it go this afternoon?”
“Fine. A few issues, but we handled it.”
“What went wrong? Was it something with the McBanes? Because she said she wanted to talk to me yesterday, and with all of this going on, I totally forgot.”
“No. Mrs. McBane only had good things to say. She wanted to rebook for next year. She didn’t realize that we give everyone the opportunity to do that before they head out. So she was fine. You just can’t handle not knowing everything that’s going on around here, can you?” Or was it that Kenzie didn’t trust anyone but herself to manage things?
“That’s not true.” Mackenzie tried to take another drink of punch, but she’d already emptied it, since it held about as much as a thimble. Jace took it from her, refilled it and then returned it to her. She thanked him.
“It is true,” he continued. “There was a chip in the tile in Cabin Nine. Boone and I finagled a fix as best as we could. It should hold through this week, but then we probably need to get a maintenance check on it.” Evan was the one who had any fix-it skills in their family, but Jace had muddled through.
He could have called his brother to ask for advice, but he hadn’t because he’d been avoiding Evan lately. Pretty much since the injury. Evan had called a number of times, but Jace had either missed the attempts or dodged answering.
He just wasn’t sure what his brother was going to say...or if he was going to tell Jace to quit. To retire.
And Jace really didn’t want to hear it right now. Not when he was bent on getting better. Positive attitude went a long way, and he refused to entertain any other thoughts right now.
“That’s not bad. So everything went okay, then?”
“Yes. Everything went fine.” Only Mackenzie would be talking shop at her sister’s wedding. “If I thought I’d detected some tears from you during the cere—”
“You’d be wrong.” Her reply was quick, humor flaring so fast, he almost missed it. “Allergies. They were really kicking up tonight.”
“Ah. And yet they seem better all of a sudden.”
Those glossy, distracting lips of hers broke into a curve. “Amazing, right? What were you doing watching me anyway, when Emma’s the bride? She looks so stunning, I’m surprised everyone wasn’t blinded by her beauty.”
“She does look beautiful. But she’s no you.” Jace didn’t temper his words. He should be able to speak the truth at a wedding, shouldn’t he?
Based on the confusion and softness cresting Kenzie’s features...maybe not.
“J.” Mackenzie’s eyes shimmered—with tears or “allergies,” he couldn’t be sure. “That was sweet.”
He waved a hand over her hair. “I like what you’ve got going on here.”
“Thanks, though you’ll probably never see it this way again. Emma’s friend did my makeup—” she motioned to her face “—and I didn’t have the heart to fuss. I was trying to be all Team Emma for the wedding. No complaining. Whatever she wants.”
“You look like a celebrity. Like I should be standing in line to get your autograph. But I’m actually partial to the girl who treats makeup like a venomous snake and doesn’t know what to do with the smoky-powder stuff covering your eyelids. I like that Kenzie Rae a whole lot.”
“I—” She faltered. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me in a long time.” Her voice hitched, tender and low, sweet and concerned. “But shouldn’t we be...”
Careful? Yes.
Kenzie’s warning was spot-on. Jace was traveling into unchartered territory. Places they’d been careful not to go since he’d shown up at the ranch.
And for good reason, too. It was just...with Mackenzie looking at him like she was, softening like she was...Jace couldn’t remember what any of them were.