The week passed quickly. On Monday, Joey finished removing the rest of the wallpaper herself and had the entire room painted by Wednesday. She’d gone with a pretty pale periwinkle that picked up the color of her eyes. An article she’d once read said you should paint your walls in a color that would cast a flattering glow on your skin tone. Ryder hadn’t said no, so why the heck not.
Shiv loved it. They were tackling her room as soon as Shiv got home with Ryder from her therapy session. He’d volunteered to take her to give Joey a few hours with Roni on her last day of school and a pre-birthday celebration. Roni would be in Hawaii on her actual birthday.
June had snuck up on her. But Joey aimed to make up for the milestones in her daughter’s life that she had missed. She’d brought homemade cupcakes to share with Roni’s class and sat with the other mothers and fathers as the teacher called out each student, handing them a brightly colored diploma someone had made on a computer. It was so cute that Joey had taken a dozen pictures.
Afterward, they’d gone to Farm Supply to get a few things for Roni’s Hawaii trip and an early birthday gift. Brynn might have gotten Roni the expensive pink cowboy boots, but Joey planned to make sure it was she who dressed her daughter for summer. Call it a point of pride.
By the time she’d dropped Roni off, the Circle D Ranch was buzzing with workers. Big white tents, outdoor heaters, round tables, and wooden folding chairs were scattered across the lawn. Two-bathroom trailers—one for men, the other for women—had been set up and were the fanciest Porta Potties Joey had ever seen. Real toilets, pedestal sinks, and finger towels embroidered with the bride and groom’s monograms. Not Ethan’s idea, that was for sure.
Unable to help herself, she snooped a little. Okay, a lot. Both Ethan and Brynn were too tied up with caterers and wedding planners to notice. Roni had wanted her to see her junior bridesmaid’s dress—it was lovely how Brynn had included her—but the last thing Ethan needed was another person traipsing through the house.
“It’ll be a great big surprise tomorrow,” she’d told Roni. “I can’t wait.”
She’d left, dreading the day, only to drag herself back the following afternoon. If the weather was a predictor of Ethan and Brynn’s marriage, it would be sunny, warm, and perfect.
Joey had come by herself, wearing a simple blue sheath dress, wedge heels, and a lightweight sweater. But the second she was escorted to her chair, she regretted her decision. Not the dress, which rode the line between not quite dressy enough and completely appropriate for a first wife, hoping to not call attention to herself during her ex-husband’s second wedding.
No, the mistake was in not inviting Peter to be her plus-one. Despite her understated attire, she felt as if she stuck out like a two-headed baby. Having Peter by her side…well, safety in numbers. Plus, he was so gregarious and likeable that it would’ve taken the onus off her. As it was, people probably thought she was a barracuda, here to stick her sharp teeth into Ethan and ruin the party.
She scanned the crowd—there were at least two hundred people spread across Ethan’s backyard—and landed on Harlee and Darla, who were sitting with what she assumed were their husbands a good ten rows down on the bride’s side. Can’t go there.
She focused instead on the white wooden arbor, adorned with enough roses to open a nursery, where Ethan and Brynn would say their vows. A tall, slender woman in a dress too elegant for a working cattle ranch stood to the side, having a conversation with someone in a black suit and headset, probably the wedding planner. Based on the slender woman’s age and the family resemblance, she had to be Brynn’s mother.
Joey thought of her own mother and the scratchy peach lace dress she’d gotten at Kohl’s and had worn to both Jay and Joey’s weddings. Joey was suddenly glad that her parents hadn’t been invited.
Alma and Ethan’s siblings, along with their families, were ushered to the front row. Thank goodness they hadn’t spotted Joey. Ethan’s sister, Mary, had never been Joey’s fan. Even when things had been good between her and Ethan, Mary had been distant. It was as if Mary didn’t view Joey as good enough for her brother. Looking back on it, Joey had always walked on eggshells around the entire family.
Well, she didn’t have to anymore. It was both liberating and sad. There was a part of her that felt as if she had something to prove to them, especially after they’d pushed for Ethan to get full custody of Roni during the divorce. In the short term, it had been the right decision. The best thing for Roni. But it still hurt that they had openly encouraged Ethan to take her daughter away from her.
Again, Peter came to mind. This all would’ve been easier with a partner. She checked her watch. Five minutes to showtime if the ceremony started on time. The orchestra had begun to play. Joey didn’t know anything about classical music. She listened to country. But the piece they were playing reminded her of spring. For some reason, it conjured flowers blooming while the earth woke up from a long winter’s nap. It was nice. And classy.
A few doctor colleagues of Ethan’s squeezed into her row. She kept her head bowed, hoping they didn’t recognize her. Though her transgressions had been a private personnel matter, hospital workers were notorious for gossiping. Everyone from the cleaning crew to the chief resident knew what she had done, she was sure of it.
She busied herself by setting up her phone camera to take pictures when Roni walked down the aisle. Someone from the orchestra announced that everyone should take their seats, then the music shifted into a rousing piece that suggested things were about to start up. That’s when Joey noticed that Ethan was now standing underneath the arbor, looking dashing in a dark suit.
There were murmurs from the back seats. Joey turned around to see her daughter, dressed in a pale-pink chiffon dress with a crown of baby’s breath in her hair, coming down the aisle with Henry. A sob caught in Joey’s throat, and her heart came out of her chest. Roni looked so grown-up. So beautiful.
She wished she’d chosen a seat at the end of the row, so she could get close-ups of Roni. As her daughter made her way toward the arbor, Joey leaned over the person sitting two chairs over to capture a photo. The guest, whose big hat hid her face, shot Joey a dirty look and an admonishment that Ethan and Brynn had hired a professional wedding photographer.
Since when was it a crime to take pictures at a wedding?
Joey took a closer look and instantly recognized Ethan’s former partner’s wife. Renee knew exactly who Joey was. She and her husband had attended numerous dinners and parties with Joey and Ethan. Renee also knew about the stolen scripts. When Ethan had faced the disciplinary board over what Joey had done, it had been his partner who’d gone to bat for him. Renee was being intentionally nasty.
Instead of making a scene, Joey put her phone away. When Roni got closer, Joey waved. But Roni was staring adoringly at her father and didn’t see Joey. Renee looked positively victorious. Joey wouldn’t let Renee rile her. She was here because Ethan had asked her to come for the sake of their daughter. When it was over, she could check the box and move on, knowing she’d done the right thing for Ethan, Brynn, and especially Roni.
The music changed to something Joey recognized. It wasn’t the “Wedding March,” but a piece she’d heard played at other weddings. More hushed voices came from the rows behind Joey, and soon everyone was standing. Brynn came down the aisle on the arm of her father in the most beautiful gown Joey had ever seen. Like Roni’s, it was a pale pink. It clung to Brynn like a second skin and had a low-cut cowl neck that reminded Joey of the maid-of-honor dress Kate Middleton’s sister wore to the royal wedding.
It was so breathtaking that some of the guests audibly gasped as Brynn made her way toward Ethan. Joey had never seen her ex-husband look at her the way he was looking at Brynn. His face glowed with pure adoration.
“God, she’s beautiful,” Renee murmured under her breath just loud enough for Joey to hear.
“Finally, the right woman for Ethan. Someone who can raise that sweet little girl.”
The words hit Joey like a sucker punch. Her face burned like it was on fire. Never had she wanted more to run away, to be anywhere, even the depths of hell, than to be here.
An arm caught her around the waist, and she jumped.
“It’s just me.”
She turned away from the bride to find Ryder standing next to her. “When…where?”
“Just got here.” He pointed his Stetson, which he held in his hand, at the outside aisle. “And not a minute too soon.” He glowered at Renee.
He’d heard, which should’ve mortified her. Instead, she’d never been happier to see him. “You said you couldn’t—”
“Shush.” He put his finger to his lips and nudged his head at the altar, where the officiant had started speaking. His arm never left her waist.
She leaned into him, pretending to listen to Ethan and Brynn’s marriage vows while she inhaled his scent. She swatted at her eyes, which had begun to leak.
When he held her gaze, she whispered, “Thank you. I know how hard this is for you.”
He shrugged and wiped away one of her stray tears with his thumb. Using his strength to hold her up, the ceremony went by in a blur. The orchestra started up, and the recessional began. Ethan and Brynn led, beaming and holding hands. Brynn’s best friend and Ethan’s brother came up the aisle next. And then there was Roni and Henry.
Just the sight of her little girl spread warmth through Joey’s chest.
Ryder squeezed past her, reached across Renee into the aisle, and gave Roni, who lit up at the sight of him, a high five. “Your mama wants a picture.” He nudged his head at Joey.
“Mommy!” Roni rushed down their row of seats into Joey’s arms. Henry followed Roni and gave Joey a big hug.
Renee stared daggers at them. Ryder stared right back. Of the two, he was more intimidating, and Renee kept her mouth shut.
“You guys look amazing.” Joey crouched down so she was eye level with Veronica. “Look at your beautiful dress. Let me get a picture of the two of you.”
Ryder maneuvered the four of them out of the way so Joey could shoot a few photos with her phone. She got a couple of Roni and Henry together. Then snapped some of Roni, standing by a big blue oak tree a few yards away from the arbor. Little by little, folks were migrating to the white tents for cocktails before the reception started.
Midway through Joey’s impromptu photo session, Ethan came looking for the kids. “Hey, guys, we’ve got pictures. The photographer is waiting.”
“Sorry.” Joey hoped Ethan wasn’t angry.
He bobbed his head in acknowledgment, rounded up the kids, and herded them up the hill.
“Was that rude?” she asked Ryder.
“Him or you?” He stared after Ethan’s back.
“Me. Maybe I should’ve waited to get pictures.”
“It took all of five minutes, Joey. Hardly a capital offense. What was rude was him insisting you come to his goddamn wedding, and then when you do, he gives you the cold shoulder.”
“He’s just harried. This”—Joey waved her hand at the opulent setup—“isn’t his thing. There must be more than two hundred people here, not counting the staff.”
“I don’t care what his thing is. That right there was bullshit.” Ryder put his hand at the small of her back. “Let’s get a drink.”
“I don’t drink, remember?”
“Yeah, but I do.”
He guided her to the bar, his gait stiff. She felt annoyance coming off him in waves.
“We don’t have to stay.” She took his hand and tugged on it. “Roni knows I was here, and Ethan saw me. I honored my commitment.”
“No, we’re staying.”
She didn’t get why he was being so insistent, but they were too close to other guests for her to argue. He got a Jack and Coke and her a cola. They wandered over to a table to retrieve their seating assignment, which seemed too formal for a country wedding. But what did Joey know? The guests at her wedding had been seated on bales of straw at a row of folding banquet tables that had been pushed together. Jay’s wedding had been more upscale, held at his wife’s family’s country club. Still, the guests had sat wherever they’d wanted.
If any of Ethan’s colleagues from the hospital were seated at their table, she didn’t care what Ryder said. They were leaving. Their table was in a far corner, far away from the dance floor. She discreetly scanned the name tags the other guests had left next to their wineglasses before going off to mingle. There wasn’t one name she recognized.
Why should she be surprised? Brynn was too sophisticated to commit the social faux pas of sticking Joey next to anyone who’d been part of her and Ethan’s past. While relieved, she wished they’d been seated at the same table as Harlee, Darla, and Annie.
“You want to sit or circulate?” Ryder glanced around the tent where pockets of people stood in groups, gabbing and munching on passed hors d’oeuvres.
“I don’t know a lot of people.” The truth was, she wanted to get through this as quickly as possible.
“Come on, I’ll introduce you around.” He took her hand and slipped through the crowd toward a circle of men in cowboy hats.
“Ryder.” One of the guys waved them over.
“That’s my friend, Lucky, and his wife, Tawny,” He spoke into her ear, so she could hear him over the din of the gathering. “You’ll like them.”
He made the introductions. She recognized Flynn from the time he came to the house, and she met his wife, Gia. A third couple, Clay and Emily McCreedy, joined them a few minutes later.
“How do you know Ethan and Brynn?” Emily asked.
“Uh, I’m Ethan’s ex-wife.” Emily didn’t seem remotely phased by the acknowledgment. Still, Joey quickly added, “We thought it would be good for our daughter if I attended.”
“She looked so beautiful in her little dress.”
“Thank you,” Joey said, even though she’d had nothing to do with Roni’s dress. Brynn had chosen it.
“Well, look who the cat dragged in.” Donna Thurston, the owner of the Bun Boy, did a hip bump with Emily. “I don’t think we’ve had a wedding like this since yours.”
“Mine wasn’t nearly this lavish,” Emily said.
“I bet your food was better.”
Donna, whom Joey only knew from seeing her behind the counter of the Bun Boy, turned to her. “You’re the first wife, aren’t you?”
“Guilty as charged.” Joey started to give the same spiel she’d given Emily but stopped herself. She didn’t owe anyone an explanation.
“I guess that’s the way folks do it now. One big, happy family. It’s crazy if you ask me, but you didn’t.” She laughed. Joey wasn’t sure what to make of the woman. “I’m Donna. I’ve seen you at the Bun Boy with Roni and hear you’re taking care of Ryder’s mom.”
“I’m just helping out,” Joey said, wanting to protect Shiv’s privacy.
“It’s got to be tough having that guy underfoot.” Donna looked over at Ryder, who was deep in conversation with Flynn, and fanned herself.
Donna didn’t know the half of it. “We manage to not trip over each other.”
“It’s got to be nice for Roni to have her mom so close. What is it, four miles from the old Montgomery place to the Circle D?”
“Three and half,” Joey said and felt herself flooded with gratitude for no other reason than someone besides herself recognized the importance she played in Roni’s life.
Soon their group grew to include Maddy from the Lumber Baron and her husband, Rhys, Nugget’s police chief. For the first time since she’d arrived, Joey didn’t feel like a wedding crasher. Everyone was so kind and respectful.
The band leader announced that dinner would soon be served, their cue to be seated. As they made their way to their table, the bride and groom entered the party to thunderous applause. Joey stopped and watched as well-wishers exchanged hugs and handshakes with the couple. Ethan wore an ear-to-ear smile. The only time Joey could remember seeing him that happy was when Veronica was born.
Ryder saw her watching, and something moved across his face. Anger maybe. Before she could ask him about it, they’d arrived at their table, where eight other couples were being served their salads.
“Just in the nick of time,” Ryder said as he slid into his chair.
Everyone went around the table introducing themselves and sharing how they knew the bride or groom. It quickly became clear to Joey that these were the “Z” list guests. That Joey had been seated at the “Z” list table. She told herself to stop being petty. This wasn’t a social event. This was an obligation that, by the grace of God, would be over soon.
“You know a lot of people in Nugget,” she told Ryder between bites of the freshest salad she’d ever eaten.
“Not really. Lucky and I used to follow the circuit together. He hooked me up with Barlow. I know Rhys through Maddy from my days staying at the Lumber Baron. Today was only the second time I’d met McCreedy, which could turn out to be good for business. He runs one of the largest herds in Northern California.”
“I hope for your sake it does. I can’t begin to tell you how much you showing up when you did meant…means…to me.”
“Who was the woman in the hat?”
“The wife of Ethan’s former partner. Believe it or not, she used to claim me as a friend. That was before I caused Ethan to nearly lose his license…before I went running around in the middle of the night with my small child, getting us carjacked at gunpoint.”
“She still shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”
Joey stared down at her sensible wedge heels.
“Hey.” He gently clasped her chin and turned her face up until they were staring into each other’s eyes. “Don’t do that. You’re not that woman anymore. You’re a great mother, a great caregiver, and a good person.”
Her eyes watered. “So are you, Ryder.”
It was at that moment that Ethan approached their table. He greeted the other guests, whom Joey was pretty sure he’d never seen before this day, then pulled an empty chair up to hers. “Sorry about earlier. I meant to say hi, but things were more chaotic than the OR, if you can believe that.”
She smiled. “No worries. I probably should’ve waited on the photos.”
“Nah, it was fine. I know Roni loved seeing you here.”
“It’s a beautiful wedding.”
“It’s all Brynn.” He let out a sigh. “You know me, not really my scene. But if it makes her happy…” His gooey smile made Joey throw up a little in her mouth. She stole a sideways glance at Ryder, whose fists were clenched at his side.
“You remember Ryder Knight?” Joey said.
“Of course. Good to see you again. Glad you could come.”
Ryder returned a curt nod.
Roni came bounding toward them, shouting, “Mommy,” and then climbed into Ryder’s lap.
Joey didn’t know who was more surprised, Ryder or Ethan.
Roni clasped both of Ryder’s cheeks between her hands. “Where’s Mrs. Knight and Peter?”
“At home, kiddo. You were the best flower girl I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m too old to be a flower girl. I was a junior bridesmaid.”
Ryder tossed his hands in the air. “Forgive a cowboy for not knowing that kind of stuff.”
“You’re forgiven.” She scooted off his lap. “Fix my flowers, Mommy.” Her crown was askew. Joey readjusted the bobby pins to right it. “I’ll be back later.” Roni ran off to talk to Cody, the nice boy Ethan had hired to muck stalls.
She and Ethan exchanged smiles.
“She’s something else,” he said.
“She is that.”
For a second, it was like the old days, when she and Ethan had been a family, besotted with the little creature they had made.
“Well, I’d better make the rounds.” Ethan got to his feet. “I’ve been ordered to mingle. Nice seeing you again, Ryder. And, Joey, thanks for coming. It really means a lot to Brynn and me.”
As he walked away, Joey heard Ryder exhale and mutter something unflattering under his breath.
“What?” she asked him.
“He’s an asshole, and you’re still in love with him, aren’t you?”
She quickly glanced around the table to find that everyone was too caught up in their own conversations to hear theirs. “You’re wrong. I love him like I love a member of my family, but I’m not in love with him. And why are you calling him an asshole?”
“Because you don’t do that to a person. You don’t guilt your ex, someone who was…is recovering…into coming to your goddamn wedding and force them to watch your new happy life unfold. It’s fucked up, not to mention cruel.”
She reached up and stroked his face. “Do you see my life as so unhappy?”
“I see you as still in love with the guy.”
“You’re wrong, Ryder. But it would probably be better than being in love with a man who is so stuck in the past that he can’t look toward the future.” Her eyes clouded, and she got to her feet. “Excuse me, I have to use the restroom.”
She made her way to the fancy bathroom trailer, wondering what had come over her to say such a thing. Was she in love with Ryder Knight? If she was, she needed to get her head examined. Her mind wandered to that very first kiss in front of the Ponderosa more than a year ago. She’d been drawn to Ryder even then. She let out a mirthless laugh. Clearly, the universe wasn’t done testing her.
When she came out of the bathroom, he was waiting for her. “Did you think I was really headed to the bar?”
“I don’t know, were you?”
She rolled her eyes.
“You made your appearance, we ate that salad with the shit they call lettuce, we can go now.”
That’s what she got for dropping her bomb. “I want to say good-bye to Roni first. I’ll meet you at home.”
He tipped his hat, and she watched him cross the lawn to his truck in the makeshift parking lot.
Cut and run. It was Ryder’s MO.