LIAM TUGGED AT the unfamiliar suit jacket. “I can’t believe some guys wear these things every day.”
“Hold still.” Wyatt was trying to pin the rose that Trisha had picked out onto Liam’s lapel. “Ouch. Got my finger.”
“Some best man you turned out to be.”
“A best man who flew all the way out from Texas to get stuck with a flower pin.”
Liam glanced over at the guests making their way into the barn for the wedding ceremony. He spotted Monique picking her way carefully in very high heels. He waved frantically, and fortunately she spotted him and teetered over.
“Do you gentleman need some help?”
“Trisha wants me to wear this flower. How do you pin this thing?”
Wyatt looked up from where he was trying to jab the pin back through the tape-wrapped flower stem. “Oh, hello, ma’am.”
“That accent.” Monique fanned herself with the tiny handbag she carried. “Just keep talking to me and I’ll help you with anything you want.”
Wyatt looked a little taken aback, and Liam laughed. “Monique, go easy on my big brother Wyatt. He doesn’t get off the ranch much.”
“Okay, fine. Always glad to assist the handsome groom on his wedding day.” Monique took the flower from Wyatt and attached it in one quick motion to Liam’s lapel. She patted his chest. “All set.”
“You made that look pretty easy.” Wyatt stared at her, astonished.
“And I did it in heels, too.” Monique flashed him a sultry smile and teetered off.
“Who was that?”
“Monique. She’s part of that book group I told you about. And she’s much too old for you.”
“I’m not sure she is.” Wyatt stared for a moment longer, then seemed to remember his best man duties. “So, is everything else ready?” He patted the pocket of his suit jacket. “I’ve got the ring.”
“Good to know. Where are Boone and Tommy?”
“Inside already. They want to know why Trisha’s bridesmaids are all married.”
“Those are Trisha’s friends. And Emily’s not married. But she’s so smart, she’d run circles around guys like Boone or Tommy.”
Wyatt looked mystified. “This town has a lot of smart people. It takes a little getting used to.”
“That it does.” Liam glanced around the property. His property. The idea also took some getting used to. He’d bought the beautifully maintained ranch from Juan Alvaro just a couple months ago. Juan and Annie Brooks had finally stopped pretending they weren’t an item and eloped to Vegas. Now they lived together on Annie’s property.
Trisha had wanted to have their wedding right here in their own barn, to celebrate the future unfolding before them. The Book Biddies had decorated the place so it looked like one of those photos in a wedding magazine, all golden lights and flower garlands.
“You ready to go inside and get hitched?” Wyatt pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the time. “I think Trisha will be arriving any minute.”
It was hard to believe this day had finally come. About a year after Trisha showed up in Texas to tell him she was willing to move there, they were finally making it all official. Getting married, on their own land, in the town they loved—Shelter Creek, California. “I’ve been ready a long time. Let’s do this.”
Wyatt led the way into the barn and Liam took his place next to his brothers, by the makeshift altar. Ranger lay near Boone, a flower garland draped around his neck. A harpist started playing the wedding march and the guests grew quiet.
Henry came in first, with Liam’s father behind him, helping to guide his beloved grandson in his flower boy duties. Two-year-old Henry took his petal-throwing seriously, chucking the petals high in the air so they fell like confetti. Liam couldn’t contain his grin. “That’s my boy,” he whispered to Wyatt.
When Henry reached the front of the room, he set down his basket and dashed for his daddy’s arms. Liam scooped him up, much to the audience’s delight, and kissed him on the cheek.
Liam’s dad collected the tiny basket of rose petals and went to sit down in the front row.
Next came the older generation of Book Biddies. Dressed in beautiful mother-of-the-bride dresses, they came down the aisle two by two, first Monique and Eva, then Priscilla and Annie, then Lillian and Kathy. They all waved at Henry as they took their seats in the front row.
Maya, Emily and Vivian walked the aisle wearing matching silver dresses. They looked radiant, smiling at Liam and waving to Henry as they came to stand in the front, opposite Liam and his brothers.
And then there was Trisha, walking down the aisle with her mother and father on either side of her. They’d come back to Shelter Creek for the wedding, and even if Liam thought they were a little odd, he knew that their presence here today was important to Trisha.
She was beyond beautiful. She’d chosen pale pink for her dress, a color she’d called dusty rose. Whatever it was, it suited her. She looked like an exotic flower, moving gracefully down the aisle. His angel. So sweet and loving, he could only stare and marvel at his luck.
“Mama,” Henry called, and folks in the audience laughed. Liam set him down and he ran to his mother on his stubby little legs.
Handing her bouquet to her mother, Trisha scooped her baby up and carried him the rest of the way down the aisle. The two of them were the embodiment of Liam’s whole heart.
“Let’s get married this way. With Henry right here with us.” Trisha’s wide smile warmed Liam like the California sun.
“I’ll marry you any way you want.” Liam glanced at the minister. “Is that okay with you?”
“Absolutely.”
The ceremony began, and Liam tried to listen to the traditional words, tried to take in the guests and the decorations, and the importance of this special day. But all he could focus on was Trisha, with their baby in her arms, promising to spend forever loving him.
Way back when, in Texas, a short straw had sent him to California. It had seemed like bad luck at the time, but now Liam knew that he was the luckiest man on earth. He intended to remember that, every day of his life.
Keep reading for an excerpt from A Soldier Saved by Cheryl Harper.