“Then we better get married pronto!” Reagan teased her sister as her mother and Riley gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and hurried from the room.
Her father held out his arm and Reagan placed her hand in the crook of his elbow. “I thought it would get easier the second time, but this one’s harder.”
“I love you, Dad,” Reagan told him as she leaned her head against his shoulder. The music began to play, the doors opened, and Reagan saw her past, present, and future waiting for her at the end of the petal-lined aisle.
* * *
“That was beautiful,” Gemma sighed as she kicked off her shoes under the round linen-clad dinner table and watched couples dancing the night away. The reception room’s walls were made with hundred-year-old wood that had recently been sanded and polished to a shine. Large rustic chandeliers made of wrought iron hung from the ceiling. Historic pictures of Barrel Creek and blueprints of the distillery hung on the walls. The warm glow of the lights and lush honey-colored wood walls made the room appear magical. It was if they stepped back in time.
“That Cady Woodson is so sweet. She’s done a remarkable job with the place already. It really was a stunning ceremony, Gemma,” Dani sighed as she took a seat next to Gemma.
“It was,” Tammy said, rubbing her pregnant belly. “I do believe I’ll be in this chair for the rest of the night, though. I feel as if I’m about to burst.”
“Both you and Sienna look as if you could go into labor at any minute,” Morgan, Gemma’s sister-in-law, said looking between Tammy and Sienna Ashton Parker as she danced with her husband, Ryan.
“Not tonight,” Tammy said before her brows knit. “Where are Reagan and Carter?”
“They disappeared again,” Kenna answered with a smirk. “I can’t believe you didn’t notice that before.”
Gemma gasped and slapped her hand on the table. “You knew?”
Kenna looked smug as she nodded. “Of course I knew. They slipped out of every event for a short while—sometimes a longer while. And that could only mean one thing.”
“Do you . . . no, it couldn’t be them, right?” Gemma asked as she nibbled on her lower lip.
“You need to be a little more clear, “ Annie said dryly.
Gemma leaned forward and dropped her voice. “Could they be the panty droppers?”
Katelyn’s eyes widened and Kenna looked as horrified as Gemma felt.
“I always thought it was Gabe,” Dani said about her son.
Annie laughed. “I thought it was you,” she said to Dani who blushed.
“It’s got to be Nikki,” Paige said with certainty.
“Does Nikki even wear underwear?” Tammy asked as the table broke into laughter. “But seriously, I know who it’s not. Look at my daughter.”
Gemma looked to the dance floor as Cassidy, beautiful with her long blonde curls, danced with several of Colton’s firefighters-in-training. “I can’t believe she’s twenty-one.”
“Not Cassidy. Piper. Look at her. It’s as if the weight of the world is on her shoulders. Bless her heart, she needs the panty dropper.”
“Tammy!” Katelyn gasped as she gently swatted her sister-in-law.
“That’s that then,” Dani said with finality. “Piper is the next name in the notebook.”
“Maybe she can meet one of the men coming to the Keeneston Training Center in a couple of months,” Bridget suggested.
“Oh, what about Luke Tanner from Moonshine,” Kenna suggested as the table turned to look as the deputy held out his hand and asked Dr. Ava to dance.
“Oh,” they all said with disappointment.
“Or the firefighters. Firefighters are hot,” Annie said, nodding to a couple of them standing near Piper.
“They’re a little young, right?” Tammy asked.
“No, we’re getting that old,” Morgan teased.
“Well, her name is in the book. Fate has been sealed. Piper will find love if she wants it or not,” Dani decreed as she closed her notebook and held up her champagne glass. “To Carter and Reagan and another job well done.”
* * *
Miss Lily shook her head at her sisters. “They don’t have a clue about what they’re doing.”
“Bless their hearts,” Miss Daisy and Miss Violet said together as they shook their heads at the table of mothers.
“Thank goodness they have us. After all, who provided cover for Carter and Reagan sneaking around?” Miss Daisy said, taking a sip of the special iced tea she’d smuggled into the reception.
“Remember that time we had to distract Cy for thirty minutes at Gabe’s wedding?” Miss Violet asked.
“As I recall, you simply smothered him in your breasts, Vi,” Miss Lily said with a roll of her eyes.
“It was worth the dirty look from my husband. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make so those two young lovebirds could get their relationship moving along.”
The three women looked over at their husbands and smiled innocently. They knew better by now. Now when the guys saw their wives give them that look, they knew trouble was going to follow. Smart men.
“While our sweet friends fumble about trying to find someone for Piper, I think there’s someone else who needs our help,” Miss Lily said as her sisters followed her gaze.
“Ah, yes. They’ve had long enough,” Miss Violet agreed.
“What are you ladies plotting?” John Wolfe asked, placing a light kiss on his wife’s cheek.
“Plotting? Us?” Miss Lily answered. John snorted in disbelief at her innocent look.
“How about a dance?” Anton asked, holding out his hand to his wife.
“I’d love to, dear,” Miss Violet answered, placing her hand in his. They weren’t up to busting a rug anymore, but the three married couples stood swaying by the table as they soaked up the love that surrounded them.
* * *
Reagan slipped her hand into her husband’s as they talked to her cousins from South Carolina. Her family may have had a rift before, but it was now fully mended. All of her cousins came to her wedding, and right now were even talking to Colton about helping build the fire station and FEMA office.
“Carter? Rea? Can I steal you away for a moment?” Sydney asked.
“Of course you can. It was good catching up,” their cousin Gavin Faulkner said with a smile. “Enjoy your honeymoon.”
“And I’ll be back. I want to talk to y’all too,” Sydney happily said to their new family. “But first I have a wedding gift I want to give you. Now, it’s not all the way ready, but by the time you get back from your honeymoon it will be.”
They walked through the crowd and Sydney waved Ahmed over. “Can you help me give them their wedding present?” Sydney asked.
“Of course,” Ahmed said solemnly as he followed them out back and over to Sydney’s car. Deacon opened the door and reached inside.
Reagan gasped when he turned around. Sydney’s smile grew as she plucked the little puppy from Deacon’s hand and handed him over to Reagan and Carter. “Syd, you’re giving us a Robyn puppy?” Reagan asked as she was already nuzzling the pudgy puppy with loose skin and the best puppy smell. It wasn’t just any puppy. It was the one puppy that always snuggled Reagan and Carter when they came to visit.
“Yes. You’ve spoiled Robyn like crazy since she helped you, and I thought it would be fitting for you to have one of her puppies. It was actually Carter’s idea.”
Reagan looked to her husband as he winked at Sydney and Deacon. “Thank you all!” Reagan cuddled the puppy against her neck as she kissed her husband and cousins. “Now he needs a name.”
“We’ll figure that out during our honeymoon,” Carter said, leaning forward to baby talk to the puppy.
“Oh, and Ahmed. I do need your help,” Sydney said, turning to Deacon. “Can you help Deacon with this?”
Deacon reached back into the car and when he turned around, he held the little runt of the litter. The little girl that might have been small in size, but she was fierce with attitude. And she’d claimed Ahmed as hers from the moment she was born. The little puppy squirmed in Deacon’s hands as the small, baby-pink collar flashed in the lantern lights surrounding the distillery.