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Maybe it would be if I’d asked her with a different intention. But the only reason we were here today, in her mind, was because it made the most sense to go to the wedding together since we were living together. But she was not here as my date. Logically, I knew that. Emotionally, I was having a difficult time remembering that fact.
Over the past five years that I’d lived at home, I’d been to quite a few weddings. It seemed like everyone in town was tying the knot. The only girl I’d ever brought with me was Harper. Taking a date to a wedding was serious, or at least it was seen as a serious thing by Wishing Well standards. But hell, so was showing up at the Spoon, the Tipsy Cow, or Movies in the Park, which was why I’d refrained from casually dating.
Except I’d been to all those places with Ruby this summer. Since she was living with me, it had all been under the guise of us driving together, but each time we showed up anywhere, I could see all eyes were on us.
“You may now kiss the bride,” the pastor announced, snapping me out of my inner musings.
The guests stood and cheered as Wyatt kissed his new bride before heading down the aisle. Beside me, Ruby sniffed, and I noticed a single drop fall down her cheek.
Without thinking about it, I lifted my hand and wiped the pad of my thumb across her face, wiping away the solitary tear. “Are you okay?” I asked.
The moment my hand made contact with her skin, I felt a zap rush up my arm. Her eyes lifted to mine, and, like typically happened anytime Ruby and I were within each other’s radius, my entire world zeroed to a pinpoint where only she existed. My head lowered, powerless to her powerful gravitational pull, and I felt myself being drawn closer to her.
If I hadn’t gotten nudged from behind me by an impatient wedding guest who wanted me to merge into the aisle, I might have broken every rule I had and leaned down and kissed her in front of God and the entire population of Wishing Well.
Thankfully, I was snapped out of the spell Ruby so easily cast on me, and within a minute of bumper to bumper, or in this case, shoulder to shoulder, back to front, traffic, I found myself in the church foyer.
“I have to go potty,” Harp complained as she did a pee-pee two-step.
“I’ll take her,” Ruby told me as she grabbed her hand.
I watched as my girls made their way down the hallway to the bathrooms together, hand in hand. I knew that Harper was going to miss Ruby when she left in just a week. I hoped that her mom coming home and school starting would offset some of her heartbreak. I wasn’t sure what the hell would offset mine.
“Hey, man.”
I looked up and saw Hudson Reed walking toward me. Hud had followed in his father’s footsteps and was a deputy sheriff. Jasper Reed had been the sheriff of Clover County for nearly two decades.
“How are things over at the Denton farm?”
“Slow.” The case had been dragging on for more than a month now.
“I heard rumblings of some weapons coming in on the next load. And Garza being there to receive them.”
“Yeah, we’ll see.” We’d received several tips from informants that hadn’t panned out. The surveillance had been tedious and left me with a lot of time to think, which had been doubly frustrating. The more time I spent thinking about Ruby, the more confused I got.
Thankfully, in another week, it would all be over. I was going back to days, and Ruby was leaving.
Hud’s brow furrowed as he looked at me. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, good,” I assured him.
Loretta Reed, Hudson’s mom, stopped on her way down the hall and pointed at us both. “You know the rule; no shop talk, boys. Leave the badges at the office; this is a wedding.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I nodded.
It didn’t surprise me that Mrs. Reed had a ‘no shop talk’ rule since her husband and son were both in law enforcement. I’d always admired Sheriff Reed and Mrs. Reed’s relationship. Just as I had the Walker and Dolly Briggs’ relationship. Besides Grandad and Grandma Margie, those two couples had been the example I’d had growing up of a loving relationship.
They were my gold standard. They had exactly what I wanted. At least from the outside looking in, it seemed like they were each other’s best friend. Even after decades of marriage, they laughed together, flirted with each other, and packed on the PDA.
“How is your grandad feelin’?” Mrs. Reed asked.
“He’s good. He just finished his PT last week.” He would have come with us today, but he woke up this morning with a little summer cold.
“Where is that beautiful daughter of yours?” She looked around.
“She’s in the restroom with Ruby.”
“Oh, I saw her and Ruby at the diner the other day. Ruby is really great with Harper.”
