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“Nice to meet you too!” Callie beams.
She’s a natural.
Then Hunter turns to me. “Wade! Brother. How ya been?!” He pats me on the back. “I haven’t seen ya since ya serenaded us on that horse.”
“Don’t remind me.” I rub my brow.
“I can’t even remember the last time I saw this guy on a horse,” Carson chimes in. “Welcome home, Wade.”
“Thanks man.” I nod.
“Well if it isn’t Wade Lewis.” I hear a familiar voice come up from behind. I turn to see Emma, Carson’s wife.
“Emma ... wow, it’s been a while. How are ya?” She leans in for a hug. I do my best to swallow the pang of guilt for missing their wedding.
I was on tour—the same tour that led to me having a very public altercation with a tiger and losing custody of my son.
“Uncle Wade!” My niece Ava comes barreling in, hugging my waist.
“Hey sweet pea.” I kneel down to her level to give her a proper hug.
“Can I pet your dog?!” She looks up at Callie expectantly.
“Well of course you can! This is Bear, and he looooves kids.”
“Hi Bear!” She coos, petting him gently before looking up at me again. “I’ve missed you, Uncle Wade. How long will you be here?”
Before I can answer her, I hear another voice coming up from behind. “Wade! I’m so thrilled you were able to make it.” Bailey, our bride-to-be says.
“Hi Bailey,” I greet her. “Congratulations by the way.”
“Oh, thank you so much Wade. I’m so honored you made the trip out here. I know it means a lot to Sawyer and the whole Lewis family.” She smiles as Sawyer approaches.
“Hey Wade. Thanks for coming, brother.” Sawyer pats me on the shoulder.
“Sure thing.” It’s hard to make eye contact. I do my best to ignore the feelings of guilt and shame for staying away for so long. “Sawyer, Bailey ... this is Callie.” I gesture to the red headed bombshell who’s been chatting away with everyone as if she’s known them for a lifetime.
“Hi there!” She waves. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. Congratulations to you both on your marriage and your baby girl on the way.”
“Thank you. And we are so thrilled to welcome you to our family, Callie! Thanks for being here with us today.” Bailey hugs her.
“Well would ya look at that—I barely recognized ya, kid.” Bailey’s Aunt Jewel chimes in, greeting me with a hug. “You sure have gone and grown up on me, Wade. I hear ya come through on the radio in the cafe all the time!”
“It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? How’s business been at the cafe?”
“It’s ‘bout as good as it can get in this tiny town. Be sure to stop by for a burger before ya head out.” She winks and turns to Callie. “My cafe has the best burgers in all of Texas,” she says, extending her hand. “I’m Bailey’s Aunt Jewel, by the way, it’s so nice to meetcha, Callie.”
“Well I can’t wait to try them! And it’s so nice to meet you, Aunt Jewel.”
“I hope to see you two love birds more often ‘round here.” Aunt Jewel wiggles her eyebrows and heads off to the open bar.
Ava is busy playing with Bear when Mom turns to Dad, who’s got this gritty grin on his face as he watches the exchange between everyone.
“Looks like you got yourself a two-for-one kind of package,” Dad says looking at me.
“Something like that,” I answer him, my hands shoved in my pockets. “I couldn’t have the dog unless I took her, too.”
Dad laughs and I glance over to Callie, who’s just standing there, still beaming. Even though the joke was picking at her, she must’ve thought it was a good one based on the smile across her face which quickly turns into laughter.
