Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-Three

M isty Granger came out of her bedroom and moved down the hall, the fabric of the skirt swishing around her legs. "What about this one?"

Janey, her best friend, and Ralf, her other best friend, looked away from the cheese and crackers Ralf had brought.

"I think it's too blue," Misty said. "I don't look good in blue."

"It's fantastic," Ralf said at the same time Janey said, "The purple one is better."

Misty looked down at the dark blue fabric, which had shimmering flowers woven through it in a lighter blue. She'd tried on several dresses so far, everything from beige to tangerine to blue to purple.

"Go put the purple one back on," Janey said. "And let's go. You're going to be late to your own wedding dinner."

"It's a rehearsal dinner," Misty said over her shoulder as she turned to go change yet again.

"It is not!" Janey called after her. "To rehearse something suggests you'll be doing it again as a real thing!"

Misty giggled as she ducked back into her bedroom and started the process of getting undressed and redressed all over again. It was true that she and Lincoln Glover were getting married tomorrow.

It was also true that they were having a "rehearsal dinner" tonight that wouldn't be replicated the following day. Misty had said she didn't mind having a big shin-dig with all of his aunts and uncles, of which there were dozens.

But Link had put his boot down and said no. He wanted something simple, and Misty knew that was for her.

Finally ready, Misty returned to the common areas of the house, where her friends waited. "Ready," she said.

Janey came immediately to her side. "This is going to be great," she said.

"Don't leave my side for a second," Misty said, her stomach one of total chaos in that moment.

"Honey, I can't stay at your side all night," Janey said. "There will be cowboys I'm not related to there." She grinned at Misty, though she'd be moving back to Dallas next weekend, when their project officially ended.

Misty had finished her portion of the project, so she could get married and go on her honeymoon without having to lose any time from work. From a job she wasn't returning to. Tears filled her eyes, because her life was about to change so, so much.

So much she couldn't even think of all the ways things would be different tomorrow.

"I just don't want my mom clinging to me all night," Misty said, using the words to strengthen her voice.

"Danny will be there," Janey promised. "And Link, of course. And you two have so many friends, Ralf and I don't even get invited to game night."

Misty sobbed then, part of it a laugh that made no sense. "When Link and I have game night, you two are going to be at the top of the list."

"I'd rather die than play a game with other couples," Ralf said in a deadpan. "So leave me out of that."

Misty threw him a smile and together, the three of them moved to leave the house. The drive to Shiloh Ridge Ranch took forty minutes from their subdivision, and Janey made it for them tonight.

Without Janie, Misty wasn't sure how she'd have survived the past month. Dealing with her mother's travel, where she'd stay while she was in Three Rivers, and all the finalizing of the wedding details. Misty felt like she needed forty hours in every day, and she still only got twenty-four.

They pulled up to True Blue, the family barn at Shiloh Ridge where they had a lot of big functions. Weddings, parties, birthday and anniversary celebrations, or even just Sunday meals. Misty had attended all of those things in the past year since she and Link had rekindled their romance, and she'd always felt more than welcome every time she walked through the door.

Tonight, she expected nothing less than that, and since it was partly her party, the spotlight would definitely be on her. Ralf and Janey flanked her as they entered, the barrels shining and overflowing with fresh flowers.

Danny was bringing their mother, and Misty immediately looked around for them. Her eyes caught on Bear and Cactus Glover, who both grinned at her like she'd figured out how to peel back layers of heaven and let the divine light into all of their lives.

"Howdy, Misty," Bear drawled, his big personality matching his smiling cowboy hat. He drew her into a hug and added, "Link just ran into the kitchen for a minute. He'll be right back."

She nodded as she stepped back. "Okay. Have you—have you seen my mom?"

Loretta had been in town for two days, and Misty's nerves and patience seemed to renew by the hour. A gift from God, she was sure, and she'd wept on her knees last night for all of His many blessings. Bear was one of those, as was Cactus, who hugged her next.

"How's Danny doing?" she whispered in his ear. Her brother had taken a shine to animal care after he'd come to Shiloh Ridge, and Cactus had simply taken him in, as if he wasn't an ex-con and hadn't come to the ranch by way of prison.

"He's amazing, Misty," Cactus murmured back. "Don't worry about him so much."

"I can't help it," she said as she stepped back.

"Well, you're movin' on now," Cactus said. "It's time you let him do the same."

Misty wanted to argue, tell him she'd let Danny move on, but the truth was, maybe she hadn't. Maybe she did expect him to mess up again at any moment, though he'd given her no reason to think that. So with tears in her eyes for yet another reason, she nodded and went back to looking for her mother.

"Your mom went with Sammy to look at the dress," Bear said. "They're in the bridal room."

Misty looked toward the back corner of the barn, but her feet didn't take her that way, for her gorgeous almost-husband had just come back into the main room. Her gaze immediately went back to his, and Link spotted her in the next moment.

Love like she'd never known filled her, and Misty's wavering emotions solidified as he came her way. She went to meet him too, nodding and smiling to his aunts and uncles and cousins. But when Link was in the room, there was only Link.

"Hey, you're here," he said as he swept her into his arms. She laughed and grabbed onto him, because he made her feel like her life wasn't about to implode. He had everything under control, and he would take care of anything that Misty couldn't handle herself—which in this moment, felt like everything.

"What was going on in the kitchen?" she asked when he set her back on her heeled feet.

"Oh, that?" He waved his hand in a way that meant he was about to lie. "Nothing. It was nothing." He grinned at her. "Now, come on. We're about to start, and we're supposed to be up front."

"I haven't seen my mom yet," Misty said.

"My momma has her," Link said. "She's okay, and she's at our table anyway." He didn't seem nervous on the outside, but the way he gripped her fingers and strode like he was fleeing a zombie apocalypse told her otherwise.

Someone started to clap as they neared the front, and Misty's face burned. She wasn't used to being scrutinized, and she told herself over and over that wasn't what the Glovers were doing. They were celebrating her and Link, and that was totally different than having eyes on her for a negative reason.

Janey had already found her seat at the front table, and Misty found two spots between her and her best friend. One had been labeled with Danny's name and the other her mother's, and Link stood behind her chair, that look of adoration on his face that Misty loved.

Because it meant he loved her.

"Do they need to look again, my love?" he whispered as he drew her closer. "Turn away from everyone, okay?"

Misty did, pressing her cheek to the lapel of his jacket. He wore black from head to toe, with a light purple shirt, and her fingers found the end of his silk tie and fiddled with it while she took in a breath.

"It's just us," Link said in her ear. "They love us; they're not thinking anything of us."

"Other than I'm a mess," Misty muttered.

"A beautiful mess," Link said. "Come on, now, sweetheart. This is something special for two special people."

Him and her.

Misty took in as much air as her lungs would hold, she held it there, and then slowly let it leak away. The tension in her shoulders melted away, and Misty put a smile on her face. "Okay," she said. "I'm ready to have them look again."

"Okay," Link said. "And you look at them too, Misty, okay? You look at them." He stepped back and pulled her chair out for her.

Misty looked down at it, then turned and lifted her eyes to the crowd. All of them had started to take their seats too, and Misty copied them. Link sat next to her, moved his chair closer, and draped his arm around her. "See them?"

She gazed out into the vastness of the barn. Tables had been set up, with matching chairs. But it didn't matter if the chairs matched, because Sammy and her army of sisters-in-law had put lavender covers over the backs of the chairs and tied them with white ribbons.

Tall vases of flowers went straight up from the middle of each table, the blooms spilling overhead without blocking the view of the guests sitting across from one another.

The table closest to them had Etta and August corralling their children into their seats while Bear came forward to sit at the front table with her, Link, and a few other significant others in the wedding party.

Misty had Ralf, Janey, Danny, and her mom. Link had his parents and his grandmother—who had helped Misty and Sammy plan a lot of the wedding.

She caught sight of her mom and Sammy, and they both wore a smile. So things couldn't be too bad, right? Misty's pulse skipped over itself, but she forced herself to stay in her seat as Danny and Ralf came to take their seats too.

Link's grandmother leaned over him and gave him a hug and kiss, and he murmured, "Love you, Grandmother," before Lois moved to Misty.

"Thank you so much for this," Misty said to Lois as she hugged her too .

Lois beamed at her with all the love Misty could imagine from a grandmother. Her heart warmed at the look on Lois's face, and she struggled to believe she was worthy of so much attention, so much adoration, so much goodness from the Glovers.

"I'm so thrilled for you and Link," she said, her voice shaking. She moved to sit at the end of the table with her husband, and finally, Sammy arrived with her mom.

"Mom." Misty stood up and embraced her mother. She clung to her tightly, noticing the scratchiness of her mom's dress. She seized onto that so her emotions wouldn't spiral out of control.

She pulled back and smiled at her mother. "I love your dress, Mom." She was working on forgiving her mother for all of the things that had happened over the years. But that didn't happen overnight, and Misty needed more time and experiences with her mom to replace the images and opinions she'd lived with for so long.

Every minute created a new version of the relationship Misty had with her mom, and she'd been praying for weeks and weeks that tonight and tomorrow would go off without a hitch. That her and her mom would have a chance to build new and different bonds with one another.

"Thanks," Loretta said, but she said nothing of Misty's purple dress. She swallowed back the bitterness suddenly on her tongue and turned toward Sammy .

The woman pulled her straight into a hug. "How beautiful are you?" she asked. "This dress is perfect for you." She smiled and smiled at Misty. "You and Link will take fifteen minutes with the photographer after dinner, won't you?"

She glanced over to Link. "With your shirt and tie matching Misty's dress so perfectly, you have to."

"We will, Momma," Link said, looking up to her. "Can you sit down, please? Uncle Bishop has steam rising from his head, and we're five minutes late."

"Glovers are never late," Sammy said, and she cradled his face for a couple moments before she moved to sit beside him. The moment she did, the lights popped and went out, and plenty of people yelped or cried out, Misty included.

"Link," she said over the brand new noise.

"It's part of the night, baby," he said.

"Part of the night—what?"

The lights—rather, a single light—illuminated a single person at the back of the hall, and he held a guitar but kept his head down, his cowboy hat hiding his face. Misty's adrenaline pounded through her, but she couldn't look away from the man directly in front of her.

Then the man lifted his face, and Misty saw it was Link's uncle Ward. He started to play, his fingers moving deftly over the strings to create a beautiful sound.

"He used to play in a band," Link said, his mouth right at her ear so she could hear. "Uncle Mister too. "

That explained the second sound that came in—another guitar—and the man who joined Ward. Mister wore a grin the size of Texas itself, which was the opposite of Ward, who looked about the same as he always did: halfway to irritation.

Then he looked over to Mister, and his face dissolved into a smile too. That somehow made Misty relax, and she only jumped slightly when someone started crooning into the microphone.

The Glover family whooped and cheered, and Misty found herself getting swept along in the wave of their joy and celebrating. She clapped along to the beat, and she found herself yelling when another uncle and then another joined Ward and Mister as they advanced toward the front table.

And when they started begging Bear to get out there and dance with them…. Misty leaned forward and looked at the grumpy grizzly bear sitting beside his wife, his arms folded.

"Go on!" she yelled at him, and he cut his eyes over to her.

Link laughed, and Misty did too, because they both knew Bear was going to get out there and dance with his brothers and cousins. When he finally did, the roof on the barn practically vibrated with the screams and applause.

His grumpy mask broke, and out came the panda bear that Misty had grown to know and love. He laughed with his brothers, and on the next step, he easily moved into the line of men performing a dance.

A legit line dance, while two of them played and Ace sang. They all danced a grapevine move to the left, clapped in unison, and started cowboy-stepping it back to the right. Misty could not stop laughing, because this was the stuff of legends. The family party she'd dreamed of.

The family she'd dreamed of, period.

The song ended, and she cheered and clapped along with everyone else in the room. Then Bishop took the mic from Ace and told everyone to take their seats. He moved to stand in front of the long table where Misty and Link sat with their families.

"All right, all right!" Bishop yelled into the mic. "That was an amazing intro to tonight's dinner, and no finer beginning to a wedding celebration has ever been seen."

The last chatter and laughter finally subsided as Bishop finished speaking, but he kept on going with, "Link has asked me to pray over dinner, and then we're going to eat. There will be music and dancing after that, and I've been tasked to remind everyone that the wedding is at ten-thirty sharp tomorrow morning, right here in True Blue."

He nodded and waited several seconds while cowboy hats got removed and arms folded, and then Bishop bowed his head and prayed. "Lord, we thank Thee for a reason to get together in this barn, which we love. There's nothing as amazing as a wedding, and we're so grateful that Misty has somehow been blinded to all of Link's flaws and agreed to marry him anyway."

He laughed lightly, and Misty found herself giggling too. She glanced over to Link, who wore a smile while keeping his eyes closed. She reached for his hand and took it easily, and she squeezed his fingers in hers.

"Kidding aside, we're grateful for Link and Misty, and for each other. We're grateful for families, and we're grateful for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." He paused, and Misty had learned that all of Link's aunts and uncles had emotional triggers, and if they got pressed, the Holy Spirit could flow effortlessly throughout the whole room.

Exactly as it was now.

Misty found herself tensing up with emotion again, and she fought against her tears for the umpteenth time this week.

"Bless those in our company who need Thy special care, and bless the ranch while Link is gone, and we pray a special blessing on this young couple as they travel for their honeymoon. And now." He took a big breath, the sound of it actually going through the microphone. "We ask Thee to bless this food, which was made by masterful hands, and we're real grateful for the bounty You have always poured onto us here at Shiloh Ridge. Amen. "

"Amen," got bellowed through the barn, but Misty murmured her seal of approval on Bishop's prayer.

She assumed there'd be a buffet, but she didn't stand up to go get food. Only a few seconds later, Smiles, Link's younger brother, appeared with two plates, one in each hand. He served Link first and then Misty, his smile wide and warm.

"Thank you," Link said, and Misty tried to echo him, but Smiles was already gone. She watched as all the teens in Link's family served the others still seated at the tables, marveling at how amazing this family was that she would be part of tomorrow morning at ten-thirty sharp.