Pearl dabbed at the tears in her eyes. “That’s a perfect place. And honey, you can call me Mama, you know.”
“I’d love to.” Addy hugged her.
“Be careful,” Pearl warned. “I don’t want to get makeup smears on your pretty dress. Mia was right about you wearing champagne lace. It looks lovely on you.”
“But I had my way about the boots.” Addy pulled up her dress to show off a pair of boots with phoenix birds sewn into the fronts. “Jesse and I are rising from the ashes, so these seemed proper.”
“Good God, Mama, you’re supposed to wear the off-white lace boots,” Mia fussed.
Pearl headed for the door. “I hear the music that tells me they’re about to seat me and your mother, Addy, so I’m leaving.”
Addy gave her a hug. “Thank you for the sunflower seeds…Mama Pearl.”
“I like that a lot, and the seeds are just my way of welcoming you to the family that you’ve already had for five years,” Pearl said.
Addy’s eyes twinkled as she focused on her daughter. “I can’t dance in new boots, and be damned if I go on my honeymoon with blisters on my feet, and you’ve only got about two minutes before you have to leave this room. Before you go, thank you again, my child, for everything, but most of all for accepting Jesse.”
“It’s in my DNA,” Mia said, smiling, “and Mama, your honeymoon is just a weekend in a cabin up on the Red River. It won’t be that different than staying in the bunkhouse.”
“A honeymoon isn’t where you are or how long you get to stay there. It’s who you are with.” Addy dropped the full skirt of her lace dress. “Are you sure about this, Mia Hall?”
“I’m sure about everything. Are you, Mama?” Mia fired back at her.
Addy nodded. “Absolutely.”
Denison Hall, Addy’s father, knocked on the door and then entered without being asked. “I hear there’s a bride in here who needs an escort down the aisle.” He was a tall, thin man with gray in the temples of his black hair and clear blue eyes.
Mia stepped aside. “Here she is, Grandpa.”
“You are beautiful.” Denison smiled and offered her his arm. “Mia, you’d best get on out there. It’s time for you to walk down the aisle.”
“Whoa!” Addy handed Mia her bouquet. “You’ll need this.”
“She isn’t ever going to stop bossing me around.” Mia picked up her single sunflower with dark green ribbons streaming from the stem.
“That’s a mama’s job,” Denison told her.
* * *
Jesse hadn’t been this nervous during harrowing near escapes with wounded soldiers that he and his team had rescued. But after Mia had taken her place and he could see Addy coming down the aisle on her father’s arm, everything and everyone disappeared. Suddenly, all the angst left him, and his trembling hands were as steady as a rock. As long as he had Addy before his eyes and in his life, he was fine.
Waiting for Denison to bring her all the way to him wasn’t easy, but the moment he could reach out and take her hands in his, he whispered, “You are so beautiful, and I’m such a lucky cowboy.”
“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” the preacher asked.
“Her family and I do.” Denison kissed her on the cheek. “Be happy. Both of you, be happy.”
Addy had asked for a simple, quick ceremony, and the preacher delivered just that, but just before he told Jesse to kiss the bride, he nodded at Mia.
She stepped away from her place beside her mother and took the microphone from the preacher. “You two have already joined hands, and now I’m going to lay mine on yours. Today, Jesse Ryan, I take you as my father, and I change my name from Hall to Ryan. I promise to respect you both as my parents and try not to be so bossy.”
Some folks chuckled, but several laughed out loud.
Jesse had to swallow twice to get past the grapefruit-sized lump in his throat. He had not known that Mia was going to do either of those things, but pride swelled up in his chest. “I promise to love and cherish you as a daughter, Mia, and I won’t expect too much when it comes to that bossy part.”
More laughter came from the congregation.
“And now that you are man and wife, and we are a family, the preacher has said that I can tell my daddy that he can kiss the bride.” Mia removed her hand and stepped back into her place.
Epilogue
Addy woke up on Thanksgiving morning snuggled up to Jesse’s broad back. She had one hand thrown over his chest, and the moment she stirred, he laced his fingers with hers and flipped over to face her. So much had happened in the last four months that she could hardly take it all in. Sonny and Pearl had made two trips to Colorado and were planning one to Las Vegas in a few weeks. Mia had made the decision to finish her education with online classes rather than ever going back to college. Sonny and Pearl now lived in Henry’s house, but they were in and out of the ranch house every day.
“Good mornin’, darlin’,” Jesse said. “Happy first Thanksgiving as Mrs. Jesse Ryan.”
She gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “I have so much to be thankful for, and being your wife is in the number one spot on the list. I hear noise coming from the kitchen, so I guess that means Pearl and Sonny are already here.”
“I hear something coming from across the hall that sounds like Mia humming a lullaby. I guess that means she beat you into the babies’ room. I can’t believe that we already have a set of twins.” Jesse hugged her tightly.
“Two boys to grow up on Sunflower Ranch like you and your brothers.” Addy slipped out of his embrace and off the bed. She quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and a bright orange sweater. “I’m glad that teenage mother chose us. After having them for only four weeks, I can’t imagine life without them. They might not have grown in my belly, but it sure hasn’t taken them long to grow in my heart.”
“Or mine.” Jesse slung his long legs over the side of the bed and stood up. “If I’m dreamin’, darlin’, don’t wake me up.”
“If we have to change diapers, you’ll realize that you’re not dreaming.” She tiptoed over to him and kissed him again on the lips. “I love you, Jesse.”
“I love you, Addy,” he said, and she believed him with her whole heart.
Jesse was still getting dressed when she crossed the hall and went into the nursery. “Happy Thanksgiving to all my children.” She smiled at Mia.
“Sam is in a pissy mood this morning, and Taylor is hungry,” Mia said. “And my brothers and I say Happy Turkey Day right back at you. I told them if they were good until next year, I’d make sure they got a bite of pumpkin pie, but today they’d have to make do with a bottle of formula.”
Mia handed Sam over to Addy and then picked up Taylor. “I’ve already changed them, but I’ll take this sweet boy with me to the kitchen to make the bottles.”
Jesse yawned as he made his way into the room. “I can hold Taylor while you make bottles.”
“Sure thing, Dad.” Mia handed the baby to Jesse. “That way, Nana and Poppa won’t fuss over which one gets to hold him first. I swear, these babies have put new life in Poppa, even more than all the medicine he takes.”