“You too!” someone shouted in return.
Mary Rose smiled. Maverick got his dimples from her. “Thank you. It’s a tradition here on the ranch that the night before a wedding, the bride and groom add their thumbprints to our book of celebratory trees.” Mary Rose opened a thin leather-bound guestbook to reveal a white page with a tree drawn on it. In place of the leaves were different-colored thumbprints. She placed the book on a table and opened three different colored ink pads. “Please come on over and write your name or initials inside or beside your thumbprints.”
Reed and Elle walked to the table and added their personal stamp to the scrapbook. “Another tradition,” Kennedy whispered to Maverick.
“Yes.”
“Did Cole and Bethany get married here?”
“They did. Their thumbprints were the first ones in the book.”
Bride and groom hugged when done and thanked Mary Rose and John. Liam made the next announcement. “It’s time for one last wedding game to see how well you know our happy couple.” He and one of Elle’s bridesmaids handed out paddles. One paddle had a headshot of Reed, and one paddle had a headshot of Elle.
“Raise the correct paddle to answer the question,” Liam said. “First question: who knows all the words to ‘I Will Always Love You’?”
Kennedy raised her Reed paddle without hesitation. “He has a thing for Whitney Houston,” she told Maverick.
Mav played along, raising his Reed paddle.
Liam raised his Reed paddle in confirmation. Most of the room had guessed Elle.
“Who said ‘I love you’ first?”
Again she answered with Reed. “He told me it was the first time he ever said it,” she whispered. She’d only ever said it once, too. To her rat fink ex after he said it to her. She wished so badly she could take those words back.
And again, she was correct.
“Who drove across the country and slept in a van?”
Kennedy looked around the parlor. Some people stood, some sat. The paddles in the air leaned toward Reed. Maverick raised his Elle paddle. So she went with the consensus and raised Reed’s.
Liam lifted the Elle paddle.
Surprise rippled through the room. Elle shared the story about when and why. Liam asked several more questions before declaring the game over and saying, “Let’s dance!”
Music played through hidden speakers, and while there was no official dance floor, an area had been cleared for dancing. Servers holding trays with mini cheesecakes, fruit tarts, and brownies circulated the room.
She and Maverick mingled some (thankfully avoiding the guests Andrew had introduced her to), their bodies constantly touching in some innocent way that felt anything but. He didn’t offer much in the way of conversation, and she found herself appreciating everything he’d shared with her this past week more and more. When a slow song began to play, he asked her to dance.
Instead of joining the group of couples in the designated area, he led her to the much quieter veranda. It was like he had a sixth sense and knew she needed to steer clear of people, lest she mix up which persona she was supposed to be with which guest.
Faint notes of music reached her ears as he took her in his arms. She wrapped hers around his neck, laid her head on his shoulder.
It felt so right being together like this that she wanted to cry. She’d never experienced this sense of completeness before: a deep-rooted affection on the cusp of the forever kind of love. If only they’d reunited under different circumstances. And Maverick wasn’t still working through his loss.
Kennedy had been beside many people who had lost loved ones. It sucked. It hurt. It devastated. The younger the deceased, the deeper the pain. A woman in her twenties like Nicole should have had decades in front of her.
“Shortcake, you’re thinking too hard again.”
“Isn’t it ever difficult for you to turn off your brain?” she asked candidly.
“Sometimes. The secret is distracting yourself, and you’re the best distraction I’ve ever had.”
She lifted her head to gaze up at him. “You know you’re really good at sweet talk.”
“I’m glad you think so.” He dropped a soft kiss to her lips.
“I think a lot of things about you,” she confessed, their bodies swaying to the soft melody coming from inside.
“Right back at you.”
“Should we compare notes?” Talk about playing with fire. Why say anything meaningful to each other when it didn’t matter? When she knew her heart beat harder and faster than his.
“No,” he said sweetly. “Not because you aren’t something special, Shortcake, but because you are.”
“What does that mean?”
He looked away, hiding from her once again. His body, though? His strength and passion continued to wrap around her without uncertainty, his head and heart obviously at odds.
“Can we not?” he asked, meeting her eyes.
“Not what? Talk?”
He nodded.
She couldn’t even be mad at him. His request said volumes. His silence spoke louder than any explanation. He’d always been a man of few words—the times he’d opened up had been wonderful gifts she’d practically coerced out of him. She laid her head back on his shoulder. She didn’t want to spend their remaining time together at odds.
The slow song ended, and Maverick led her to a cozy outdoor couch for two. Through the open French doors, they had a perfect view inside the parlor. For a quiet minute, they watched the goings-on.
“I love to people watch,” she said. “Sometimes on my hospital breaks I’d go to a nearby coffee shop, sit outside, and make up stories about the people walking by.”
“Yeah? Tell me about that guy in the striped blue shirt.” Maverick lifted his chin toward a trim middle-aged man with dark hair.
“Oh, he’s a duke from England. His wife is American and his family was terribly disappointed that he didn’t marry a duchess, but she won them over when she served her famous apple pie on a silver platter.”
He smiled at that.
“Your turn,” she said. “The woman in the yellow dress.”
“She’s a lottery ticket winner from Oklahoma. She gave away half her winnings to a horse charity and the other half she spent on jewelry.” A great backstory given the enormous diamond around her neck.
“See that guy there?” Kennedy lifted her chin toward one of Reed’s friends. “He’s a jewel thief, and later tonight he’s going to steal Oklahoma’s diamond necklace and replace it with a forgery.”