Page 9 of Make it Real
For all Ty’s dragging his feet to ask my sister to marry him, once she’d said yes, they’d set a date just two months away.
“When it’s right, you don’t wait around.”
Pop watched me with a little too much hope in his eyes. Wasn’t sure who he thought was waiting on me. I hadn’t been on a date in months and sure wasn’t looking to rush to the altar with anyone.
“I’m surprised they don’t follow your example and just run down to the courthouse.” Wade and I had almost put money on it. I’d thought for sure June and Ty would turn up at family dinner one night with wedding rings already on. Good thing I wasn’t out five bucks.
“Oh, they want a little ceremony out on Ty’s property. It’s where they fell in love, you know.” Marilyn sighed as if her thoughts had turned into giant cartoon hearts. “It’ll be the most romantic thing.”
“It’s good to see them settling down, starting a life together. Making a family of their own.”
Again, Pop stared at me with more intensity than I liked. I couldn’t say exactly what he was expecting, but I figured I’d be disappointing him for the foreseeable future. Settling down wasn’t on my horizon. I had a hard enough time seeing myself as the head of Evans Orchards for the rest of my life, couldn’t very well add romantic commitments into the mix, too.
One impossible thing at a time.
“They’ll probably be next on the baby train.”
Now that brought a sparkle to his eyes. “I’ll take as many more grandchildren as I can get.”
Okay, that one was on me. Every conversation with him lately had become a minefield of tricky subjects, mostly to do with either marriage or babies, and I’d gone and thrown myself across a tripwire.
“You could spend a lot more time with the grandkids you’ve got if you cut back your work in the orchards.” Passing the baton to me had been his idea, but I couldn’t turn around without finding him inspecting trees or supervising in the store. I had mixed feelings about taking on the family business, but I’d rest easier when I knewhewas resting.
“It’s a big job for you, I can’t just turn it all over in one go.”
He hadn’t turned much over to me at all. I didn’t like the nagging feeling he didn’t trust me to handle it.
“Besides, it’s good to have a partner.” He lifted his eyebrows as though his meaning could possibly be lost on me.
Thankfully, June and Ty joined us and put an end to Pop’s one-sided staring contest.
Reaching across June, I shook Ty’s hand. “You sure you know what you’re getting into? She’s a real handful.”
He chuckled low. “Wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Ignoring my sister’s mock-indignant glare, I threw one arm around her shoulders in a quick hug. “Happy for you, Junebug.”
“If you don’t watch yourself, I’ll put you to work as a flower boy,” she said.
I straightened invisible lapels. “I prefer to be called a flower man.”
She grinned up at me. “You’d look so cute with a flower crown and a basket of petals.”
“My masculinity isn’t threatened by that.”
“Almost makes me wish we weren’t keeping things simple.” She slipped back to Ty’s side like a magnet, her arm locking into place around his waist. “I actually do want to put you to work, though. We’re going to have the reception in Ty’s big vehicle barn, but we’ll need to move some things out to make space.”
“No problem. How much are we talking?”
“Mostly tools we’ll relocate to the garage, a few larger things I’ll need a hand with,” Ty said. “It’s the cleanup that will take longer. I never planned to host events in my barn.”
He met June’s eyes, but he sure didn’t seem like he regretted his choices. Talk about a look I didn’t need to see. They oozed with so much love for each other, pretty sure they’d forgotten the rest of us in the room.
“It’s going to be perfect,” she told him. “We just need a little help to get it there.”
“If you need more volunteers, I have someone I could ask,” Marilyn piped up. “A friend of one of my daughters. She’s a real sweetheart, I think she’d be just perfect for…”
Her eyes cut to me for a second, just long enough for a tiny spike of dread to stab through my chest.
