Page 17 of The Wedding Ranch
Ryder opened his palms on the table. “What’s up?”
Ross bumped his sister’s arm, and she spit it out. “Things are going great at the venue. The Wedding Ranch is getting five-star reviews, and we’ve got more events set up than we projected.” She slid a check in front of Ryder. “Here’s next month’s payment. Early.”
“Good job.” They’d never been late, not once, even in the first months while they were getting on their feet. They’d secretly worked extra jobs to be sure they could pay him as promised. He never let on that he knew, but he appreciated their tenacity. He took the check without looking at it, folded it,and placed it in the pocket of his shirt. “Thank you. I’m really proud of you both.”
He’d had his doubts they could make a living off of planning and hosting weddings in the old barn, but Ross and Reece had proven him wrong. The Wedding Ranch was continually booking events, and these two had been smart about how they spent and reinvested their money.
“We have the best news.” Excitement spilled from Reece in a rush. “We just booked the wedding of Cody Tuggle and Kasey Phillips.”
He tried to place the names. Was one a relative of someone they knew? By the near tears in his niece’s eyes and the gaga grin on Ross’s face he knew it was someone he should know.
Reece’s smile dropped. “I told you he wouldn’t know who they are,” she said to her brother.
Ross leaned in toward Ryder. “You know who they are. The country singer? And the photographer that does all the hot rod and motorcycle photographs. You have one of her calendars—”
“In the barn. Yeah, I knew that name sounded familiar,” Ryder said. He liked a few of Tuggle’s songs too. Valerie had loved his song about a mother’s love. He was a big deal. “A celebrity wedding? Here in Dalton Mill?”
“Yes! At The Wedding Ranch.” Reece rocked forward in her seat. “This is going to put us on the map. We will be hosting all of the parties leading up to the wedding, and the wedding, of course. It’s the biggest project we’ve ever done.”
“Don’t overpromise,” he warned.
“No. We’ve got this.” She crossed her heart in a promise. “There will be a gathering on Tuesday for the bride’s family, aprivate event for just the wedding party on Wednesday, and a bridesmaid luncheon and a rehearsal dinner on Thursday night. Friday is the ceremony. Reporters will be here and everything.”
Ryder leaned back against the bench seat. “Really? Have you spoken to Sheriff Mansfield about that?”
“Yes. I spoke to him right before we came here,” Ross said. “He’s going to hire a couple of extra people to help with security. We’ve rolled that into the cost of the event.”
“Security?”
“Yeah, the wedding is supposed to be top secret, but if word gets out fans could flock to the area to catch a glimpse of them.”
Ryder cocked his head. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
A flash of panic crossed Reece’s face. “No, Uncle Ryder, I promise it’ll be okay. This is a game changer for our business.”
“You said business is already good.” He patted his shirt pocket. “I have the check to prove it.”
“Yes, but just one event like this every year, or every other year, will set us for a long, long time.” Reece looked to the tin ceiling with starry eyes. “Girls will dream of getting married at The Wedding Ranch—but it’s not even just that. Cody and Kasey are the nicest people.”
Ross chimed in. “It’s true. Did you ever hear how they met?”
Ryder shook his. “Don’t believe so.”
“They met during a photo shoot, and then Cody showed up to help Kasey find her missing son when everyone else had given up.”
“Her son? He was okay?” A lump formed in Ryder’s throat. A familiar ache.
“Yes. Cody and Kasey became great friends, and now they’re getting married,” Reece said. “It’s like a storybook.”
“That song of Cody’s, ‘A Mother’s Love,’ it was one of Valerie’s favorites.” He could still hear her singing to it—off- key—in the truck.
“I know, Uncle Ryder.” Ross placed his hand on Ryder’s shoulder. “Aunt Valerie would’ve loved Cody and Kasey. They’ve put their hearts and money into a foundation to help others find missing children. The PT Foundation took something horrible and turned the focus toward something good. It’s their life’s work now.”
“Such good people,” Reece agreed. “We want to do this for them. Weareready, Uncle Ryder.”
Ross punched the screen on his iPad and opened a spreadsheet. “I’ve got everything planned out. We’re running it as a single project with multiple timelines and checkpoints since many of the activities overlap. See here.”
“Impressive,” Ryder admitted as he reviewed the spreadsheet. At least those college degrees were being put to good use. Both were business majors, but Reece had a creative side too. She came up with fantastic ways of changing the venue in dramatic ways that didn’t take much time. All of the linens were reversible. She’d designed a system to pull sheer fabric along the ceiling that draped down and could be changed out depending on the event’s color scheme. Reece designed and Ross built storage space in the rafters to store the heavy rolls of fabric close to where they’d be needed.
