Vivi volunteered to stay behind with the housekeeper and Granny Blue to get the brunch set up. Ridge ended up in Archer's Suburban with Archer, Casey, Lynne, Ned, and Atticus. Both sets of parents took the priest in the Alzate's Wagoneer. Ranger and Ember zoomed away on an ATV. Those two had been best friends their entire lives, and they tended to hang out together whenever possible.
Ridge watched Kaia walk off with her other two sisters and the two ranch hands, Zeke and Kip, who were serving as groomsmen, to the blue Tundra, and he felt a pluck of disappointment.
Kaia hopped into the driver's seat and waved as she pulled out. Was she waving at him or someone else in the Suburban?
The chapel was a fifteen-minute drive from the mansion down a dusty dirt road, but it was only a stone's throw from Ridge's house in the east quadrant. The house he hadn't stepped foot inside in over a decade.
When they pulled up, Majestic was tied to a hitching post outside the chapel, and Duke was standing on the front porch, arms akimbo, black Stetson pushed back on his head, larger than life. The Lord of the Land waiting for their arrival.
Everyone got out of the vehicles. There was more talking and hugging and backslapping. Ridge jammed his hands into his pockets, wishing they'd get the show on the road. He'd forgotten how small town folk took life at a leisurely pace.
He took out his phone-hey, why not do some business while he waited-but he couldn't get any bars. He was in the boonest of the boondocks, and still no decent cell reception away from the mansion's Wi-Fi. Ah, the Trans-Pecos. He slipped his phone back into his pocket.
Kaia popped over to him. "You look antsy."
"Bored."
"Mom says boredom indicates a lack of inner resources."
"Meaning?"
"That fact that you're alive is reason enough not to get bored."
"Um, yeah, okay."
"You're not bored." She tapped her chin, eyed him up and down. "You're nervous."
He lowered his eyelids, sent her the most bored look he could conjure. "Do I look nervous to you?"
"It's okay to be nervous. You've been away a long time."
"Not long enough."
She grinned and wriggled like a puppy. "You were missed around here, you know. You cast a big shadow, Mr. Lockhart."
He snorted.
"Give us a smile." She prodded. "It's a glorious morning and you're home and your best friend is getting married to the love of his life. There is so much to be happy about and thankful for. I know I'm thankful you're home."
"Oh yeah?" He simultaneously raised one eyebrow and the opposite corner of his mouth in what Archer called his Pablo Picasso smile.
"You earned the number one spot on my gratitude list this morning. First thing I wrote down." She pantomimed taking notes. "Ridge is coming home."
"Gratitude list?"
"Yes, I make a gratitude list every morning while I have my cup of coffee. Perfect way to start the day. By remembering how lucky I am to be alive. I started the list after my accident. Keeps you from being bored with life. Try it some time."
"I'm sorry you had to go through that." He dropped the smile.
"I'm not." She upped the wattage on her grin and it did something to him. "It changed my life in so many beautiful ways. These days, I take nothing for granted. Now, whenever life puts an opportunity in my path, I always say yes."
"Even if it's a mistake?"
"There's no such thing as mistakes. Everything we do and experience is a chance to grow and learn. When you look at it that way, nothing can ever go wrong."
"Sorry"-he shook his head-"but that's a horse I just can't ride."
"I know," she said cheerily. "It doesn't matter. Things still happen for a reason whether you believe it or not."
"So the reason you almost died was because . . ."
"The Universe was teaching me to live in the moment and stop worrying so much about the future and regretting the past."
"Couldn't the universe have picked a kinder way?" He was mocking her, but she didn't take offense.
"Sometimes it takes getting T-boned by a milk truck to wake you up."
"Milk truck, huh?"
"Driver fell asleep at the wheel."
"Would the message have been different if it had been another kind of vehicle?"
She paused as if actually considering it. "Nope. Delivery method doesn't alter the content of the message."
"Um, okay. If you say so."
"Now you're getting it."
Kaia was a regular beam of sunshine. It rubbed him the wrong way. How on God's green earth did anyone get that cheerful? And stay that way? It wasn't healthy. Either that or he was just jealous. "Optimism. How annoying."