I knew my brother.
He was worried about her.
“Keep me posted on Frank, please.” Cage cleared his throat.
Reese came in, carrying Gracie in her arms. She was wearing a white dress covered in little flowers that ran down to the floor with her boots beneath it. She had her cowboy hat on her head, and her gaze locked with mine.
“You ready to do this, Chewy?”
“I love when you call Uncle Finny Chewy.” Gracie’s head fell back in laughter as she jumped down to her feet.
“All right, we have a little surprise for everyone before we eat. Come on outside. It won’t take too long. Bring your jackets if you’re cold.” I sent a quick text to Father Davis, who was waiting for us down by the water, before sending a text to my cousin Everly, because I had a few surprises for everyone today.
With Reese’s hand in mine, we led our families down through the field and into the pines. The timing, well, it was perfect.
Just the way we wanted it.
The sun was getting ready to go to sleep, and we were going to say our vows right before it did.
Under the last bit of citrine-colored sunshine.
“Look how gorgeous that sunset is,” Georgia said as she and Maddox walked beside us.
“It’s something.” Maddox glanced over at me like he was trying to figure out what I was up to.
My parents and Reese’s parents were talking a mile a minute and never questioned why we were all going for a walk.
Brinkley, on the other hand… She never missed a beat.
“What’s going on, Finny?”
“You know what, Brinks? You’re going to have to wait to find out.”
“That is never okay with me,” she huffed, and Lincoln wrapped his arms around her from behind and chuckled as we made our way through the pines.
It was quiet, which surprised me, considering there was a small group waiting for us just a few feet away.
When we came through the other end of the tree line, there stood all my cousins and their husbands and their kids. Reese’s cousins were there, as well, but considering they were a small group of four, the Thomas family was large. I didn’t know how they’d kept all the kids so quiet, but they had. Dylan was there, holding baby Hugh, with Wolf standing beside her.
“Oh my word. What are you all doing here?” my mother gasped, and everyone started hugging one another.
“We have no idea. Finny said we needed to be here, and we came.” Dylan shrugged. “Although, we didn’t know we wouldn’t be allowed in the house and that we’d be hidden out in the trees like criminals.”
Wolf barked out a laugh. “We’re on a beach, baby. We’re hardly being hidden like criminals.”
“I peed in the trees already. It feels a bit scandalous when you’re wearing a dress and carrying a newborn.” She raised a brow.
“Don’t act like it’s your first time peeing in public,” Everly said over her laughter as she hugged me. “Happy to be here for whatever this is, Finny.”
“We’re so happy you included us.” Ashlan kissed my cheek.
“Fine. We’re happy to be here,” Dylan said as she kissed my cheek, and Reese gushed over the baby.
“Listen, if it’s important to you, it’s important to us,” Vivi said, giving me a hug while holding her little girl in her arms. She was adorable and looked just like her mama.
Uncle Jack made his rounds, shaking everyone’s hands, and Cage gave up and tied Maxine to the tree before crossing his arms over his chest. “Can you tell us why we’re all down here now, please?”
Reese looked at me, and I reached for her hands, moving to stand in front of the group. I called out to Father Davis, and he came walking out from the other side of the pine trees, and everyone’s eyes widened when they saw him.
“We wanted you all to be here today because we’re getting married.” I put my hands up before anyone could say anything. “We wanted to do it last week, but it was important for us to have you here.”
“This is exactly what we want for our special day. Surrounded by the people we love, in our favorite place, at our favorite time of day,” Reese said, smiling up at me.
“Before sunset,” I said, winking at her. “So, thanks for being here. Let’s do this.”
There were some whistles, and everyone clapped their hands and watched as we stood in front of Father Davis.
He did a short intro and said that we would each be reading our vows to one another. He motioned for Reese to go first.