The wedding went off without a hitch. The dresses turned out beautiful. Barbara had come in a week early to check fit and length. She had each one of them try on their dresses with the shoes they would be wearing at the wedding, so the lengths would be perfect.

Alyssa’s dress was simple elegance with seed pearls lining the bodice and hem. She wore white cowboy boots her father had made her. He’d started on them the day after Beau had proposed to her on the video chat. He’d given them to her after everyone had cleared out after the wedding shower. Alyssa had burst into tears and clung onto her father, until his shirt was wet.

Tony and Jill had been adorable. Jill took after her father and had blond hair, but it had the curl of Barbara’s and she’d ended up with hazel eyes. Tony had the Kipling dark hair and brown eyes. They looked so cute together. Alyssa’s favorite colors were the warm tones of red, yellow and orange. So, Rachel was in red, Emma was in orange and little Jill was in yellow. The men all wore black western style suits with bolo ties and cowboy boots.

Rachel had reigned in her need to be behind the camera, but had kept her eye on the two photographers Alyssa had hired, to make sure they didn’t miss anything. She had to admit it looked like they were doing a very good job. They had shown Alyssa and Rachel some of the shots right from the camera, and they looked great. So, Rachel finally relaxed and let them do their job and she did hers as the maid of honor.

She was happy her mom and dad had come to the wedding, she missed them, but she also realized it was time to cut the apron strings and told them she planned to register for college in California. She still wasn’t positive she wanted to go to college, but she decided that going back to live in her childhood bedroom was no longer an option. When she told her mom and dad they had looked at each other. Then they had turned to her and told her they were proud of her. They would miss her, but also had realized it was time for her to live away from them. It had been emotional but in a happy way.

Adam had given an excellent toast that had everyone laughing and also pulled a tear or two from most of the ladies. Both dads had given moving toasts and Grandpa K had kept it short and sweet with, “Welcome to the family Alyssa, I’m happy to have a new granddaughter and looking forward to a few more great-grandkids, now let’s get to dancing.”

Rachel danced with all the Kipling men, including Grandpa K. They were all good dancers, but she enjoyed dancing with Adam the most. She’d also been dragged into dances with half her home town men, and some she didn’t know at all, from Colorado. It was fun, and she didn’t mind, but a few more dances with Adam would have been even better.

She was a little surprised when he didn’t dance with any of the local women, or any of the single women from Chelan. He only partnered with Rachel, Emma and his mother. She wondered if he didn’t like dancing, or what. He was a good dancer, so it wasn’t a skill issue. She planned to ask him about that, the next time they were alone.

* * *

Adam stood at the side of the dance floor and tried not to watch Rachel as every single man in the room danced with her. He was determined not to be jealous. He kept reminding himself, she was too young. She was leaving. He needed a more mature partner, he had responsibilities. But it wasn’t working, with each new man she danced with he felt himself tense. There were men from her home town like Tim Jefferson for example. He danced with Rachel, but only once and then he went off to dance with every other female in the room including Adam’s mother and the twin’s best friend Katie. In fact, if he wasn’t mistaken Tim had danced with Katie a couple of times. Well, better than Rachel, in his opinion, anyway.

All of a sudden, the object of his musings was standing in front of him, barefoot and breathing hard. Her hair had come loose from the fancy doodad she’d had it in at the wedding, and there were bits of it hanging down, caressing her bare shoulders. Her skin was flushed and a little damp and he wanted to drag her into the nearest dark corner, push up that fire engine red dress and have his way with her.

She looked at him with sparkling eyes. “Are you going to stand here holding up the wall all night? I could use a reprieve from all these guys I don’t know.”

“You looked to be holding your own with all of them. And I’m pretty sure you know at least some of them or we have party crashers, because I don’t know all of them.”

She laughed, a bright sparkling sound. “Yes, I do know some of them. I’ve danced with everyone and I have been the perfect hostess, but now I just want a break.”

“And I’m your break?” he asked lifting his brows at her.

She nodded. “Yes, I know you. In more ways than anyone else in this room, well except for… never mind, old news, not important. With you I can relax. So, come on, give the girl a break and dance with me.”

He wondered which guy was the “old news” but maybe it was better he didn’t know. So, he didn’t have to kill the guy. He sighed deeply, and she laughed again. “If I must.”

“Yay.”

Even though he had pretended he was doing her a favor, he was delighted to be holding her. He wasn’t a bit sad that the music had turned slower, so he could hold her in his arms. He held her close and breathed in her scent as he twirled her on the floor. It seemed to him that everyone had paired back up for this dance. His mom and dad, Rachel’s mom and dad, Alyssa’s parents, Alyssa and Beau and other married couples or long-time partners. Surprisingly enough Chase was with Katie and Tim was with his little sister Beth.

He whirled Rachel through the next few steps making her laugh. He noticed that the old lady Mrs. Erickson was finally sitting this one out, she’d been out for over half of the dances and she had to be pushing ninety. Her escort, a guy named Greg, was dancing with the woman named Sandy who had developed the Adventures with Tsilly game, that everyone loved. Sandy had been as popular on the dance floor as Rachel, but Adam was certain every one of her dance partners had grilled her about the secrets in the most recent release of the game, and questions about what would be in the next one. It didn’t look like Greg was grilling Sandy, just holding her close, probably giving her a break, like he was with Rachel.

The longer they danced the more relaxed he became, he wasn’t in a hurry for the song to end. He wondered if this might be the last dance of the night. It had to be getting close to the end of the festivities. Beau and Alyssa had commandeered the wedding cabin at the Singing River Ranch for the next two nights, so they could see off their company before flying to Hawaii for ten days. Everyone planned to meet back here tomorrow after lunch, to clean up the Grange. Then his family was going to host everyone for an evening barbeque at the ranch, before all the Washington people left the following morning.

He and Rachel would drive Beau and Alyssa to their honeymoon cabin. There was already a car there and the clothes they would need for the next two days and of course their luggage was all packed up ready for Hawaii. Beau hadn’t told anyone which island they were going to, it was a big secret. He didn’t think Alyssa even knew.

Rachel snuggled closer and he wondered if she would like to share a bed with him tonight. Maybe not, it had been a long day and she was probably tired. But the way she was pressing up against him, he had to wonder. Time would tell, the woman wasn’t shy about letting him know she was interested. He never had to guess.

The song ended and Hank Jefferson walked up to the front where the microphone was. “Thanks for coming folks. That’s the last of the festivities for the evening. Please join us outside to see the bride and groom off.”

The kids with their bubbles raced for the door. Adam signaled Beau to indicate he’d have the transportation at the end of the tunnel of friends. Then he and Rachel went out to drive the carriage up. They’d thought about riding horses away from the event, but had decided that horse drawn carriage would be fun. One of their neighbors was a history buff and had two different ones that he gave people rides with during the peak tourist times. He’d loaned them the smaller one for the wedding. They were only going a couple of miles so it would be a fun sight. He’d assigned the decorating of the carriage to the twin sets and it looked great.

He helped Rachel up into the driver’s seat and clambered up next to her.

“The twins did a great job, the decorations are perfect, not too few and not too gaudy,” she said.

He nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. I think any tourists in town are going to get a kick out of it.”

“I wonder if anyone from Chedwick will get a wild hair to add it to one of the wedding destination packages offered in town.”

Adam looked at her as he started the horses to walking toward the front of the building. “Your town had destination weddings?”

“Yes, it was one of the ideas that was suggested at a town meeting a few years ago to draw more tourists. There were three ideas actually.” She ticked them off on her fingers as she told him. “The first was to capitalize on the popularity of the Adventures with Tsilly game, which spawned an amusement park. The second was to showcase the many artisans that live in our town, which culminated in a new website and an eclectic art gallery, that has my photos, Tim’s wood carvings, and a whole bunch of other local artists. The crowning work is Lucille Thompson’s glass art. The third is destination weddings.”

“Even I have heard of Lucille Thompson. How did she get involved?”

“It’s a bit of a long story for this moment. But the short version is her son, Nolan, became our town sheriff, so she brought her art when Kristen opened the gallery.”

Adam nodded. “Interesting. Here they come. You’ll have to tell me the long version someday.”

“Will do. I hope all those bubbles don’t scare the horses.”

“No worries.”

Adam held the horses still while Beau and Alyssa ran the gauntlet of friends and then scrambled into the carriage.

The crowd started chanting. “Kiss, kiss.” So, Beau and Alyssa obliged them as Adam started the horses to walking. Some of the teenagers chased after them continuing the chant. Tourists and shop workers came out to continue the chant as he walked the horses down main street.