It was the day before the shower and all hands were on deck. When Brock had suggested using his wild horse barn for the wedding shower, she’d kind of laughed, not believing him, but it was working out better than she’d expected.

The horses he currently had in training had been moved to the stalls at the back of the barn and he’d blocked off the entranceway to get there. Then he’d dragged most of the sand out of the ring, through the far side opening, and into a huge pile. She didn’t even know how he’d done that. The remaining bit of sand covered a hard foundation of crushed rock, he’d told her, a perfect base for the plywood sheets to create a floor. And as they settled the sheets onto the ground, the sand filled the cracks, so hopefully no wheelchair tires would get bound up.

Chad had warned them that there would probably be people attending with disabilities, so they were doing their best to accommodate everyone. Brock had done an excellent job leveling as much of the area as he could. If there was a doorjamb, he’d built tiny little ramps to go over them. The gravel barn lot had been layered and rolled with limestone crush, which packed down almost like cement.

The rafters of the barn had been hung with lengths of fabric and twinkling lights, and the doorways were all decorated with white tulle, tied back with rustic twine and decorated with white fabric flowers.

The expanse of the barn had been separated into sections by the grouping of the furniture. Directly to the right of the doorway were a couple of tables to hold gifts folks brought for the couple, then a ‘Bubbly Bar’. That had been Payton’s idea. Guests could grab a glass of champagne, beer or soda, and add things to their drinks if they wanted. There were fruit juices and berries for the champagne, oranges and limes for the beer, and cherries and special syrups for the Cokes. Tomorrow there would also be raspberry sherbet party punch for the kids. Cheyenne thought it might end up being a mess, but they’d worry about that later.

The far right of the barn had been set up for the catering. There were giant barbeques parked outside for roasting chickens and ribs. And the caterer would bring an assortment of side items. There would be enough food to feed people a couple of meals, depending upon how long they stayed.

Cheyenne had ordered cupcakes from Sophia’s in town. Sophia herself promised to deliver them early tomorrow morning.

On the far side of the barn, across from the entrance, they’d set up a seating area where people could sit for games. Cheyenne knew Lora was a little more conservative than the Texans who’d be there, so she’d told Payton to keep the games PG rated. Cheyenne had an idea what a couple of the games would be just by what was stacked over there.

Round tables had been set in the middle for people to eat, draped with white table cloths, and she gaped at them all. “How many did you get?” she asked Brock.

“Well,” he said, taking off his hand to swipe an arm across his sweaty forehead. “Chad says he’s bussing down at least twenty-five people, and others are driving themselves. By the time you count our family, the hands, local ranchers, and every curious yahoo from town looking for free beer, I expect to have the better part of two, three hundred people through here. And that might be conservative. So there are thirty tables that will seat ten.”

Yeah, she supposed that was right. The number of big round tables before her just looked like more than thirty.

“They do realize this is just the shower and not the actual wedding, right?”

Brock shrugged. “The round-ups are all done and people are ready to party. July Fourth is next weekend and this is a good lead up to it. Plus, if they show up here, they might actually get invited to the wedding itself.”

They laughed, because that was probably true.

“And everyone likes music and dancing and you girls got a good band to come play. We’re setting up their stage next.”

Cheyenne looked to the other end of the barn, and the expanse of floor left open for dancing and the stage. This was going to be an incredible party.

“Thank you for letting us use your barn. And for everything you’ve done to help us get ready.”

“He’s my brother too.” Brock shrugged and set his hat back on his head. His eyes drifted back to the Bubbly Bar where Payton was setting out champagne flutes. “Plus,” he said slowly, “this is a good practice run. I have a feeling this won’t be the only time it’s used for this purpose.”

And as she looked at Sheridan hauling in another box of table decorations, Cheyenne had a feeling he was right.

* * *

The morning broke in a glorious Texas sunrise, unparalleled in beauty, but in a stroke of luck a slight front had moved through, cooling the area a few precious degrees.

Chad and Lora and their daughter Mercy arrived before noon, and Cheyenne would forever remember the expression on Lora’s face—and Chad’s as well—as they walked into the ‘barn’.

Lora started crying quietly. “Oh…my… goodness…” She turned to Chad and he wrapped her in his arms, murmuring quietly while a gratified smile spread over his face.

Cheyenne glanced at Payton. “I guess we did good.”

Nodding as she pulled from Chad, Lora hugged them both, holding their hands as they wandered around the expanse. She picked up one of the silver painted Mason jars full of baby’s breath and pink carnations. “Did you make these?”

Cheyenne nodded. “Well, Payton and the girls and I did, last week.”

Lora picked up one of the Jenga pieces sitting on a table, then leaned down to read the sign. “Build Memories. Oh,” she breathed, “rather than a registry. That’s so clever.”

She laughed at the ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ sign, and the huge stack of toilet paper rolls beside it. “This is going to be crazy.”

“It will be,” Payton promised.

The next table held a wooden chest and writing utensils, as well as a stack of notecards. “Advice for the Mr. and Mrs. To Be…”

“Oh my,” Lora said with a laugh. “This one could be dangerous.”

“We’ll just have to get people to sign the cards before they drink too much,” Cheyenne laughed. “We also have two different games for the kids. One is a scavenger hunt to find fake gemstone rings hidden all around the barn and another to take silly pictures of the guests with disposable cameras. The guests have to be as silly as they can.”

Lora laughed, shaking her head again, then she fell somber. “I have no relatives left in my family, so you have no idea how important all these things are. I will remember this for the rest of my life.”

They hugged again, and shed a few tears, until Chad called her away to look at something else. The two of them eventually headed into the house to see his mom and dad and get dressed.

The entire day rolled out without a hitch. The private bus full of Chad’s friends from work arrived just as some of the neighbors began pulling in and parking on the grass beyond the field. It wasn’t one o’clock yet, the official time of the party, but some people just enjoyed being early.

Cheyenne and Sheridan and Payton and Brock were already dressed and started welcoming people to the party. Chad had given them a little bit of background about the men and women he worked with, but it was a pleasure getting to meet them in person.

Zeke and Ember she loved as soon as she met, and their son Drew disappeared with Grace and Mercy almost immediately. Zeke’s scarred face made her heart ache for him, but he didn’t seem concerned. Ember looked at him with total devotion in her eyes, and Cheyenne could see they were very much in love.

Cat and Preston Harper were a striking pair, but they both smiled when they came in. They had two kids, Tate, eight, and Dillon, fourteen, almost replicas of their parents. Cheyenne remembered the tall, forbidding sniper from the incident with Lora’s ex, but she’d had no idea the man had a family. Or that he could smile. Tate caught up with Grace, Drew and Mercy while Dillon wandered over to the Bubbly Bar where Olivia and Carolyn were already mixing up very fancy Cokes.

Cassandra and Roger seemed newly engaged, but also deeply in love. It wasn’t until they were walking away that Cheyenne noticed that Cassandra was holding Roger’s prosthetic arm.

“I thought John and Shannon were coming as well?” she asked Chad at one point. “I’m anxious to meet them.”

“They’ll be here,” he promised. “Shannon’s twins are due any day now, and she has to be as comfortable as possible, so John was driving his own vehicle down. Easier with the wheelchair, too, because he has a lift on it.”

“Ah,” she said softly.

A huge shiny motor coach rolled in and parked beside the Denver bus. Two couples walked down the steps, the first couple carrying two little ones, and started walking toward the barn.

The very tall blond woman looked incredibly familiar and she carried a darling dark-haired baby boy on her hip. The woman seemed too… urbane for their ranch, dressed in a beautiful peach-colored pantsuit, but she smiled warmly when they were introduced, and seemed genuinely pleased to be there. A big man stood at her shoulder, holding a beautiful little girl in a pink dress. “Please excuse us. My name is Grif Parks, my wife Kendall, our son Jameson, and our daughter Zoe. Kendall doesn’t get out of the office much, can you tell?”

Kendall laughed and swatted at his arm. “Quit it, Grif.” She glanced around the modified barn. “This is stunning. Thank you so much for having us.”

“Help yourselves to the refreshments,” Cheyenne told them.

A dark-haired woman with pretty blue-grey eyes shook her hand. There was a swatch of bright pink in her hair, and she wore a flowing dress that highlighted her little baby bump. “I’m Kendall’s friend Lilly, and this is Diego Ortiz, my fiancé.”

Cheyenne blinked, wondering if the man realized how scrumptious he looked, with the rakish eye patch and the glittering diamond earring. He was dark Hispanic, with a light green eye. Lilly better keep an eye on him or one of the Honeywell women might snag him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both. Welcome.”

Then she realized, as she looked at them greeting the crowd, who the women were. Both women had been models at one time. Well-known ones.

“Did you know who they were?” she hissed to Sheridan as the couples wandered away.

Grinning, he gave her that implacable cop nod he had, and she shook her head in exasperation.

As the men and some women trooped in, she was amazed at the diversity and the companionship she saw. It was obvious that some of them hadn’t seen each other for a while as well, because they were laughing and joking, catching up as friends do. Even the forbidding Harper, the sniper, was grinning as he was pounded on the back of the heavily scarred Zeke, the only other man almost the same size.

When a black truck pulled near the barn door, Chad waved at the driver where to park. Cheyenne was curious as Chad walked out to open the passenger side door. A small and very pregnant woman took his hand as she maneuvered herself out of the cab. This must be John and Shannon.

The woman was beautiful and pregnancy obviously agreed with her, but it didn’t with the darkly handsome man in the wheelchair that wheeled around the front of the truck. He watched every move the woman made, and snapped at one of the men to ‘get her a fucking chair’.

The woman laughed at him and turned to Cheyenne, “As if I haven’t been sitting for hours already! Hi, I’m Shannon Palmer.”

Cheyenne was charmed. Shannon Palmer was a doll, so sweet and friendly. “I apologize for my husband. He’s a little overprotective of me and the babies. Right now,” she leaned forward conspiratorially, “I kinda need the little girl’s room.”

Cheyenne guided her back through the barn door and to the room-sized, portable outhouse one of Brock’s men had built just for this occasion. It had been hooked up to a hose outside, so it had running water to flush the toilet and clean with. It was actually quite nice and almost felt like you were in a house, with a tile floor and high-end fixtures. There was a baby changing table in one corner, and a front porch with a chair. It was also completely handicapped accessible. Brock had reasoned that it would be used more than once over the coming months.

As soon as they returned to the barn, John pulled Shannon down into his lap and wheeled her toward the refreshments.

An older man walked into the room, silver haired and dark eyed, with a beautiful redheaded woman on his arm. Cheyenne immediately flung her arms around the man, then turned to Sheridan. “This is Chad’s boss and partner, Duncan Wilde. Duncan, Sheriff Sheridan Lane. Not sure if you’ve met or not.” She turned to the woman at his side. “And you must be Alex. It’s such a pleasure to meet you!”

Cheyenne knew immediately that they would get along like long lost friends. Actually, she’d felt an immediate kinship with all of the women that had arrived today. Some of them were bridesmaids in the wedding party, like she and Payton were. Shannon, assuming the babies were delivered fine, was supposed to be the maid of honor, but Cheyenne had cheerfully offered to take over the shower responsibilities for her.

They all agreed that they needed to have a meeting about the dresses they would be wearing for the wedding—assuming Daddy would give them a color—before the Colorado contingent left Texas.

Mama and Daddy came out in the midst of all the arrivals. Her father’s eyes gleamed as they looked around at what she and Payton and Brock had done. “I see you’ve been taking plays from my playbook,” he murmured.

Cheyenne laughed. “Oh, really? Maybe we both just have great taste.”

“I love you, baby.”

“I love you too, Daddy.”

He glanced at Sheridan standing behind her. “You gonna let me plan your wedding too?”

Sheridan laughed and shook his head. “That’s completely up to her.”

Cheyenne narrowed her eyes at her father. “We’ll see…”

Cheyenne lost track of all of the men and women that came. There were so many of Chad’s military friends from the Lost and Found group she lost track of names. Marlene’s NBC group showed up early, because they wanted ringside seats to see who all arrived. They claimed one far side table where they could watch everyone. Cheyenne saw a few other disabled men and women arrive and asked Chad if they were part of his group as well, but Chad shook his head. “Brock said he invited some of the guys from the Sweetwater equine therapy place down the road.”

Ah, yes, there was Ryan Whitfield, the woman that ran it, weaving her way through the crowd to sit with Payton.

Emily arrived late to the party, her skin flushed, her pale green eyes looking tired. “I’m sorry I’m late. It was hard getting away from the city today.”

Cheyenne wrapped her in a hug. “Hey, Chicken. No worries. Just glad you’re here now. Mama and Daddy are over there,” she pointed.

With a nod, Emily headed in that direction, after grabbing a flute of champagne.

All of the people in the room took time to talk to Chad and Lora and wish them well. The happy couple ate and danced and played ridiculous games that Cheyenne and Payton had dreamed up. Cheyenne thought Lora looked ethereal in the pale blue dress swirling about her legs as she moved.

The guests played along when the kids started running around with digital cameras taking silly pictures, and by the end of the night the wooden chest was overflowing with helpful advice cards and all of the Jenga pieces had been signed. Three boxes worth. The toilet paper wedding dress, made by Sophia herself, hung in a place of honor near the bride-to-be.

Lora caught her eye several times, thanking her over and over again. Chad joined her at one point where she and Sheridan had settled and wrapped her in a hug. “Sis, I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for us today. You’ve made Lora feel like an important part of the family.”

“She is an important part of the family,” Cheyenne told him sternly.

“I know, I know. Sometimes it takes people a while to realize that, and a really big demonstration.”

“Yes,” she agreed, laughing. “But remember. It wasn’t just me. Brock has been working on this for the past week, and Payton has helped me with planning for longer than that.”

“I already spoke to Brock and thanked him. I’ll find Payton next.”

With another squeeze, Chad returned to Lora.

There was a general feeling of goodwill in the room, and Cheyenne took a moment to absorb it. There were a lot of disabled men and a few women here, but no one reacted to the disabilities themselves. She had worried that the general public wouldn’t understand what all the men shared, but she’d been mistaken. Every one was talking and laughing.

“You know,” Sheridan said softly. “There’s a lot of love in this room right now. Chad has amazing friends. And this community has really stepped up as well.”

“Yes,” she whispered, leaning back against him.

“I’m not trying to steal anyone’s thunder, but I have something for you.”

Cheyenne looked up at him curiously. “What’s that?”

He fished in his pocket for something, and Cheyenne’s heart began to race.

“I’ve only loved twice in my life, so this might be a little rusty.” He pulled the ring from his pocket. “Cheyenne Lowell, I love you with all my heart. Will you marry me?”

She looked down at the giant fake ruby on the sparkly plastic ring and burst out laughing, then met his twinkling gaze with a brilliant smile. “Yes, Sheridan Lane, I will.”

He cupped her face in his hands and rested his lips on hers, brushing back and forth, breathing her in. Cheyenne sighed as he stroked a finger down the side of her breast.

“Mama!”

Cheyenne pulled back, a little dazed. She blinked before looking up at her daughter.

“What, Savannah?”

Savannah’s eyes were wide with panic behind her glasses and her nice clothes were suspiciously dusty, with damp patches here and there. “You need to come quick! Grace did something really bad!”

Still laughing, Cheyenne looked at Sheridan, “Are you absolutely, positively sure about this marriage thing? You’re not getting any more outs.”

Grinning, he took her hand and tugged her to her feet. “Let’s go see what our daughter’s gotten herself into.”

The End…