Epilogue

Nick and Heath had a romp with J.J. and some coffee with Maggie and Jarrod before they left to go to town for dinner with Nancy and Suzanne. Nick was uncharacteristically quiet as they rode. When Heath asked him why, Nick just replied, "J.J. wore me out."

Heath laughed. "He's not even walking yet. Come on, Nick, what are you thinking about?"

Nick sighed. "Well, what do you think? Should we talk to the girls about moving the wedding dates up?"

"Moving them up? To when?"

"May, maybe. Maybe give Mother that double wedding she's had her eye on."

Heath pulled to a stop, and Nick had to back up to him. "Are you serious?" Heath asked.

Nick nodded.

"Why?"

Nick leaned on the horn of his saddle. "Well, there's the reason I'd tell Jarrod and the reason I'd tell everybody else."

"What would you tell Jarrod?"

Nick smiled a little bit. "That I just can't wait to – well, you know – darn it, how can you wait all the way to September?"

Heath laughed again. "There's a lot of truth to that reason, but what would you tell everybody else?"

"That I'm afraid if we wait until September and October, Jarrod won't be there."

Heath's smile vanished. "What makes you think that?"

"He's getting worse all the time. You saw it today. It wasn't the dust getting to him."

Heath didn't like Nick's thinking. "Yeah, well, he's had some worse trouble, I know, but that doesn't mean he won't be here in September."

"Heath, I'm scared."

Heath had to take him very seriously now. Nick never admitted to being afraid of anything.

"I want my big brother at my wedding," Nick said. "I want him well enough to enjoy it. Don't you?"

Heath nodded. "Yeah, I do. So, you want to talk to the girls about it tonight?"

"I do," Nick said. "You on board with this, or do you want to keep the September date?"

"I guess it kinda depends on what Suzanne wants."

When they brought it up to the girls, they gave them the reason they wouldn't say to Jarrod – and then they gave him the one they would say to Jarrod as well. Sitting at the table at dinner, dessert finished in front of them, Nancy and Suzanne looked at each other and smiled.

"We were thinking the same things," Nancy said. "We talked about it the other day."

"We didn't know how to bring it up with you two without sounding – well, let's just say we're not sure we could wait until autumn either," Suzanne said with an almost embarrassed smile. But then she said, "And we want to be sure Jarrod is there, too."

"He's had a lot to do with both of us being where we are today," Nancy said. "Let's do it. Let's see what your mother says."

Nick and Heath broached the subject with their mother almost as soon as they got home. They first said they just wanted to be married sooner, without giving her any reason, and she broke into a bright smile as soon as she heard it.

Nick quickly said, "And we talked to the girls about it, and they like the idea of a double wedding, too, but at the church, not here. Is that all right?"

"Oh, my goodness, yes," Victoria said. "But that only gives us two months to prepare!"

"Well, the way we see it," Heath said, "we have a private ceremony at the church, family and close friends only, and then we have a big reception out here, kinda like we did for Audra last year. That will be easier to plan for."

"Yes, you're right, it will," Victoria said and started thinking about guest lists right away. But then she stopped, and looked at her sons with what looked more like gratitude than excitement. "And it will make it far more likely that Jarrod will be able to enjoy it with us."

Nick nodded. "That was the main reason we wanted to do this," he said. "We couldn't imagine getting married without Jarrod there."

Victoria kissed each of them on the cheek. "But you best not say that to him," she said.

"We won't," Heath said. "We – have - another reason we'll - give him."

Heath's stuttering gave the unspoken reason away, and Victoria smiled a lop-sided smile that usually was Heath's. "I'm not sure which reason has the most truth to it."

Nick said, "Uhhhhhhh - "

The End