Rolling his eyes, Hurst turned back and pulled his phone out. “Get a bit closer together for me. I want to put this on the Piersville Facebook page to convince people to move here.”
All of us gave him a small smile, including Nemi, as he snapped the photo, but as soon as he was done, Cash asked, “How will that make people want to move here?”
Shoving the phone back into the pocket inside his jacket, Hurst shrugged. “As soon as we walked through the door, all of the women in the family made a gasping, whimpering noise when they saw y’all standing there in suits.”
I’d decided to have my brothers and Heidi’s brother, Cash, as my best men. I wasn’t going to choose between any of them as they were all equally important to me, so that was it. Hearing this comment from Hurst, though, we all shifted uncomfortably and glanced warily out at the guests.
“I figured if you can get that reaction out of married”—he said the word loudly and glared over his shoulder at where his family was seated. None of the women looked ashamed or embarrassed by it. Instead, they just smiled sweetly at us—“women, any woman would see it as a good reason to move or visit the town.”
Tony, one of the Townsend family’s many adopted members, walked up with his husband, Lars, beside him, both of them holding the hand of one of their daughters. “Gay men, too. And I can say that with one hundred percent certainty.”
Canon and Reid puffed their chests out proudly at the comment. Jesus, these guys!
“We’re happy to do our civic duty for the town,” Reid said smoothly, making a show of tugging his suit jacket sleeves down and checking his cuff links.
“In that case, maybe send Hurst that photo of you in your swimming shorts, standing in the pool, with water pouring down your—” Tony cut off when Lars kicked him in the back of the foot and cleared his throat. “It’s a good photo. People will definitely visit if they see it.”
And with that, he shot us a wave and turned to walk to where his family was saving their seats for them. The whole time, his daughter looked over her shoulder at me, smiling and blowing kisses.
“Where’s this photo he was talking about?” Hurst mumbled, hitting the screen of his phone.
I could see the mild panic on Reid’s face at the prospect, just as Mom and Dad came over to us. With her face clasped in her hands, she looked at the four of us. “My handsome boys.”
“She’s talking to me,” Cash advised us loudly, just as he leaned forward to kiss her cheek. “I’m one of them now, aren’t I?” he asked, then leaned in and said in a stage whisper, “You don’t have to say it out loud that I’m the best looking one. Just take a breath in.”
“Fucker,” Reid hissed under his breath, nudging him out of the way and bending down to accept a kiss from her.
It had to be said, my mom was always beautiful, but at that moment, she looked gorgeous. She was wearing a pale pink dress with a jacket over the top about five inches longer than where the dress hit just above her knee. On her head was a wide-brimmed hat with some sort of short net panel that fell over her forehead. She was also wearing one of her favorite wigs, even though her natural hair was beautiful as it was, but she said a girl needed variety, so that’s why she had them. Beside her, Dad stood tall and proud in a dark gray suit that matched our own, with the same silver silk tie as us.
“Oh, and look at you,” Mom cooed as she looked down at Nemi. “My grandbaby’s the prettiest girl in the world.”
“Sure am, Gammy.” Nemi did a twirl. “I’m wearing my best hair, too.” She tugged at the end of a braid to show Mom.
Leaning in closer to me, Dad whispered, “Heidi’s going to shit her pants when she sees that.”
Actually, I didn’t think she would. Heidi wasn’t a bridezilla in any way, shape, or form. She’d just gone along with the plans while they were being made, making sure I liked what she’d chosen. I’d even gone to the shop with them to choose Nemi’s dress, at both of their insistences. The only thing I’d been kept out of was Heidi’s dress, but I had it on good authority from Mom and her mother, Angelique, that I was going to love it.
She could be wearing a burlap sack, and I’d still want her. So long as Heidi was breathing, there wasn’t one thing in the world that could change that.
When Nemi turned to look up at Dad, he changed his tune immediately. “Look at you. I hardly recognized you in that pretty dress. Is there a competition for the best looking flower girl, or even a modeling contract? We should check after the wedding’s over.”