Lincoln pulled his gaze away from Dixie and accepted the peace offering. “Thank you, Grant.” It was a little too soon to use Dad. But maybe one day he would feel comfortable enough with the senator to use it. And this was certainly a good start. He shook his new father-in-law’s hand. “Like I said before when I was asking for Dixie’s hand in marriage, I’m going to try and be a perfect husband to your daughter.”
“I don’t expect perfection, son. Lord only knows that I haven’t been a perfect husband. I just expect you to love Dixie as much as her mother and I do.”
“I will, sir . . . Grant. You have my word on that.”
The senator nodded before he pulled Lincoln in for a hard hug and slap on the back. “Good enough.” He drew away. “Now I better go make sure my wife hasn’t had too much champagne and started promising my constituents things I can’t deliver.”
Once the senator was gone, Lincoln would’ve gone back to his now favorite pastime of watching Dixie if he hadn’t spotted Maisy sitting in the back corner of the reception tent with Sawyer Dawson. Lincoln wasn’t surprised the two were together. It seemed they had met on the rodeo circuit and were friends. But they were acting a little more than friendly now. Maisy was sitting backwards on a chair while Sawyer sat on a chair behind her with his hands on her waist and his mouth close to her ear.
Anger was too mild a word for what Lincoln felt. In the last few months, Maisy had become like a little sister to him. And he wasn’t about to let his little sister get her heart broken by a man who went through women like a raccoon went through trash. Even if that man was his best friend.
He weaved around the tables, nodding at guests until he reached Maisy and Sawyer. Neither one looked at all guilty when he approached. Sawyer looked up and smiled, but kept his hands on Maisy’s waist. And Maisy grinned her gap-toothed grin.
“Hey, cowboy. Where’s your better half?”
“She probably figured out the mistake she made and ran for the hills,” Sawyer teased. “I wouldn’t want to be shackled to this guy forever either.”
Maisy laughed and glanced over her shoulder at Sawyer. “You wouldn’t want to be shackled to anyone with two legs, you rodeo bum.”
Sawyer grinned sheepishly. “You do have a point. My heart will always belong to wild horses.”
“And yet, your hands are on Maisy,” Lincoln said dryly.
Sawyer glanced down at his hands and quickly removed them. “I was just showing her some bronc riding moves.”
“You weren’t showing me,” Maisy said. “I was showing you.”
“Now don’t go getting cocky, girl. We both know who owns the most buckles.”
Maisy smiled sweetly. “That’s only because you’ve been doing it twice as long as I have. Give me a few years and I’ll have just as many. If not more.” She stood and swung a leg over the back of the chair, then brushed out the wrinkles in her bridesmaid’s dress. “Now if you two bad boys will excuse me, I’ve got some dancing to do.” She winked at Sawyer. “I’d be happy to give you a few lessons on that too. I saw your two-step and it’s sadly lacking. You tromped all over poor Reba’s feet.”
Sawyer laughed. “More like she tromped all over mine. But I’d be happy to show you how the two-step works.” He got up, but Lincoln stopped him.
“I need to talk to you for a second.”
Sawyer must’ve read his anger because his smile faded. “Sure. I’ll see you later, Maze.”
“Not if I see you first, rodeo bum.” She headed off for the dance floor.
When she was gone, Lincoln laid down the law. “Stay away from her, Sawyer.”
Sawyer blinked. “What?”
“Maisy. Stay away from her. She’s become like a sister to me and I don’t want her getting hurt.”
Sawyer stared at him for a moment before he laughed. Not a chuckle, but more an out-and-out belly laugh that had him clutching his sides. “You think I’m interested in Maisy?” he said between gasps. “She’s just a kid.”
“She’s not a kid. She’s a young woman. A young woman who is too innocent for the games you play.”
Sawyer sobered. “I don’t play games with women, Linc. I make sure they know the rules before I ever start dating them. But I’m telling you that Maisy and I are just friends. She’s not interested in me and I’m certainly not interested in her.”
“Friends can become lovers.”
Sawyer studied him. “You’re really worried about this, aren’t you?” He held up his hands. “Okay, dude. I give you my word I’ll stay away from Maisy.”
“You stay away from women?” Cru walked up with Holden, Val, and Logan. They all wore the same black tuxedoes as Sawyer and Lincoln. And like Sawyer and Lincoln, they had removed their jackets and rolled up their shirtsleeves. “That’s a good one, Sawyer,” Cru continued. “That’s like saying a cat is going to stay away from mice.”
Sawyer socked Cru in the arm. “You don’t have room to talk, man. I remember a time when you were a worse alley cat than I am.”
“That was before Penny. I’m a one-mouse cat now.” Cru socked Sawyer back and they got into a punching match until Logan put a stop to it.
“That’s enough, you two. We don’t want the entire town to think we haven’t grown out of our wild ways.”
“Says the man Devlin and I just caught making out with his wife in the gazebo,” Holden said.
Logan actually blushed. “Since Helen’s birth we haven’t had a lot of chances to be alone.” Evie had given birth just two months earlier to a healthy nine-pound-two-ounce baby girl they had named after Evie’s late mother. Lincoln had never
