“Are you nervous?” Katrina asked her.
“A little. Nervousness mixed with excitement and a touch of ‘Oh my God I can’t believe the day is finally here.’ ”
Aubry laughed. “I felt the same way on my wedding day. Like it took forever to get here, then once the day came there was so much to do. And it was over so fast. I wanted it to go on forever.”
“You looked like a freakin’ fairy princess in your wedding dress,” Mia said, remembering the blush-tone dress Aubry wore on her wedding day that complemented her peachy complexion and blond hair. She’d looked stunning.
Aubry grinned. “I kind of did, didn’t I?”
“And of course Katrina looked like she’d just stepped off one of her photo shoots,” Harmony said, “with that sleek silk wedding gown and her body that made us all jealous.”
Katrina smiled. “Thank you. I loved that dress. After doing so many wedding shoots in so many designer dresses, I just wanted simple.”
“You made simple look elegant,” Anya said. “Which I told you was the best choice.”
Katrina looked over at her younger sister. “Well, you know me best, don’t you?”
“And now we can’t wait for Harmony to get all dressed up and walk down the aisle,” Mia said. “Or down the barn aisle.”
Harmony laughed. “I know. It’s crazy to think we’re getting married here. But it’s so perfect. Even my mom loves it here.”
“That’s because your mom has the hots for my uncle Elijah,” Mia said.
“Oh, she so does. Any opportunity she has to get next to that man she takes it. Did I tell you he asked her if she was bringing a date to the wedding?”
Mia sat on the bed in Harmony’s bedroom and leaned against Katrina’s knee. “You did not. What did she say?”
“She said she absolutely did not bring a date, she wasn’t seeing anyone and she was leaving all her dances open for him.”
Aubry laughed. “I don’t know why those two aren’t seeing each other more frequently.”
“Well . . .” Harmony let the word trail off.
“What do you know that we don’t know?” Amelia asked.
“He might have made a trip down to Tampa a time or two.”
Mia laid her hand on her heart. “He did not. Did he, really?”
“Yes. I’d say there’s definitely something going on with my mama and Elijah.”
“That is awesome,” Aubry said. “I’m really pulling for those two.”
Mia made a mental note to keep her eye on her Uncle Elijah and on Diane, Harmony’s mother, who was conspicuously absent from this get-together.
“Hey, Harmony, where is your mom, by the way?”
Harmony shrugged. “No idea. She conveniently disappeared as soon as we got here.”
Katrina laughed. “I’ll bet Elijah is nowhere to be found, either.”
“Either that or she’s with my mom going over last-minute planning,” Mia said.
“I like the idea of her hiding out in some corner of the ranch making out with Elijah,” Aubry said.
Harmony laughed. “You’re all a bunch of sloppy romantics.”
“Let’s find out,” Mia said, sliding off the bed. “I’m hungry anyway.”
They went downstairs and found Mia’s mother in the kitchen going over a list. Diane wasn’t with her. They made sandwiches and sat at the island.
“Lydia, have you seen my mother?” Harmony asked.
Mia’s mom looked up. “She was in here with me a while ago, but then she said she had a call to make and she disappeared. Did you look in her room?”
“Checked her room before we came down here,” Harmony said. “She’s not in there.”
Amelia made a “hmm” sound, then said, “Interesting.”
Lydia frowned. “What’s interesting about that?”
“We think she’s off with Elijah somewhere,” Mia said.
“Oh. She probably is. They’ve been seeing each other.”
“So you knew about that?” Mia asked.
“Of course.”
“How come I didn’t know about that?” Mia asked. “How come none of us knew about it?”
“Maybe because it’s none of your business.”
Mia rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, Mom. There’s romance brewing.”
Her mother gave her a direct stare. “And would you want the entire family knowing your romance business?”
Mia didn’t answer. She definitely would not like the entire family knowing what was going on between Nathan and her. Instead, she took a bite of her sandwich and a long swallow of iced tea.
“That’s what I thought,” her mom said.
“So much for us skulking around the ranch to find Elijah and Diane,” Aubry whispered to Mia.
Mia turned to her. “I know. Moms ruin all the fun.”
“I heard that, Mia,” Lydia said. “And since none of you have anything to do other than gossip, I have a list of items that need taking care of. Mia, go get the tractor and mow the front property.”
Mia wrinkled her nose. “What? Me? Why can’t one of the guys do that?”
“Because I have the guys doing other things.”
She sighed. “Fine.”
After they finished eating and cleaned up, Mia went upstairs and grabbed her tennis shoes and a ball cap, then shoved her hair into a ponytail. On her way through the kitchen toward the back door, she noticed everyone else had left.
“Where is everyone?” she asked her mom.
“I gave them things to do. Everyone except Harmony. She’s the bride and she gets a pass. She has enough to deal with.”
“Huh. Fine. I guess I’ll go mow.”
“I guess you will.”
She headed out back where the tractors were located. On her way, she saw her dad painting the outside tables, Flynn and Tucker were taking folding chairs from the storage barn over to the wedding barn, and Barrett and Nathan were pulling weeds.
She laughed at that. The bride-to-be got a day off, but the groom-to-be had to pull weeds.
Awesome.
She started the tractor and pulled it out of the barn, then dropped the deck and began mowing the side yard along the fence line before moving to the front of the property.
It was already hot as blazes outside and she was going to be a dripping, sweaty mess by the time she was through. She decided to consider this her workout for the day.
NATHAN DIDN’T MIND PULLING WEEDS. HE WAS USED to sweating outside, and any kind of physical activity worked for him. He’d gotten his run in with the guys before dawn this morning, taking in the sprawling acreage as he did his three miles listening to the sounds of nature and cattle. It had been amazing.
Now, sweat slid down his back and into his face as he took the last of the weeds he’d pulled and tossed them in the trash can.
“Water?” Barrett asked.
“I’d like to surround myself in a pool of it right now.”
Barrett laughed. “I’ll be right back.”
Nathan took up a spot in the shade alongside the house, pulled off his ball cap and swiped his forearm across his brow. He heard the sound of an engine, so he glanced over and spotted Mia running the tractor.
Damn if she didn’t look hot as fuck operating that thing. It was three times her size and she was flying across the lawn like she was master of that monster.
What the hell was it about watching Mia mow the damn lawn that made his dick hard? Or maybe it was watching her do anything that made his dick hard?
“Hot?”
He jerked his head around to see Barrett standing there with a tall glass of ice water for him.
“Oh. Hell, yeah. Thanks.”
Shit. He really needed to shift his focus away from lusting after Barrett’s little sister. He guzzled half the glass of ice water, hoping it would cool him down in more ways than one.
“I think we’re done out here,” Barrett said. “Too bad we didn’t get the easy job like Mia over there.”
He looked over to see Mia turning the corner and head out to mow the front of the property. “Does she do that a lot?”