Page 154 of Take My Name

But I’m not sure why.

I’ll get it out of him later.

Another face I’m surprised to see is Maisie’s brother and his wife. Not that we aren’t on friendly terms, but they have a newborn baby.

“Hey, how’s my nephew?” I ask, peeking through the blanket to see his face. He’s sleeping against Collins’s chest.

“He breastfeeds every two hours and only sleeps when I hold him,” Collins says. “So as long as I don’t have to eat or shower, he’s great.”

I chuckle. “It’ll get easier, hopefully, someday.”

Maisie hands me a drink and I take a sip when Aaron says, “He’s gonna need a cousin close in age, so chop-chop. It’s been long enough.”

I nearly spew my beer all over the baby, coughing it up when it goes down the wrong way.

“Aaron!” Maisie playfully smacks him. “I’m not ready to share my husband yet.”

“You okay?” Collins asks when I can’t catch my breath.

I clear my throat, finally getting it together. “Yeah, great.”

Maisie and I continue mingling, grabbing food and chatting with everyone. I’m still in shock she pulled this off without making it obvious she was up to something. My birthday’s on Sunday, which is why we’re going to Nashville for a little getaway.

“You pulled off quite the party, Mrs. Langston,” I drawl, holding her against me once the last guests leave.

Mom and Aunt JoJo stayed to help clean up and then I kicked them out since we’re leaving in the morning.

Tucking loose strands behind her ear, I lower my lips to hers. “Now I need to one-up you.”

“Why can’t you just let me have this? You’re always cookin’ and takin’ care of me. I wanted to do somethin’ special for you.”

I grab her chin and give the tip of her nose a little kiss. “You did, my love. Thank you again.”

She smacks my ass. “You’re welcome, old man.”

“Old man? You’re gonna be thirty soon, too.”

She puts her finger over my lips. “Shhh.”

Instead of arguing, I lift her up and carry her ass to bed where I spend an hour thanking her.

“Silas?”

I rub the sleep from my eyes and squint to conceal them from the bright sky.

“Hey, sorry it’s so early. Can I come in?”

“Yeah, of course.” Stepping back to give him room, he enters the house and then I close the door behind him. He doesn’t seem like himself. “Everythin’ okay?”

I haven’t seen him since my birthday party two weeks ago. His bachelor party is next Saturday, so we’ve been making plans over text. On top of getting ready for his wedding, Landen and Ellie decided to give us a thirty-day notice they wanted to getmarried at the Willow Chalet, so it’s been all hands on deck getting ready for that.

“Not really.” He follows me into the kitchen where I’m making breakfast. “This wasn’t somethin’ I wanted to tell you over the phone.”

“Shit, that sounds serious.” Crossing my arms, I lean against the counter as he takes the stool behind the breakfast bar. “What happened?”

“Aundrea called off the weddin’.”

Considering she didn’t come for the party, I assumed they got into a fight or something or she didn’t want him to have a bachelor party, but damn, I didn’t expect this.