Where her family had been loud, indignant and supportive of her stand, he’d simply said, “You did the right thing” and invited her to go to the hardware store then and there. The hardware store was familiar to her from a thousand trips with her dad, brothers, uncles and cousins, not to mention Gramps, over the years. But she’d never walked its aisles with a man unrelated to her. It seemed as if the whole town turned out to view the event. She encountered one brother, one uncle, three cousins and Gramps. All of them eyed Wyatt with open speculation. “I’m helping him prepare for the photo shoot,” she said, exasperated. By their expressions, you’d think she and Wyatt were about to elope. Not that her extended family seemed unhappy with the idea. On the contrary. “If there’s anything we can do to help…” Rachel took advantage of those offers, ruthlessly.
