Free The Promise of Rainbows by Ava Miles Page B

a homing pigeon and took his hand. “You’re sitting beside me and Aunt Susannah.”
    The little girl led him to the other side of the table, and sure enough, there was one lone seat open for him. Reverend Louisa was sitting way too close to him for comfort, but he forced himself to give her a weak smile.
    Rye put his arm around Tory as they stood at the head of the table. “Usually we buffet the meal, but today demanded something special. These family dinners have come to mean a lot to all of us, and I’m happy Jake could join us today since he’s a good friend to many of us here.”
    Jake coughed to dislodge the emotion clogging his throat, and Annabelle reached for his hand again. Susannah patted his arm, and suddenly he felt like he was a part of this family—the sort of family he’d always longed to have.
    “Tory and I have some special news, and because she’s going to have to do more of the work, I think she should be the one to tell you.”
    A huge smile stretched across Tory’s face as she looked at the rest of the family. “Rye and I are having a baby.”
    The entire table erupted with whoops and exclamations. Chairs scraped the floor as people lurched to their feet and ran up to the happy couple. Jake watched as Annabelle ran off and wiggled her way through the crowd.
    “Yay!” the little girl shouted. “I’m going to have a cousin.”
    “You sure are,” Rye exclaimed, throwing her up in the air.
    Jake hung back to let the family have its moment. When everyone started to take their seats again, he finally headed over to give his well wishes.
    “I wondered if this was your news, given the lyrics you suggested downstairs,” Jake said, grabbing his friend in a hug and pounding his back.
    “You’re writing a song about the baby?” Tory asked, tears popping into her eyes.
    Rye wiped at his own eyes. “Don’t I write songs about you? I have to include our baby, right?”
    “Oh, Rye,” she said, and they embraced again.
    Jake made tracks to give them privacy and took his seat between Annabelle and Susannah. The little girl was bouncing in her seat from the news, but it was Susannah who drew his gaze. She was brushing aside the tears streaming down her face. Her eyes met his, and she shrugged.
    “I’m so happy for them,” she said as more tears rolled down her face.
    Without thinking, Jake picked up his cloth napkin and blotted a few of those tears before he had the presence of mind to stop. When he looked away from her, her mama and sisters were all staring at him. He grabbed his water glass and chugged the contents. Good Lord. Could he be any more obvious?
    When Rye and Tory finally found their seats, Louisa—there, he’d remembered not to call her Reverend like she’d asked—led them in grace. Of course, all it did was remind Jake of her sermon again. While he feasted with the others on the beef and pork roasts and the heap of sides, he made sure to keep his mouth full so no one would say much to him.
    Well, no one save sweet little Annabelle. She talked to him throughout the meal, never needing him to reply. For a small thing, she sure did have a lot of words inside her. Susannah’s mouth curved often, so Jake could tell she was amused by the situation. Beyond that, she said little, except to Shelby, who sat on her other side. But he couldn’t get comfortable because he’d caught Louisa watching him more than once. She was stewing something fierce, was all he could think. He made a vow he would leave as soon as dinner ended.
    After the platters and bowls were scraped clean from the men’s second and third helpings, Rye carried in the biggest chocolate cake on the planet. Atop it was a plastic Elvis, which made everyone laugh.
    “Uncle Rye dressed up as Elvis once,” Annabelle told him. “He’s so silly sometimes.”
    And Rye was in fine form—laughing as he ate cake, talking about all the changes he was going to have to make to be a good daddy. For some reason, Rye thought he