Just One of the Groomsmen

by Cindi Madsen

  He’d prepared himself for that.

  He couldn’t believe how sad he was to leave a practice that’d started on a fluke, all because the woman across from him had a grandmother as stubborn as she was. He found he liked how different one case was from the next, even though it was a challenge and took a lot of brushing up on laws he wasn’t familiar with—and some he’d never even heard of before.

  The boat business would never be a big money maker but a good side hobby, and he’d hoped…

  But he could find a firm to work for in Tuscaloosa. The other option was straining his relationship with Addie with too much distance, and he wasn’t willing to risk it. “I’m not surprised. They’d be crazy not to want you. I’m just warning you that I plan to be super protective, and to go down to the stadium all the time to remind the guys that you’re already taken.”

  “I don’t so much mind the letting everyone know I’m yours and you’re mine, but if you plan on going overboard with the overprotective thing, I hope you also plan to get into a lot of fights about it.”

  “Hell yeah. That’ll be half the fun.”

  She tried to fight back her smile, and he grinned and dragged his thumb over her jawline, teasing it out of her. “I suppose, though, that we could just as easily have that fight in Auburn. It’d cut out those extra hours driving home to see our family and friends, and a good group of guys for poker night is hard to find.”

  “Wait. Are you saying…?” Tucker schooled his expression, too afraid to let the glimmer of hope that’d flashed before his eyes get the best of him. “What exactly are you saying?”

  “I think she’s saying that Auburn University also offered her a job,” Shep said, coming over and slapping Tucker on the back before reaching for his cologne.

  Addie rolled her eyes. “Oh my gosh, you guys are the biggest eavesdroppers ever.”

  “Hey, this involves us, too,” Ford said, moving closer instead of pretending not to be listening. “Like you said, poker night is at stake. Plus, we kinda like you.”

  Addie glanced at Easton. “You wanna throw in your two cents?”

  “Mine’s worth ten, and I’d like to sound all selfless and tell you that I’ll support whatever you want. Which is true. But it’d make it a hell of a lot easier to support you if I actually got to see you once in a while.”

  “You wouldn’t feel like you were giving up your dream?” Tucker asked Addie, needing to be sure it was what she wanted.

  “Are you kiddin’ me? I have a sexy boyfriend—”

  “Blech,” Ford said. “You guys are so mushy. I’m not sure if I can be around this much longer.”

  “And a big burly friend who does search and rescue—”

  Ford grinned. “Now you’re talkin’.”

  “And a cop who can get me out of speeding tickets—”

  “I hope you don’t mean me,” Easton said with a laugh.

  Addie turned to Shep. “And a friend who’s stood up for me time and time again, who’s also marrying this awesome girl who likes me enough to let the aforementioned boyfriend overtake her rehearsal in order to help get us back together. All that, plus getting to be a sports therapist for the team who shouts ‘War Eagle’? I don’t think it gets any better than that. It’s like whatever the level past wildest dreams is.”

  “Then I say AU, baby.” It was the first time he’d tried a pet name, and he liked it more than he thought he would.

  A squeal escaped her lips a few seconds before they were on his, and just when the guys were backing away to give them space, Addie reached out and blindly tugged on suit jackets. “A group hug is happening right now. I suggest just going with it.”

  If anyone but Addie had suggested it, he had a feeling the guys would balk.

  Instead, they brought it in for one big mushy huddle.

  …

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

  The second the words were out of the preacher’s mouth, Shep enthusiastically kissed his bride. Then he lifted a fist in the air and everyone cheered louder.

  Addie glanced at Tucker, and he gave her a smile that sent her heart racing.

  They followed Shep and Lexi back down the aisle, over to the reception area. The couple was announced, and then Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd stepped onto the portable dance floor for their first dance as husband and wife.

  The song Addie now had memorized swelled, and as the first verse wound down, Tucker locked his arm into place around her. “You ready for this?”

  “I sure hope so. Promise you won’t let me fall.”

  “I promise to never let you fall,” he said, and then they were off and waltzing to a song about being meant for loving each other.

  Countless pictures followed. Comments from everyone in town. Food and drinks. Laughing. So much laughing.

  “Excuse me,” Mr. James Lindley said, stopping in front of her and Tucker. “At the trial last night, you didn’t let the audience say anything.”

  Tucker’s brow furrowed. “Oh-kay. And you had something to say? To help me win over Addie?”

  Mr. Lindley glanced at her. “No, not about that. I mean, congratulations, I guess. But you won’t take my case. I wanted you to answer to that.”

  “James, you need to talk to your brother already. Do you want me to raise my voice and ask everyone if they agree?”

  Addie squeezed Tucker’s hand under the table, trying to silently signal to him that under no circumstance should that happen. They’d already upstaged the rehearsal—with Lexi’s blessing, but still.

  This was Lexi’s day, and if anyone tried to ruin it, Addie would personally take them out.

  Even if she had to hurdle the table in her short dress and tackle Mr. Lindley to the ground.

  Tucker winked at her, making her think he knew what he was doing—she certainly hoped so. Especially since she now had that twitterpated light-headed sensation that made it hard to think straight.

  Mr. Lindley hung his head. “No.”

  “Just talk to him. If you need a mediator, I’ll help. I’m not going to bring a frivolous lawsuit against him.”

  He shuffled away, and Addie leaned against Tucker’s side, loving the way he automatically curled her closer.

  “You’re a good lawyer,” she said.

  “Thank you.”

  “I like that you care about the people here. Quitting your other job was the right choice, and if it means we live in the houseboat for all our lives, it will have been worth it.”

  “Oh, now you’re inviting yourself to move in with me? Talk about a total stalker.” He shook his head and lowered his lips to hers. “I had all those signals, too, and I just ignored them.”

  “Very funny. You know what I’m saying.”

  “I do. I was thinking maybe someday we’ll build a house on my grandpa’s land. It’s a bit out of town and it’ll need a lot of work, and I’d like to completely pay off the loan against it first. It might also add another ten minutes to your commute, but…” He waved a hand through the air. “We can talk about it later.”

  “But you’ve thought about it?”

  He twisted a strand of her hair around his finger. “Definitely thought about it.”

  Affection and desire swelled within her, and if she got any happier, she might float right off. “I’d like that. And I can’t wait to see what an amazing house you can build with your own two, very capable hands. Don’t worry,” she said with a wink that was still closer to a one-and-a-half-eyed-blink. “I’ll take care of the roofing.”

  He let out a soft laugh and brushed his lips across hers. “Then I’ll make sure to gator-proof the place.”

  “Deal.”

  “There you two are.” Nonna Lucia rounded the table, and they stood and exchanged hugs and cheek kisses. She beamed at them. “You make such a handsome couple. I so glad I called it. I kn
ew eventually you’d find your way to each other.”

  “Was this gonna be before or after you set me up on dates with girls?” Addie asked, and her grandmother clucked her tongue at her.

  “I just know. Maybe it take me a while to see it, like it take you two a while to see it. But once I do, I tell this young man to fix it. He’s a good boy, so he fixed it.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I do what I’m told.”

  “I’ll have to remember that,” Addie muttered under her breath, and the hand he had on her hip gripped her a little tighter. “Love you, Nonna.”

  “You too.” Nonna patted both of their cheeks. “Both of you.”

  The celebration went on for a few hours, with more pictures and music and toasts that focused on how wonderful the bride and groom were. If someone would’ve asked Addie a couple of months ago what she thought of weddings, she might’ve said, A big no thanks to that.

  As she sat there, soaking in the love and the joy between the happy couple—as well as among the family and friends and a town that was way too involved in everyone’s business but also showed up for one another—she changed her mind about weddings and love and the whole crazy thing.

  Well, the jury was still out on the fancy clothes, although admittedly, the guys looked good in their matching suits.

  Finally, things settled down enough for Addie to steal a moment with the bride. She gave Lexi a hug and told her how beautiful she looked, which she did, then said, “I also wanted to thank you. For letting me be in the wedding, for taking the time to understand my relationship with Shep, and for last night—especially for last night. You went above and beyond.”

  “What can I say? When I see two people are meant to be together, I’m willing to go above and beyond.”

  “You’re also surprisingly strong.” Addie shook out the hand Lexi had gripped last night. “I have no doubt you would’ve tackled me to get me to stay, dress and all.”

  “Oh, I would’ve.” Lexi bumped her shoulder into Addie’s. “I learned from the best, too. Admittedly, you and Tucker did have me a bit worried. It was right down to the wire, and I get invested, okay? Do you have any idea the kind of stress that puts on a person’s heart?”

  “Girl, I’m a hardcore football fan. I know all about getting invested and heart palpitations and down to the wire.”

  Lexi sighed and shook her head. “I don’t think I could do it every week.”

  “But that’s the thing. Every week you get another chance. Every game. You can have this amazing play, but it could go to shit the very next. Or you have three crap plays, but you make that one perfect pass and bam! Everything’s possible again.”

  “I like that. I’m going to stick to…not football, but yeah.” Lexi leaned closer. “I’m a little afraid to point out this just proves you’re more of a romantic than you claim to be. Even if it’s for a game. And for one guy.”

  “As long as you don’t spread it around, you have nothing to fear.”

  They shared a laugh, and then the guys drifted over.

  Tucker’s arms circled her waist as he tucked his chin on her shoulder, and she relaxed into his embrace and pictured what their future might bring, several extraordinary possibilities stretched out in front of them.

  Even better, she knew that in every single one, they’d be together, and that meant no matter which path they chose, they’d all have happy endings.

  Hmm. Maybe she was a romantic after all.

  Epilogue

  It was all Addie could do to keep her poker face in place as her friends squeezed around the table in the houseboat. Lexi had also come at her request, and Addie reached underneath the table and linked her fingers with Tucker’s.

  In the past they’d used tables—and even overalls—to hide their affectionate gestures, but tonight it effectively hid something else.

  Any emergency meeting text, or one about a change in plans, would’ve brought suspicion. The invite to Lexi happened enough to avoid too much of that, and for some reason Addie couldn’t recall, she and Tucker thought it would be more fun this way.

  To just spring the news on them.

  It was nice to be back at the houseboat, too, where their biggest adventures always seemed to begin.

  One new beginning several months ago, when Shep announced his and Lexi’s engagement; another after a football game where she and Tucker had gotten a little frisky and then come back here and fully crossed all the lines.

  Countless new beginnings through the years.

  These days, Tucker and Flash spent most nights at her place, but they spent their Monday through Thursday workdays here in the houseboat, where Tucker took client meetings and occasionally agreed to fix up boats, and Flash alternated between making messes and taking naps.

  Fridays and Saturdays were for working on boats or for taking them out on the water, or for sleeping in and watching football when it was on and complaining about the lack of it when it wasn’t.

  Tucker looked at her, and she nodded, silently telling him to go ahead. “Guys, before we get started, Addie and I have some news…”

  “We already know you drew up plans for the house,” Ford said. “People in town have been talking about it for the past week. Lots of opinions. Some have voiced their hope that the place won’t be an eyesore like Nellie Mae’s fuchsia house that she built herself; several think you’re crazy to build on land that needs so much work; and a few people asked me why you think you’re too good to live in town like everyone else.”

  “Actually, it’s somethin’ else,” Addie said, ignoring the urge to defend herself against that eyesore claim.

  Their house was going to be modest and beautiful and 100 percent their business and their business only.

  “Did you get a promotion?” Easton asked, addressing her. “If you guys are telling us the house plan is off and you’re going to work for Bama, I might have to flip this table. Just saying.”

  “No, I… Well, I did sorta get a promotion.” Working with the AU football team was amazing. She loved her job and helping the athletes, and then during the off season, she also did a few personal visits for her former clients or people in town who weren’t fans of the guy whose name was on the door of the physical therapy office. “Same building, but now I’m number two instead of number five on the sports therapy totem pole.”

  “Nice!”

  Flash came up on Addie’s left side and nudged her hand with his nose, and Addie scratched the top of his head in that way he liked. Lexi glanced down, and her eyes went wide as the diamond on Addie’s finger caught the light.

  “I think they have other news,” Lexi said, and her voice went up a few octaves, but apparently not high enough for Flash to hear because he flopped down on the floor, evidently bored with the conversation already.

  And the jig is up.

  “So, you guys might recall that Tucker and I have been friends for a while now,” Addie said, thinking again of the night Shep had announced his engagement.

  Tucker slipped his arm over her shoulders and kissed her temple. “Well, I asked her to marry me the other night, and she said yes. We’re gettin’ hitched.”

  Lexi let out a squeal and started rattling off wedding-planning details, and Addie blinked at her for a moment and then smiled. “Thank goodness I have you to help. You probably don’t know this about me, but I’m not exactly the wedding-planning type.”

  “Noooo,” Lexi said, as if she was all shock, and the rest of them laughed and offered their congratulations.

  “Which brings me to my next point.” Addie sat up straighter in her seat and grinned at her guy friends. “You all are gonna be my bridesmaids.”

  The expressions went in waves. Twitching eyebrows, forehead crinkles, pursed lips.

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “I won’t make y’all wear dresses.”

  “Are you sure?” Ford aske
d. “I don’t know if you know this about me, but I got real sexy legs.”

  He propped his foot on the table and pulled up his pants leg to display a few inches of his hairy calf, and Addie whistled and yelled for him to “take it off.”

  “Wait,” Tucker said, twisting to face her. “I get some of them, right?”

  “We’ll do it like when we split into teams. Or maybe we should do a quick draft—like fantasy wedding party. Quick, guys. Give us your stats.”

  They all started rattling off their strengths and weaknesses, a few of which made Lexi blush, and Addie sat and soaked it in.

  This was going to be so fun.

  She glanced at Lexi. “I’m using my first pick on you, by the way. Will you be one of my bridesmaids?”

  Her eyes went watery as she nodded and lunged over Flash to give Addie a hug. “You shouldn’t use your first pick on me, though. I’m kind of a shoo-in.”

  “Too late. Things move fast in the draft, and you’ve just gotta go with it.”

  Between Lexi and her sister, she could probably only justify one bridesman, but one of the awesome things about marrying your best friend who was also friends with the rest of your group, was that they’d all be there for the shenanigans, every step of the way.

  They toasted the engagement with their favorite beer before they got down to playing poker, talking crap, and enjoying a night off from their worries and cares.

  And at the end of the night, after everyone else had left, Tucker drew her to him and kissed her. “Man, I love you.”

  “Good thing,” she said. “I’d hate to be marrying someone with lukewarm feelings for me.”

  “Not an issue. Right now they’re feeling very, very hot.” He peeled her shirt up over her head, tossed it aside, and walked her backward toward the bed. “I thought we should stay here tonight. For old times’ sake.”

  Addie took his ratty Saints hat off his head, almost tossed it aside like she usually did, but then got an idea and tugged it on. “I’m game.”