“What are you guys up to while we all take off? With Calder and Stephanie gone, plus Cam taking the fam to Denver and us being gone, it’s going to be quiet around here.”
“Good,” Alex replied a bit too quickly. “Some peace and calm would be great.”
Keeping his voice light and body language loose, he picked up a stapler off the desk and inspected it as if it was his first look at one. “Anything you wanna discuss?”
Alex’s gaze dropped, and he looked away. The room was so quiet he could hear the barely audible snick of the second hand moving on the wall clock.
Just when he was sure the question would suffer a clever dodge, the Major looked him in the eye.
“We should probably talk. When you get back. No rush.”
He knew a brick wall when it appeared in his path. That was all he would offer, but Drae came back with two final questions.
“Are you all right? Is Meghan all right?”
Rubbing his forehead, Alex sighed. “I’m fine. We’re fine.” Then he looked at him. Some things you just know, and with this one expression, Drae knew a ghost from the past was hovering just out of sight.
“I’ve gotta go.” Alex checked his watch. “Jace will be at the house in an hour. You'd better get this bunch in gear and start making your way to the chapel.”
Before leaving the study, Drae put out his hand and stopped his old friend. “Alex. I’m here when you’re ready to talk.”
A cold, malevolent glint shone in his eyes. “When I can’t contain it any more, you’ll be one of the first to know.”
Well, shit. They’d breached the subject, but Drae wasn’t at all relieved or happy about where things stood.
9
Ashleigh Marquez and Wendy Sullivan were having the time of their lives. Stephanie released a happy giggle at their silliness. She couldn’t have chosen two better people to help her dress.
“I’ve never seen Calder like this,” Wendy stated with delight. “And I’ve known him forever.”
Ashleigh came to her with a happy smile on her face and put an arm around Stephanie’s waist. “Sometimes the best things wait for last.”
“Stop,” Wendy muttered. “You’ll make me cry.”
“Our parents would love you, Duchess.”
Stephanie startled from Ashleigh’s use of Calder’s pet name for her and the mention of their parents.
Mark and Anna Dane died in a small plane crash in South America when Calder was in high school. Tree hugging do-gooders, they’d signed up for a yearlong project with a Peace Corps-style mission and had flown off to meet their destiny. They never came back, and Ashleigh had taken control of her younger brother by seeing him successfully through high school and onto the academic excellence that had changed his life.
Stephanie knew that brother and sister were more than close and also that Cristián had stepped into Mark Dane’s shoes when Calder needed the influence and support of a parent. It was touching that Ashleigh brought her parents to the occasion—if only in memory.
Parroting what Wendy just said, she choked on her words and told Ashleigh, “Stop. You’ll make me cry.”
“It’s because of Calder that Alex is such a fine human being.”
“Truth,” Wendy agreed.
She was confused. “I don’t understand. Cristián?”
Ashleigh turned what Meghan called her wise soul smile on Stephanie. “We were so young then,” she said. Reaching for Wendy’s hand, Ash drew her close until the three of them were in a tight huddle.
“Young, wild, and full of ourselves,” Wendy added.
“It wasn’t long after we got together—Matt, Wendy, Cris, and I—that the plane crash happened. Life happens when you least expect it.”
She fell silent for several seconds. Stephanie knew what reminders of painful things that left holes in your heart felt like.
“My little brother was already well on his way to academic nerd god-hood, but he was a teenage boy, and you know what I’m getting at.”
A chorus of female, “Mmmhmms,” serenaded the comment.
“Anyway, Cris stepped up. On his own—at a time when we were still finding our way as a couple. He made a project out of making sure Calder graduated from high school and started college. It’s his way.” She sniggered. “And I think that might even have been the start of his and Matt’s crazy lifelong love of project competitions. Dipshidiots,” she murmured teasingly.
“Somehow, Cris knew what losing our parents at such a critical time meant for a teenage boy. He leaned hard and took zero shit. During his senior year in high school, Calder was rather full of himself and started acting like an ass. They got into it one night, and my dumbass little brother decided to prove how big and bad he was by throwing a punch. He missed, and Cris dropped him like a stone.”
“It was awesome,” Wendy tittered gleefully. “Cristián Marquez is the least aggressive person on the planet. He and Matt get their jollies by creating moments that propel others to act stupidly. Much better than a classic bully.”
“They stir the shit, you mean?” Stephanie chuckled.
Wendy comically arched a brow. “Darlin’, first they research the shit—find a weakness—and then they distribute the shit to gain maximum entertainment value. Sometimes they don’t have to stir at all. More often than not, they hand out paddles and get the others to stir.”
Ashleigh’s amused laughter rang out. “So it was having a recalcitrant teenage whiz kid who gave Cristián a taste of what fatherhood would be like?”
“Ah,” Stephanie said. “I think I get it. Being Calder’s surrogate father and his brother-in-law gave Cris a unique perspective. He had his act together by the time Alex came along.”
“Exactly.”
“Well, thank him for me, would you? Not only is that shaggy-haired aging surfer nerd the keeper of my heart, but Alex also holds a special place. I don’t know what I would have done without his help when Victoria had her bad time.”
“Calder will be a wonderful dad.”
She beamed at Ashleigh and stroked her rounded belly. “He’s been so sweet. I love him so much,” she murmured quietly. “Thank you for being here. Thank you for everything. For the past, the present, and the future.”
“Hey,” Ashleigh quipped. “I’ve never been an aunty. Ed, of course, didn’t have kids, so Cris has never been an uncle. We don’t know what’s more exciting! Alexander and Sophia having babies or you and Calder.”
“Oh, get real,” she teased. “Twins? There’s nothing more exciting.”
“Well, I don’t know,” Wendy drawled. “I think a donor pregnancy is pretty exciting too.”
“Just as exciting as our Duchess here managing to get knocked up at fifty. And then making it look so damn easy.”
Stephanie sighed and turned to look in the full-length mirror. If things got any more perfect, someone would have to pinch her because honestly—life was damn good.
“Stunning,” was all her soon-to-be sister-in-law said.
Turning to the side, she surveyed her bump and grinned with a mixture of joy and pride. It was just like she saw it in her head when she imagined marrying Calder once they found out a baby was on the way.
A baby! At fifty. Holy crap. Who got this lucky?
“White velvet,” Wendy cooed. “Classic.”
“The lace open back makes quite a statement.”
Stephanie caught Ash’s eyes in the mirror.
The entire back of the velvet dress was open from her neck to the curve of her butt. A swath of beautiful and deliciously delicate see-through lace tapered to a V as it swept closer to her bottom. From there, the velvet draped perfectly and flared out at the hem into a modest train.
“I did good?” she asked.
Her team of stylists laughed heartily. “I should say so.” Wendy smirked.
A knock sounded at the door a few seconds before Carmen stuck her head in and gave them all a thumbs-up.
“Your carriage is here. And Alexander has
just arrived.”
Ashleigh asked a question or made a comment in Spanish that made Alex’s major domo blush and laugh. Wendy leaned close and whispered, “She’s giving her shit about her wedding escort.”
Stephanie whispered back. “There’s a betting pool. Did you know? I believe it’s a simple shagging or not shagging.”
“Seriously? You mean Carmen and Duke?”
“Angelina,” was all she needed to say for Wendy to get it.
“Of course!” The woman laughed. “My son’s desert angel. That girl and Sophie are the second generation of shit stirrers. It’s what we get, I suppose, from the influence of their fathers.”
With a final inspection of her appearance, Stephanie straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath.
“Come on, ladies. Let’s go put an end to my baby daddy’s bachelor status.”
Everyone, even Carmen, cracked up laughing.
Alex marveled at the beautiful day his uncle and Stephanie were blessed with for their wedding. January was a month of bright sunshine and cooler days—perfect for a rustic indoor-outdoor event.
When his mom, Aunt Wendy, and Carmen escorted Stephanie down the main stairs at the Villa, he was overcome with emotion. They’d known each other a long time. The pageant organizers she worked with had been among the first Justice Agency clients. After their initial business meeting, he’d become one of her biggest fans and remained so to this day. The lady was unique.
When she’d reached out to him and asked for a surprising personal favor, he hadn’t hesitated, and boy, was he ever glad of that one fact because the favor she begged led to Tori Bennett showing up on his doorstep and everyone knew how that worked out.
The whimsical decision to ask his uncle to drop whatever he was doing and come to Arizona on the pretense of helping Alex with work during the months before his wedding had been genius.
Why?
Because by then, Stephanie Bennett’s arrival at the Villa was guaranteed when Tori and Drae’s first pregnancy turned into a shitshow.
In his mind, he had a black belt in matchmaking because of the feeling that perhaps his good friend Stephanie, former beauty queen and taker of no shit, and Uncle Calder, who had come up empty-handed in the marriage department, had triggered the Richter scale when they finally met.
And now look where they all were.
“My god, Stephanie. You look fantastic,” he gushed when the ladies made it to the bottom of the wide formal staircase.
“Now, shugah,” she teased. “Your mama is standing right here. Best not remind her that I saw you first.”
His mom barked with laughter. “I think Meghan is okay with it as long as you didn’t lick him.”
“Seriously, Mom?” he drawled in response.
Stephanie took his arm right there in the foyer and hadn’t let go since. Not even after they settled in the fantastic horse-drawn carriage that would take them to the chapel in style.
He sat by her side, patted her hand on his arm, and fueled his thoughts with positive energy. Stephanie and Calder deserved nothing less than the full monty when it came to the love and support of all who gathered to witness their vows.
The horse plodded slowly as it made the long trip down the backroad behind the Villa, past Calder and Stephanie’s desert cabin, and on to the old homestead site where the recently blessed family chapel awaited their arrival.
“Thank you for giving me away, Alex.”
“Hey”—he chortled—“didn’t have any choice. Your grandson is named after me. Kind of obligated me, ya know?”
She swatted him and playfully shoved his body with her shoulder. “I’m serious,” she wailed. “Calder was, um … quite emotional about his Wolf Pup doing the honors.”
“You mean he boo-hooed and went off on a metaphysical rant?”
“Something like that,” she replied.
Something, which felt distinctly like a king-of-the-world moment, grabbed hold of him. All of Family Justice would witness this extraordinary coupling of two fantastic people. He was wearing a tuxedo, in a horse-drawn carriage, escorting a dear friend—a pregnant dear friend—to a wedding he more or less got credit for making possible.
Taking him completely by surprise in a delightful Southern twang, his friend pulled Alex from his reverie with a comment that left them shaking with laughter.
“Ya know, shugah,” she drawled, “if you’d only been ten years older, who knows what might have happened.”
It was an old shared joke that highlighted their close friendship.
Their hoots of laughter made Jace turn his head and look at them. Alex liked the guy. A lot. He had a clever, irreverent manner made all the better by having been born and raised in Europe. As a part-time Spaniard himself and someone who’d spent a good deal of time overseas, Alex got it.
“You guys okay?” he asked.
Alex barked out a snigger. “Yeah. The bride just realized she might have chosen unwisely.”
“Alex!” Stephanie yelled. “Shush. That’s supposed to be our little secret.”
Jace found this tremendously amusing and winked at her. “No sweat, ma’am. We all have secrets.”
“Hey,” Alex called out. “By the way. Nice touch with the top hat and ringmaster getup.”
“I know, right?” Jace said with a grinning laugh. “Robbed a circus—luckily, everything fit.”
Something was preposterously right about pulling up to the adobe chapel in a fancy carriage strung with garlands of flowers and driven by someone in a top hat and bright red cutaway embellished with epaulets and gold braid. Why the hell not?
As they passed by the cabin, Stephanie lit up like a Christmas tree. Stretched across the front of the house she shared with Calder that was built on land Alex deeded to her and her descendants was a huge colorful banner.
Congratulations Calder and Stephanie Dane.
Ribbons and balloons draped the entire house. He wondered who Calder had roped into doing all the work. It certainly hadn’t been the groom because according to Alex’s dad, Calder had been nothing short of a basket case last night.
As they continued, they passed old wooden barrels overflowing with red and white flowers every couple of yards on either side of the lane. No expense had been spared or romantic idea turned away. He was a little surprised the animal pulling the carriage wasn’t a unicorn.
From the side of the lane, Zeus and Raven came dashing out of the bushes. Both dogs had red and white flower leis around their necks. Barking as they trotted alongside the carriage, it felt like they were the honor guard sent to clear the way.
At the curve in the lane before the final stretch, Stephanie sat up and took a deep breath. “Here we go,” she drawled with undiluted happiness in her voice.
The minute they cleared the bend, applause and shouts of welcome rang out. Bella ran up to the carriage and hop, skipped, and jumped along as they continued. She also blew kisses and threw rose petals at Stephanie while getting the dogs all worked up at the same time.
He suddenly understood why Meghan said they’d had to request a triple order of flower girl petals. Bella’s exuberance was guaranteed to take over and make the petal throwing a performance art. Judging by the bride’s beaming smile, she was delighted with the child’s high spirits.
Victoria and her bright, happy smile waited at the edge of the assembled guests . “Mom,” she called out. “You look fabulous!”
“So do you, darlin’,” Stephanie answered.
Jace slowed the carriage to a stop well before the walkway to the chapel began. Last-minute check-in before the official arrival.
“Everything good?” Tori asked.
“Is that bad man here, Victoria? He showed up, I hope.”
Tori made a disbelieving face. “By bad man, do you mean the old dude who violated my saintly mother and got her pregnant?”
Bella giggled. Jesus, he thought. Did she know what those words meant?
“Oh, he’s here all right,” his snarky-at
-times assistant muttered with pithy emphasis. “A basket case, that one. I don’t know, Mom,” she said. “You might want to have him checked out.”
Alex started to laugh. He couldn’t help it. Knowing Calder was losing his shit was instant family legend gold. Maybe platinum.
Tori, who couldn’t pass up an opportunity to land a few good ones, kept on. “But first, make sure he hands over his wallet, and your name is in the will.”
Bella laughing like hell at Tori’s comment was a little disconcerting from a male perspective.
Tori turned and waved her arms at the people milling around the chapel entrance. Obviously, Paul Revere St. John worked out signals in advance. She turned back to them.
“Just the ladies, Mom. Everyone else has gone inside.”
“Is Daniel ready? Where is he? I don’t see him.”
Tori snickered. “Cheryl has him. She’s right about the kids listening to others better than Mom or Dad, so we’re keeping him away from the excitement. When it’s his turn to do his thing, she’ll set him loose.”
“Um, he didn’t like those shoes, though,” Bella blurted out.
“My grandson isn’t a big fan of footwear, to begin with.”
Tori groused. “Yeah. Can you believe it? A kid of mine who doesn’t like shoes.”
“I don’t care if he’s barefoot.” Stephanie giggled. “As long as he’s here, I’m good.”
Tori and Bella walked hand in hand alongside the carriage as Jace slowly inched it forward until they reached the short stone walkway. Huge floral arrangements surrounded them as the women who made up the Justice Ladies squad waited for her.
The only male in a sea of females, he got down from the carriage, made sure he was tuxedo-presentable, ran a hand through his hair, and walked to the other side where he was ready to assist Stephanie from her seat.
With an outstretched arm, he played his part with grave seriousness. He was giving this woman away—to be married. A high honor.
He caught his wife’s eye and winked. She beamed at him and made a cute face. Meghan had a solid case of the sillies anytime he put on a formal wear.
Everlasting (Family Justice Book 6) Page 12