by RC Boldt
Directing an affectionate smile toward his newly married friends, he said, “Everyone please join me in toasting the new couple, Mr. and Mrs. Kavanaugh!”
Immediate cough-laughs and titters sounded.
“Laws.” Laney shot him a warning look as Zach merely shook his head, rolling his eyes in amusement, neither of them appearing surprised.
Because, hey. He was Lawson Briggs, after all.
“Oopsies. My bad.” He smiled wide, giving them a wink. “Let us toast Mr. and Mrs. Zachariah Mayson.” Lifting up his drink, he toasted, “To Zach and Laney!”
“To Zach and Laney!” everyone chanted, lifting up their drinks.
“Well,” Tate began after everyone quieted down as she and Raine moved to the center of the deck, “I can’t lie.” Grinning, she tossed a thumb in Raine’s direction. “We totally did scissors, paper, rock to see who would get to say their speech first. Clearly, I won.”
“You totally cheated,” Raine muttered.
Cupping a hand over the side of her mouth, Tate spoke in a mock whisper. “Someone’s a sore loser.”
“Whatever,” Raine replied, barely restraining a smile.
Expression sobering, Tate began, “Today, on the beach, I was honored to witness my best friend marry the love of her life. And, I’ve got to be honest with you, Zach,” she turned slightly to address him, “if she were marrying anyone else, I’d be hard pressed to think that they were worthy of her. For the simple fact that she’s beyond remarkable. She is a woman who befriended me—along with Raine—in the most flawless manner I’ve ever before experienced. It was like we were destined to become friends. We’ve all had our really crappy times but, with Laney around, things always seemed a lot less dismal. Sure, she’s got the potty humor, at times, but I wouldn’t have her any other way.”
“Potty humor?” Kane gasped loudly, in faux shock. “No way. Not our Laney.”
Rolling her eyes, Tate continued, “She’s a remarkable woman, a remarkable friend, and I have no doubt that she’ll be just as remarkable as your wife, Zach. I’m honored to be here today to witness the joining of these two people whom I’m grateful enough to call my friends.
“To Zach and Laney!” she toasted, raising her glass as everyone joined her.
“To Zach and Laney!”
Lawson watched as Raine moved up to take her place, Tate stepping back a few feet to stand nearby Zach and Laney. “It’s pretty tough to follow that, but I’ll give it a shot.” She flashed a wide grin. “By the way, she totally cheated. Because, really … who brings a grenade to scissors, paper, rock?” She rolled her eyes with a good-natured chuckle.
“That’s right!” Miller called out to Tate, pride evident in his voice. “You did me proud, Vaughn!” Tate blew her husband a kiss.
Which he, being Lawson Briggs, reached out in exaggerated fashion to swipe in mid-air, pretending to tuck the kiss proudly into his pocket, cocky grin in place. Miller shot him a look before shaking his head in silent laughter.
“Come on, Raine,” Mac’s voice rang out. “I’ve taught you better.”
“Oh, Lawd. We’re about to have two SEALs peacocking,” Kane’s southern drawl sounded.
“Anyway,” Raine dragged out the word, “I’m standing before you today not only as one of Laney’s Maids of Honor but as her best friend. It really does seem like yesterday that we met at the University of Florida. She stuck by me through my Tim Tebow obsession-faze and I stuck by her when she tried to convince me that crimping her hair was,” she used air quotes, “‘totally making a comeback’.” Laughing, she shook her head. “But seriously, there were times in my life that I can’t—and don’t want to—imagine life without her. She and Tate have been there for me through so much. We’ve cried together, commiserated over really crappy dates, and laughed so hard we cried.” Looking over at her two friends, Raine gave an affectionate smile. “There’s a reason you both are in so many of my favorite photographs, marking my favorite memories. Because you’re not only my dearest friends but you’re also loved very much.”
“I love you more!” he called out.
“Laws.” Raine gave him a look but he could see the corners of her lips twitching with restrained laughter. Raising her glass, she toasted, “To Zach and Laney, may you fall in love a little more each day, discover even more happiness as time goes on—”
“And make me an uncle, already,” he interjected cheerfully.
Covering her eyes, Raine muttered on a laugh, “Laws, you’re killing me.” Recovering, she continued. “To a lifetime of happiness! To Zach and Laney!”
“To Zach and Laney!”
C
HAPTER FORTY-TWO
Schmidt’s law: If you mess with something long enough, it will break.
Lawson’s take: I can’t lie. When I read this, I took it literally. Because we all know how I love to mess with people. Well, certain ones in particular, of course. I prefer to take the second part as them ‘breaking’ into laughter or giggles. And, yeah, I’m talking about you and your giggles, Fos. Excuse me while I run away from what I know is coming: a swipe upside my head from his former Navy SEAL hand that’s the size of a male ape’s. Deep down, I know he loves me, though, and that’s all that matters.
~
“IT’S OUR SONG, LEE.” LAWSON tugged on her hand. “Let’s dance.”
Cocking her head to the side, she replied drily, “Really. Cameo’s ‘Word Up’ is our song?”
A wide, toothy grin in place, he winked. “Of course.”
With that smile, those light blue eyes of his fixed on her, she couldn’t resist him, allowing herself to be led to the center of the deck where the others were dancing. Laney had long ago tossed her shoes aside, the new bride going barefoot. Luckily, the part of the deck they were gathered on was made of smooth, composite boards and not actual wood so there was no risk of anyone getting splinters.
Once out on the designated dance floor, Lawson tugged her close, swaying with her dramatically. “You ready to release some classic moves with me, Lee?” His eyes sparkled, likely with anticipation.
“Classic moves?”
“Yep. You know, like the Sprinkler, Running Man, Roger Rabbit, et cetera.”
Leaning closer before pushing to her toes to speak in his ear, she said, “I don’t know if you can handle my moves, Laws.”
She moved back to gauge his expression, and saw that he was grinning, shaking his head. “Lee, Lee, Lee. You’ve just thrown down the gauntlet.” Pressing a quick kiss to her lips, he stepped back, waving to the space he had just put between them. “You might want to stand back and observe my greatness, lovebug.”
“Did you really just call me ‘lovebug’?” She attempted to give him a squinty-eyed glare.
Stretching his arms in dramatic fashion, as if preparing to exercise, he casually replied, “I really did.”
Linking her fingers together, she pushed them out straight in front of her, palms facing him, posturing as if she were preparing for a fight. “You’ll pay for that, Briggs.”
“Oh, really? What are you going to do to me? Put me in some military chokehold or something?”
Wiseass.
“Not even.” She paused, dragging her index finger down over a shoulder to his firm, broad chest before placing her palm flat against it and giving him a slight shove back, grinning at him. “I’m about to school your ass in classic moves.”
“Bring it, Ford.” He waved her on. “Bring. It.”
“Ooooeeeeee! I do declare there’s about to be a dance off,” Kane hollered.
“As if anyone can top my dance moves,” Lawson declared as his fingers began leisurely working at unfastening the button-down shirt he was wearing.
Eyeing him oddly, she asked, “What are you going to do? Unbutton me to death, here, Briggs?”
He gave her a sharp look that was not quite so intense with the way his eyes were dancing in merriment, tossing his button-down shirt to an empty chair nearby, leaving him clad in only a white u
ndershirt that said Without me, you’re incomplete. Like aweso. See that? You need me. “Are you backtalking me, woman? You getting sassy now?”
“I was born sassy.” She grinned at him as she began her finest rendition of The Cabbage Patch dance move.
All right, so maybe ‘finest rendition’ was more along the lines of ‘worst rendition ever’, but hey. ‘A’ for effort and all that jazz, right?
Um, yeah. That was all fine until she realized that everyone had paused in their own dancing to pretty much gawk—yes, gawk—at her.
Just when she was about to ‘exit stage left’ to find a quiet place to whittle away at her wrists while scolding herself for doing anything outside of her normal comfort zone, something happened.
Lawson Briggs saved her ass.
As if knowing her inner thoughts, he suddenly went to his stomach, doing The Worm dance move a mere two feet away from her.
Immediately, everyone joined back in the dancing, gravitating toward her and Laws and, before she knew it, they were all engaged in an epic dance off.
And she wasn’t sure she’d ever had so much fun before in her life.
* * *
He saw the look on her face, knew exactly what she thought was happening. And she was pretty spot on with part of it.
The others had immediately paused their dancing because of Lee. Not because they were repulsed or thought she was a freak of nature. They’d stopped because they had been caught off guard by her sudden carefree persona, letting loose and breaking out the old Cabbage Patch dance move.
Stellar. Absofuckinglutely stellar moves. Hell, he’d gotten a little bit of a hard-on when she’d done it. Yeah, weird, right? But, damn. That was his Lee and when she’d let loose and broke out one of his favorite dance moves? And out in front of all of their friends, no less?
Done. D-o-n-e, done. Stick a fork in him, done. Not that he wasn’t far gone over that women as it was. Still. She’d done it. Sealed the deal.
But when he’d seen the look on her face, could read the thoughts going through her mind that were nothing good—all recriminating—he’d had to save her. So he immediately took action.
He broke out The Worm dance move. The old school Worm, dropping to the floor of the deck, onto his stomach and wiggling his ass off. All the while, with two realizations running through his mind.
One, his woman could do one hell of a Cabbage Patch.
And two, there might be a teeny tiny chance he could be getting a bit old for these floor dancing shenanigans.
C
HAPTER FORTY-THREE
Murphy’s law: Anything that can go wrong, will.
Langley’s take: This. Is. The. Story. Of. My. Life. I wish Murphy would leave me the hell alone.
~
“DO YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOING on?”
She posed the question to Lawson as they drove the few miles down South Fletcher Avenue to Mac and Raine’s home a few weeks following Zach and Laney’s wedding. She could feel the tension radiating off of him, his hands clenching the steering wheel tightly.
“No,” he answered quietly, brow furrowed. “But we’ve all been concerned about Raine not necessarily looking or acting herself the past few weeks.” Swallowing hard, he told her, “The last time we had a group meeting like this was …”
Oh no, she thought to herself. Please let it not be that Raine’s cancer has come back.
Reaching over to take Lawson’s hand, she gave it a reaffirming squeeze. She felt as though they were both holding their breath as they pulled into the extra-wide driveway of their friends’ home. Seeing Zach’s Chevelle in the driveway along with Foster’s truck, Lawson parked the SUV, turning off the ignition. They sat there in the vehicle for a moment.
Letting out a rough sounding groan, Lawson scrubbed his hands over his face, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. “Fuck.” Hands dropping to his lap, he inhaled deeply before letting it out in whoosh. When he turned to her, she could see the lines of worry etched on his face.
“Let’s do this.” Without another word, he exited the vehicle, coming around to her side, helping her out. Fingers intertwined, they climbed the steps to the large beach home on stilts. Just as they approached the front door, they heard more vehicles pull into the driveway. Turning, they saw Miller’s Jeep, followed by Kane’s truck.
The uneasy feeling she’d already had in the pit of her stomach grew. Taking a deep breath, she watched as Lawson knocked on the door to the stucco home.
Within a moment, it opened to reveal Mac and she noted that the tall, handsome former SEAL had a blank expression on his face. The infamous swoon-worthy dimple of his was nowhere to be seen.
“Hey, guys. Come on in.” Moving to the side to let them pass, their friend’s eyes rose to take in the others who were now walking up the driveway, approaching the steps leading to the front door.
With Lawson’s hand at her lower back, she stepped into the house, removing their flip flops before walking down the hallway. Entering the living room, they saw Raine curled up on the large leather couch, a chenille throw blanket tucked over her. Zach, Laney, and Foster were sitting across from her, talking quietly. Upon seeing her and Lawson approach, the petite brunette flashed them a weak smile.
Lawson immediately slid in beside Raine, bringing her legs up to drape over his own before tucking the blanket over her more securely.
Deciding to take a seat across from them, beside Foster, she was unsure of what to do. Watching Lawson lean his head against Raine’s, she could see their friend’s forced smile when he spoke.
“Don’t know why you had to go and call the others if you just wanted a snuggle buddy. Especially when we both know,” he paused to do a terrible John Wayne impersonation, “I’m the best snuggler around these parts, ma’am.”
Raine gave a half-hearted laugh and she realized that their friend appeared a bit pale. Which only fed into the already worrisome thoughts.
“Darlin’? Are you snuggling without me?” Kane gasped as he entered the room with Doc, Miller, and Tate trailing behind him.
“Yes,” Lawson and Raine answered in unison.
“I was actually talking to Laws, but you’ll do, too,” Kane teased, winking at her.
While they all took their seats, she watched as Mac walked around to sit on the armrest of the couch beside Raine, resting a hand on her shoulder.
“Thanks for coming over, guys.” Mac’s eyes found each of them as he spoke, displaying his gratitude. “I know that you’ve been a bit concerned with Raine seeming under the weather lately.” Mac gazed lovingly at his wife before returning his attention to the rest of them. “She’s been pretty sick, yes. But not from a stomach bug or anything else along the normal lines.”
The handsome man took a deep breath, glancing away before he continued. “Raine had a complicated miscarriage a few weeks ago and, I know,” he raised his hand at the protesting sounds some of them made, “we didn’t mention it. I know. But it was a decision we made together and not one we made lightly, I promise.” His stormy blue eyes were intense. “We had a really difficult time with it emotionally and needed to work through it together as a couple, first and foremost.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Tate breathed, sorrow in her voice.
Laney was dabbing at the corners of her eyes as Zach wrapped his arm around her. She watched as Lawson, still snuggled up beside Raine, pressed a kiss to the woman’s dark hair, whispering something to her. Whatever it was that he said, his words were powerful enough to cause Raine’s eyes to glisten with unshed tears yet make her lips curve into more of a resemblance of a smile than she’d seen since they’d arrived.
When Lawson’s eyes caught hers, she saw the pain they held in the depths, knowing that Raine was hurting.
“The good news is that the doctors have given us the release to try again in a few months,” Mac continued. “And, we wanted to let you know that we’d appreciate all of your prayers—extra, if you’re so inclined.”
“Of course,” t
he murmurs from everyone sounded in the quiet room. She could see the grateful look in Mac’s eyes as they darted to each of them, but also noted the lingering worry beneath it. Knew that he likely feared his wife would have to endure another miscarriage and experience the devastating loss all over again.
“The next time will be it,” Doc finally stated quietly, as was his norm. Per usual, he observed first before reacting, before offering up input. They all turned to the former sniper to see his eyes trained on Raine. He nodded. “I’ve got a good feeling it’ll happen soon.”
Eyeing him curiously, she watched as the man’s piercing green eyes held Raine’s, something passing between them.
“Well, what’s the next step? Do I need to run down to Costco to prep and buy them out of their stock of pregnancy tests, ginger ale, saltine crackers, and black olives?” Lawson asked. “If so, I’m on it.”
“I know I’ll regret asking, but why black olives?” Mac fixed a curious look on him.
Lawson drew back in surprise. “Why, they’re a known aphrodisiac, of course.”
“Oh, Jesus,” Foster muttered under his breath.
“So,” Miller eyed his friend interestedly, “you’re really ready to be dad, huh?”
Mac gazed down at his wife adoringly, answering without an ounce of hesitation, “I’m ready for anything as long as I’ve got her beside me.”
Oh, hell. There is was, Langley groaned inwardly. Her own freaking heart, and if she were being honest, her ovaries nearly vaulted themselves out of her body to lie at the man’s feet. Because his words, the look on his face, spoke of the extent of his love, of his dedication to his wife.
Just then, though, Lawson began whistling, redirecting her attention. As she watched, a bit thrown off by his actions, his full lips pursed—bordered by the dark blond goatee—and she noticed the others appeared as taken aback, as confused.
Until Kane suddenly grinned and joined Lawson, whistling the now-seemingly familiar tune. That was when it dawned on her.