Chapter Twenty-One
SHAUNA GAZED OUT the truck window feeling like she was going to throw up.
It was Thursday evening, and she and Zander were on their way to his parents’ house to meet the rest of his family.
She’d changed her clothes three times, finally settling on mustard-yellow low-riding, wide-legged jeans with a cropped black tank top, a white cardigan, and sneakers.
She hadn’t planned on wearing the engagement ring.
It felt wrong to wear something so expensive when his family was already upset.
But Zander had said he hadn’t given it to her to have it sit in a box and encouraged her to wear it.
It seemed important to him, and he reminded her that they were trying to make everyone else believe their relationship was real, and she shouldn’t let his family’s opinions change how they acted.
That was part of the problem. This was all an act, and yet when it was just the two of them, it didn’t feel like an act at all.
It felt like they’d become close friends, confidants.
But she was so nervous, meeting his parents would take one hell of an act if she had any hope of it going well. An act of God, that is.
Zander’s hand covered hers and squeezed, drawing her attention. A conspiratorial gleam shone in his eyes. “What do you say, Angel? Should we blow them off and go for tacos instead?”
How did he always know how to make her smile?
“As tempting as that sounds, we’re already late, and it would just give them another reason to dislike me.
” Blaine had texted Zander as they were on their way out the door, asking him to swing by his place to let his dog out because Blaine and Reese had to pick up Lettie at a friend’s house and wouldn’t have time to do both.
“They don’t dislike you,” Zander said. “They’re worried about me. I told you I’m the guy who does dumb shit.”
“You say that, but I don’t see it. You’ve done all the right things by me. You protected me before you even knew me, and you helped Brian without hesitation. So either you’re a really good actor, or I must be missing something.”
He glanced at her. “I’m not acting. Just changing. I have a chance to do the right thing and pay a favor back. It feels good, and don’t worry, nobody’s going to change my mind.”
He turned down a residential street and held her hand a little tighter, the muscles in his jaw working overtime. “Looks like they meant for you to meet the whole family. My aunt and uncle and cousins are here, too,” he said as he pulled over behind a line of other vehicles.
She took a deep breath. “How many more people are here?”
“My aunt Ginger and uncle Conroy, and their family. You’ve already met Tank. His wife, Leah, and their three kids, Junie, Rosie, and Leo, will be here, along with Baz and his fiancée, Emerson, and their little boy, Brennan, and Gunner, and his wife, Sid. I’m sure my grandfather is here, too.”
“Great.” The knot in her stomach twisted.
He cocked a brow. “Reconsidering my taco offer?”
“Yes,” she said honestly, and he laughed.
“I’m not really. You think they’re protecting me, but I think they’re protecting you.
They love you, and as hard as this is, take it from someone who didn’t have a family that cared enough to make sure I had lunch money, much less didn’t sign three months of my life away.
As hard as this is, that protection is something to be valued. ”
“I value them, Angel, but you’re going to be my wife. So we’re going to walk in there with our heads held high, and if anyone makes you uncomfortable, we’ll turn around and walk out.”
“We can’t just leave.”
“The hell we can’t. I’m not going to stand for anyone making my girl feel uncomfortable.”
As good as it felt knowing he’d protect her feelings at all costs, Shauna was used to being thrown into new situations without knowing what she was walking into, and she knew meeting the family who didn’t want her there was going to be anything but comfortable.
Zander had mentioned that Zeke, Baz, and Gunner were coming around, and he thought they’d have his back tonight.
She really hoped that was true, because the worst part of all of this wasn’t the embarrassment of having to borrow money or marrying a guy she barely knew, no matter how much it felt like she knew him.
It was knowing she was causing a fissure between this incredible man and his generous family.
That was why she had to remind him, “I’m your fake girl, Zan, and they’re your real family.”
“After tomorrow morning, you’ll be my real family, too.” He held her gaze as he lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it, setting off those flutters in her chest. “Let’s go, darlin’.”
Her nerves were on fire as they headed up the walk. Zander took her hand on their way up the porch steps. “It’s you and me against the world, Angel. Ready to let me show you off?”
Show me off? She knew he was trying to make her smile, but she was too nervous to muster one. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
He opened the front door and put his hand on her lower back as they walked in. As reassuring as that familiar touch was, she longed for his hand. Holding it had made her feel safer, more grounded.
There were boots and shoes by the door, jackets hanging on hooks, and a narrow table with a candle and a framed photograph of what could only be a young Zander.
She’d know his mischievous smile anywhere.
He was holding hands with a little blond girl who was sticking her tongue out at the camera, just like Zander was, and a little mahogany-haired girl who was gazing up at him with wonderous eyes.
She pointed to the photo and whispered, “Is that adorable boy you?”
“Yeah. That’s Ashley with the blond hair, and Madigan.”
Shauna’s heart squeezed for their loss.
Zander’s hand pressed on her back, guiding her toward the living room as he called out, “Mom? Preach?”
“Out back,” someone yelled from outside, though Shauna didn’t see anyone through the screen door as they entered the living room.
Family photos decorated the living room walls, telling a story of kids growing up with parents who loved them.
She recognized Zander and his brothers and Tank, and Madigan’s wondrous eyes were easy to spot, even in the pictures of her as an adult.
Ashley was in so many pictures, Shauna could see they kept her spirit alive.
No wonder Zander said he thought about her every day.
She assumed the other people in the pictures were also his family.
Theirs was a warm, loving home, with a family who clearly treasured one another, so different from the home she’d grown up in. She shouldn’t be tearing this family apart.
“Zander,” she said just as a strikingly handsome man appeared on the other side of the screen door.
He was big, broad, and bearded, with slicked-back salt-and-pepper hair and a stern facial expression that had her holding her breath.
He wore jeans and a black leather vest over a white dress shirt, which was rolled up to his elbows, exposing colorful tattoos on his forearms and his hands.
Zander tensed beside her as he and the man locked eyes. His hand slid across Shauna’s back, his fingers curling around her waist, holding her closer, as if protecting her.
That had to be his father. Shauna’s heart raced as a petite woman hurried up the steps onto the deck, her mahogany hair brushing the shoulders of her red dress as she came to the man’s side and glanced through the screen door.
Her face brightened, but there was a hint of tension in her eyes as she said, “Hi, honey.”
“Hi, Mom,” Zander said tightly.
Holding Shauna against his side, he guided her out the door with him, as if they were parts of the same being.
The yard spilled out around them, and Shauna felt like she was seeing it in slow motion.
The sun hung low in the sky, shimmering over a small pond, colorful gardens, and the lush lawn where dozens of chairs with pretty flowers and white bows tied to the backs were set up in front of a gazebo.
Glass lanterns glimmered on either side of an aisle between the chairs, and more lanterns sparkled on the gazebo steps.
Twinkling lights were wound through branches of tall trees and around the frame of the gazebo, illuminating gorgeous greenery and flowers decorating the entrance.
Women in pretty dresses and men wearing jeans, white shirts, and leather vests just like Zander’s father were milling about, watching Zander and Shauna, as little girls in frilly dresses darted around them, chased by a dark-skinned little boy.
Shauna tried to make sense of what she was seeing, but couldn’t.
“What is all this?” Zander demanded, his grip tightening around her.
“Hopefully, if you and Shauna will allow it, it’s for your wedding,” Preacher said.
The shock in Zander’s eyes was as sharp as the astonishment consuming Shauna.
“You caught us off guard the other evening, honey,” his mother said. “Of course we’re concerned about you two getting married. You might be a grown man, but you’re still our child, and we haven’t even had a chance to get to know Shauna.” She smiled warmly at Shauna.
Shauna tried to smile in return, managing a shaky one as she tried to process what was happening.
“But you were right, son,” Preacher said firmly, and turned a serious gaze on Shauna. “This brave young woman saved your life, and that should’ve been enough for us to support your decision to help her in whatever way you deem appropriate.”
Her throat thickened.
“About damn time you came around,” Zander said. He looked at Shauna, and the relief in his eyes was palpable. “What do you think, Angel? Should we forgive them, or head out for those tacos?”
“Um.” She was still in shock, her heart racing as the magnitude of the love his parents had for him hit her full force, and she choked out, “Can I talk to you alone for a second?”