Chapter Twenty-One #2
“Of course.” He turned their backs to his parents and stepped toward the slider.
“Are they leavin’, or are we gettin’ married?” a little girl hollered.
“Rosie, hush!” another little girl yelled, and then there was a burst of giggles.
“We can’t do this,” Shauna whispered quickly. “This is like a real wedding, and we’re not real. It’s not fair to your family.”
“Remember when I said you entered the Wicked zone? This is what I was talking about. It took them a while to come around, but this is who my family is. And trust me, they wouldn’t have done it if they didn’t support it.”
“He’s right, honey,” his mother said from behind them, drawing her attention. “You might not be getting married forever, but you’re still marrying into our family, and that means something to us.”
“Darlin’, it would be my honor to officiate your wedding,” Preacher said with a smile that softened those granite edges. He glanced at Zander, adding, “Lord knows this is probably the only chance I’ll get to marry this guy off.”
A nervous laugh slipped out, and Zander took her hand. “What do you say, Flores?”
“I think they might be as crazy as you are. This is so much more than I ever imagined, and that makes me one lucky girl.”
“You’re marrying me. That’s what makes you lucky,” Zander said, and they all laughed as he pulled her into a hug.
“They’re laughin’! Uncle Zannie, are we getting married?” a little girl with light brown skin and a mass of golden-brown ringlets shouted as she ran toward the deck in a frilly pink dress.
Sprinting behind her was a fair-skinned, freckle-faced young girl with red ringlets, wearing a pale green dress and a look of determination, hollering, “Rosie! Papa Tank said no deck yet!” as Rosie scrambled onto the deck.
“Are you gonna be my auntie?” Rosie shouted as she ran past Shauna, giggling up a storm, and launched herself at Zander. “Uncle Zannie, save me!”
Shauna and his parents laughed as he hoisted Rosie into his arms, and Preacher scooped up the other girl, her ringlets springing around her shoulders.
The girls’ giggles filled the air, and holy cow, seeing Zander grinning from ear to ear with that little girl in his arms was the sweetest, sexiest thing she’d ever seen, bringing all those flutters rushing back.
Zander tickled Rosie’s belly and said, “Shauna, these are Tank’s girls, Rosie and Junie.”
“Is Shauna gonna be our auntie?” Rosie asked.
Zander locked eyes with Shauna. Happiness radiated off him, so real, it felt electric and binding, as he said, “Shauna’s not only going to be your auntie. She’s going to be your coolest auntie ever.”
“Yay!” Rosie and Junie cheered.
Whoops and cheers rang out, and as the rest of Zander’s family headed in their direction, his mother sidled up to Shauna and said, “In all the chaos, we didn’t formally meet. I’m Reba, and I’m sorry for the rough start. Preacher and I look forward to getting to know you.”
“Me too. Thank you so much.”
Reba embraced her and said, “Brace yourself, sweetheart. Here come the troops, led by my daughter. She can be a lot.”
“I’ve got her, Mom,” Zander said, setting Rosie on her feet and putting a hand on Shauna’s back as they headed off the deck.
Shauna barely had time to brace herself before his family converged on them, with dogs and toddlers in tow.
“Hi. I’m Madigan,” his sister exclaimed.
She was a petite bundle of energy and, holding the hand of a big, broody-looking guy with longish hair and linebacker shoulders, said, “And this is my fiancé, Tobias. We’re so happy to meet you. ”
Tobias smiled and nodded as Madigan pulled Shauna into a hug.
Madigan leaned back, her gaze zeroing in on Shauna’s left hand. “Oh my God! Look at that rock!” She held Shauna’s hand up for everyone to see, like she’d uncovered a secret.
Shauna’s stomach dipped, but Zander was already sliding an arm around her waist, flashing that easy grin as he said, “Gotta protect my rep. Nothing less than the best for the only fiancée I’ll ever have.” He winked, and laughter rang out around them.
“Age before beauty. Out of my way,” an older man with a craggy voice said as he pushed through the crowd and studied her with keen eyes. “So, you’re the filly who got Zander to stand up to his old man.”
Chuckles rang out behind him.
Zander scoffed. “Shauna, this is my grandfather Mike.”
“Hi,” she said. “I’ve heard nice things about you.”
“All lies,” his grandfather said with a wink.
“I’ve got some advice for ya.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice.
“You’ve got to fake it till the check clears, so when he pisses you off, which he will, you come see me.
I’ll tell you stories that’ll make you appreciate him for his good looks and sense of humor. ”
She laughed.
“Get out of here, old man,” Zander teased. “I won’t piss her off because I don’t want her subjected to the likes of you.”
“He’s jealous,” Preacher called out, earning more laughter.
“A’right, let’s get the introductions over with,” Zander said, and with a hand on Shauna’s back, he pointed to a curvy blonde who appeared to be not much older than Shauna and a teenager with long brown hair. “This is Blaine’s fiancée, Reese, and her sister, Lettie.”
“Hi,” Reese and Lettie said in unison.
“Thanks for letting Woody out,” Lettie said.
“He was as ornery as ever,” Zander said about their dachshund, and then he motioned to a tall, elegant blonde hoisting an adorable toddler into her arms. “And this is Maverick’s wife, Chloe, and their daughter, Marybelle—”
“And this is my baby brother, Leo!” Rosie shouted, tugging the giggling dark-skinned toddler behind her.
“He’s gonna be the ring boy, and we’re gonna be flower girls, and that’s our mama and Papa Tank.
” She pointed to a petite woman with a mass of reddish-brown curls and a pretty, freckled face tucked beneath Tank’s thick arm.
Tank nodded, and the woman waved and said, in a Southern drawl, “Hi. I’m Leah.”
More introductions rolled out like a steady tide.
Shauna accepted hugs and nods and said, “Nice to meet you,” more times than she could count as she met Zander’s aunt and uncle, Ginger, a strawberry-blonde with tortoiseshell glasses and a warm embrace, and Conroy, a handsome man with collar-length wavy silver hair and bright blue eyes as playful as Zander’s.
She met Zander’s other cousins, Gunner, a fully tatted, fair-haired Marine veteran and his cute brunette wife, Sidney, who was also a Marine veteran, and Baz, an easygoing veterinarian with longish blond hair, his fiancée, Emerson, a sweet, pregnant golden-brown haired beauty, and their precious little boy, Brennan, whose dark hair stood straight up.
When she’d met everyone, including Buster and Milo, Preacher and Reba’s dogs, Zander slid his arm around her and said, “How’re you holding up, darlin’? Do you need CliffsNotes?”
“Nametags would be better.”
“That can be arranged,” Madigan said.
“We should have thought of that when we planned this,” Reba said.
“When did you plan this?” Zander asked, glancing at his father. “Last night at church you and your henchmen looked like you were ready to throttle me.”
Preached cocked a grin, a surprising glint of a tease rising in his eyes. “You shocked the hell out of us the other night, son. I thought you could use a little payback.”
Holy shit.
“Are you freaking kidding me? You let me leave church thinking y’all had abandoned me?” Zander glowered at Blaine, Maverick, and Tank, and they all cracked up.
“You should’ve seen your face,” Blaine said, and high-fived Maverick and Tank.
“Better watch your backs,” Zander warned, which only made them laugh harder.
“You boys can work that out while we get Shauna ready for your wedding,” Madigan said, and linked her arm with Shauna’s, dragging her toward the house with Reba, Ginger, Reese, Lettie, Chloe, Leah, Sid, and Emerson on their heels.