Chapter 10
Zane pulled on the collar of his white shirt, cursing his choice to wear a suit to Hannah and August’s wedding. He was hot and stuffy even in the cooler autumn air. He almost wished he could have worn the white pants and shirt his sister had picked out for him for the last wedding.
Weddings, man. Not a good track record so far. Except this time, he was determined to do something, to say something, that would build trust between him and Mabel.
They’d worked alongside each other for a couple of nights doing the windshield survey, and it had gone well. Things had felt good between them. He had to do this slowly.
He was happy for August and Hannah. He’d never seen August look the way he did when he saw Hannah in her fancy gown as she stepped into view, escorted by her father. August—the consummate strong, silent type—with tears in his eyes, seeing his bride dressed in white.
It had filled Zane’s chest with longing. It was like when he held his nephew, Styles, in his arms for the first time. Something had lodged in his chest, a hollow ache, a need for a family of his own.
Now, here at the wedding on the Bailey property with over two hundred guests, it had come again. Seeing the way August looked. Love had done that to the serious guy who kept to himself. And Zane wanted it. He wanted all of that with Mabel.
He held a glass in one hand and what he hoped was an appropriately anti-social look on his face. He figured that if he looked disinterested enough and paid a great deal of attention to his drink that maybe people would leave him alone.
The ceremony had gone well—as far as wedding ceremonies go.
Hannah’s uncle from out of state came in to officiate.
Zane had done well not focusing too much on Mabel, one of the bridesmaids along with the other KNO women.
She’d looked stunning, otherworldly, in that light-blue dress with a glittering clip sweeping her hair to one side.
After one long look at her radiance and beauty, he’d done his best to focus on other things.
“Hi, Zane, so nice to see you again,” a voice behind him said. He cringed, cursing his failed plan of avoiding everyone.
He turned to see Scott and Liza, arm in arm. “There’s our favorite hero!” Liza cooed. “I can’t thank you enough for all you did for my Scott.”
Zane rolled his shoulders a little. It was hard for him to accept praise.
Was Just doing my job, ma’am too cringey?
“How are you feeling?” he asked Scott.
“Back to normal. Back at the restaurant full time.” Scott pounded his chest a couple of times.
“In fact, we’d like you to come to a nice dinner in Bartlett next week.
We’d love to have you as our honored guest.” He gestured to Zane’s black eye, which was now a greenish brown. “If you’re feeling well enough.”
Liza peered at Zane’s face. “That is quite the black eye. Did you get in a fistfight?”
“He’s the fire chief too, Liza. He probably got it fighting that brush fire the other day.”
Zane wasn’t about to explain that he’d gotten it right after transporting Scott to the hospital.
“Oh, I did not forget that you’re a firefighter, dear.
Which makes it even more important for you to come to the dinner.
It would be an honor to have Silver Plum’s fire chief with us.
” Liza had laid a hand on his arm twice in the conversation, and he couldn’t back up any more than he already was. There was an enormous tree at his back.
“I’m not sure.” Zane took a drink and then raised it in the air as he surveyed the room. “I might be done with fancy events for a while after this.”
“I bet a guy like you would rather not have to wear high-end clothes. You’re more of a working man, aren’t you? Not that you don’t look great in that suit.” Liza giggled.
Please, for the love of everything holy, get me out of here.
Zane’s gaze took in Mabel across the courtyard from him. She saw him looking at her and brought her hand up in a little wave.
The Jorgensons spoke with him a little more, and Zane was distracted.
Automatically, he glanced back at Mabel, but this time she was no longer standing by herself.
Was that the great and noble doctor by her side?
Geez, was there anyone in this county who hadn’t been invited to this wedding?
And the way she was smiling at the guy? He knew what she’d said about not feeling for the doctor what she felt for him, but ouch.
Seeing that exchange between them hurt like nothing else.
Dallin Conforth was everything Zane wasn’t: highly educated, professional, and confident.
Plus, he made a ton of money and drove a BMW.
“You know, I actually think I can come.” The jealousy did something funny to his resolve.
Rebuilding his friendship with Mabel was a good first step.
Being the man she deserved meant stepping up and out of his comfort zone sometimes, and he could attend an event as the fire chief, even if he’d rather not.
Liza beamed and gave him the date, time, and location.
Weston and Ruby walking by was like an ice-cold glass of water in the desert. “Nice to see you folks!” Zane excused himself and rushed to catch up with his friends.
“Well, Hannah and August actually pulled it off,” Weston said with a low chuckle.
He whistled softly as he looked around at the twinkling lights everywhere in the garden, a series of walkways meandering around trees, shrubbery, and vines.
The flora of the Bailey estate was beginning to show bursts of fall colors.
“No wonder they were engaged for so long. All this doesn’t happen overnight.” Ruby moved to look more closely at a purple flower. “Oh, I think these are asters.”
Tory joined them, a bit out of breath. Which could have been because she was pregnant and wearing heels.
“Bill Murray is right over there,” she whispered, her eyes wide.
“I kid you not. It’s totally him. I heard him say something to August’s dad and it was like I was watching Groundhog Day. ” She squealed and clapped her hands.
“We could try to ask him to quote the movie for you if you want,” Zane teased.
“I would say yes, totally, but…I can’t. It’s just too much. You know that everyone was warned to leave the guests alone, and they weren’t talking about Fran from the grocery store.”
Ruby nodded. “I saw a bunch of people who look like they’re probably from movies I vaguely remember, but it’s hard to tell.”
“Well, Victoria hasn’t acted in a while, so that would make sense.
” Tory interrupted herself. “Oh! I remembered why I was coming over here. We need to decorate Hannah and August’s truck.
We didn’t get to do that for Anjali and Parker since it was a destination wedding, and I’m still a little bitter about that. ”
“What time are we all meeting at his truck?” Weston asked. “If we can even find it. If he were smart, he would have hidden it.”
“Mack might know. Let’s meet in fifteen so we can do our damage before they wrap everything up. And shhh.” Her finger came to her mouth, her lips clamped down. She placed a hand under her belly and hurried away.
They’d smashed the last Oreos on the back windows of August’s Tacoma when Zane finally got the courage to talk to Mabel.
“So.” Zane nudged Mabel’s shoulder. “Is he your friend-date for the wedding? I thought it would just be all of us hanging as a group.”
Mabel smirked. “It is. We are. I mean, we’re all hanging as a group.” She shrugged her shoulders and ran her hands down her dress. “Dallin’s mom is on a medical board and apparently works with Victoria on some charity stuff. He said he came with her.”
“His dad couldn’t come? I’m guessing Dallin had another motive for showing up than being a good son.”
Something primal and totally uncalled for boiled up inside of Zane.
He was trying to hang out with Mabel again, guaranteed.
She cocked her head to one side. “I don’t know if his dad’s around.” Her eyes were seething. She was not wanting this conversation now.
That’s good. Maybe the two of them aren’t close enough to talk about their family lives.
As Zane probably deserved for being such a lame-o, Mabel turned to someone else and started talking with them.
Liam joined them with his mom and her new husband, police officer Corwin Danes, in tow.
“And congrats to you, as well!” Mabel gave Liam’s mom, Leah, a hug and patted Corwin’s shoulder. “Wow, I was so happy to hear of your wedding. Are Landon and Whitney here too?”
“No. They couldn’t make it this time. Whitney is pregnant with twins, and she can’t travel much.”
“I heard they were having twins! And with Liam and Tory’s baby, that means you’ll be getting three little grandbabies.”
Leah nodded, smiling. “Their due dates are only a month apart, and with it being twins, the doctor thinks she’ll go early.
It’s going to be quite the blessed time.
” She glanced at Corwin and gently tugged him closer to her side.
“Who would have thought that Landon’s failed attempt at finding love on a reality TV show would have ended up so great? ”
The reception wound down, and soon Hannah and August came to their group of friends to say their goodbyes. August’s parents’ friends had dispersed, probably because they had a long drive ahead of them to their hotels. Silver Plum didn’t even have a hotel, one of its so-called charms.
A small gathering of family members and the KNO friends waited at the gate near the front entrance to the house.
“We’re so grateful to all of you for being here. It was a magical day.” Hannah had tears in her eyes as she hugged her friends, parents, and siblings one by one. August, as a severe introvert, was plain worn out, but there was a look of contentment plastered all over his weary face.
A black Humvee limo pulled up, much to the excitement of the few people left at the wedding. Hannah looked shocked as well. “What did you do, Auggie?” she asked with a laugh, leaning over to kiss his cheek.
August smiled, eyeing their friends. “I knew these fools were going to decorate our truck, and I couldn’t have that cramping our style, baby.”
Anjali hollered, “Seriously? Aw, that’s no fun at all. What about the photos of you guys driving away with soup cans on strings in the back?”
“Soup cans on strings in the back I can handle.” August shook his head. “It’s the smeared Oreos and shaving cream I refuse to deal with right now.”
“My husband is brilliant,” Hannah said after kissing him again. “Baby, take me away.” She giggled as he tugged her close and placed a few soft, slow kisses on the top of her shoulder before the driver opened their door.
Mabel appeared at Zane’s elbow, the moonlight shining on her gleaming blonde hair.
“Zane?” she said quietly. “It’s my turn to steal you away from a wedding once they’re gone. Don’t you think?” She squeezed both hands around his elbows, tugging at them playfully.
It was too dark to read her expression fully, but something about her demeanor boded well. The dip of her chin and the slight wobble to her voice were like a magnet to his soul.
Yes. Zane did think he would like to be stolen away from anything as long as it was Mabel doing the stealing.