35. Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Five
Simeon
T he grooms wore plaid.
Seriously.
That sounded like a title of a romantic comedy, but that was how things went. Oh, for the actual ceremony they wore white shirts and navy wool trousers. They posed for six photographs, then each hustled upstairs to the renovated bathrooms.
Phew. I’d finished them off yesterday. All sparkling clean and ready for today.
Ten minutes later, they’d reappeared.
Dean in fuchsia-pink plaid and Adam in emerald green.
I hadn’t known those colors existed in the plaid universe. Possibly because once Ryan had settled on goldenrod for me, I’d ceased my search. The deep blue in his shirt nicely matched his eyes. I did not believe the goldenrod matched my hair.
Looking around the room, though, I was glad Ryan had chosen outlandish for me.
Ravi stunned in purple. Violet and Victor wore matching lilac shirts with black corduroy pants.
Stanley had opted for a conservative gray with burgundy accents.
Everett had chosen baby blue to complement Quinton’s baby pink. They weren’t here as a couple per se, but they’d come together.
Kennedy and Rainbow wore matching cream with taupe accents.
Maddox and Justin had both opted for the traditional red and black They were giving each other a run in the stereotypical lumberjack category. While Maddox actually wielded an axe on his property—he’d shown me—Justin had chosen to let his beard grow bushier than usual.
We had secret balloting, and the winner was to be announced after the sleigh rides.
Yep…sleigh rides.
Kennedy knew a guy up the road who had a working ranch and who offered sleigh rides during the winter when it snowed. When the forecaster had promised the white stuff for today, she’d had him bring down the sleigh along with a couple of his horses. We’d each only get about ten minutes, but I was about to get my first real sleigh ride.
Ryan’s first as well.
He gripped my hand.
I pulled him into my side. “S-selfie for Nanny and Bops?” I held out my phone.
“Oh, let me take it.” Quinton snagged the phone before I could say anything.
Then he held it up to my face.
Ryan sighed. He’d explained about cybersecurity and how cops could open my phone without my permission by holding it up to my face—just as Quinton had just done.
I pointed out I didn’t really have anything incriminating on my phone because, as he knew, I wasn’t actually a criminal.
He’d huffed.
And said something about being more secure when he upgraded his phone.
Which I took as a big win. He didn’t have to have a smart phone. But living up in the semi-wilderness area north of Mission City meant having a good, reliable cell phone was critical. When the power went down, if the generator didn’t kick in, at least I’d have data and a way to communicate.
He’d huffed that landlines were a thing.
We still had one at the house. An expense I was happy to keep up.
I pulled Ryan close as Quinton grinned.
“Oh, I want one with you kissing.”
I blinked at Quinton’s seeming command.
Ryan slowly turned me so we faced each other. He put his hands on my clean-shaven cheeks and tugged me toward him.
Our lips touched.
That feeling of rightness that I was so accustomed to settled over me.
“I want some tongue.”
“There are children.” Maddox’s amused voice had me pulling away from Ryan.
“Oh, like they haven’t seen you and Ravi going at it.” Quinton playfully swatted Maddox’s biceps.
Ryan snagged me around the neck and dragged me down for a full-on kiss.
Surprised, I opened my mouth.
He thrust his tongue in.
My brain sort of short-circuited as he pressed himself flush against me. Memories of his tears this morning hit me again. In that moment, I’d witnessed quiet acceptance he’d be moving in. He’d be starting a new life with me. We could put the past behind us. Not forget…no, our world wariness came from long- experience. But we could now forge a path of our own choosing. Write our own destinies.
Wolf whistles and cheers brought me back into the present.
Ryan grinned against my lips.
We pulled apart and slowly faced the crowd of about twenty onlookers who were all smiles.
I’d known I had acquaintances in Mission City. After I’d fixed Maddox and Ravi’s kitchen floor—and they’d started inviting me to their place quite often—I felt I had friends. Now, though? Everyone here felt like extended family. Hell, Dean and Adam had invited us to their wedding. And yeah, neither had any family still alive…but to look at me and say yeah, he’s so important to us that we want him to share our sacred day meant everything. And to include Ryan because they understood how much he meant to me? Words escaped me.
Adam came over to us. “Guys, don’t steal my thunder.”
I ducked my head.
He smacked me lightly on the chest. “Kidding. You know I hate being the center of attention.”
I knew he did. Even though he’d been a former model, that had changed in an instant. Today, though, he’d put himself out front and center because he loved Dean more than anything in the world.
Unbidden, I pulled him in for a hug. Emotion washed over me. The gratitude for friendship. The pride in him. Happiness of being with Ryan…it just overwhelmed me and hugging Adam felt like a safe thing to do.
“We love you, man.” Adam whispered in my ear. “We’re so glad you’re here. And we’re thrilled you seem happy.”
“I am h-happy.” I sniffed as I pulled back from the embrace.
“Good. Who knew that dinner all those months ago would lead to this?”
We looked at the gathered group.
“Yeah. W-what a different six months makes.”
“Right?” He grinned. “I didn’t know I’d fall for Dean. You hadn’t met Everett. Stanley and Justin hadn’t known they’d be able to adopt Opal. All these amazing things.”
“That’s l-life.”
“True.” He gestured to Dean, who made his way over.
They kissed.
That warm, happy feeling sank deep into my bones. I didn’t know I could be this happy.
Ryan tucked himself against my side as Dean and Adam moved toward Stanley and Justin.
Quinton returned my phone. “I might’ve snapped a whole pile of pics. For Nanny and Bops.” He hadn’t actually met my grandparents, but he knew how important they were to me and, to Quinton, that made them part of his life. He just…had an expansive view of the world. The more people in it—the happier he was.
“Thank you. T-they’ll appreciate it.”
He waved and then darted to catch Violet who was headed toward the kitchen.
Kennedy stepped into the room and shut the sliding-glass door. “The sleigh fits four or so. You can squeeze in a couple of kids as well. For the first ride, though, I think the grooms should have some alone time.”
Everett hooted. “Oh, yeah.”
Dean grinned as he snagged Adam’s hand. “I like the sound of alone time.” They snagged their coats and headed outside.
Kennedy made her way around the room, clearly allocating space.
She arrived at Ryan and me last.
“So you’ll be the last ride. Just the two of you.”
“Oh.” That sounded almost too good to be true.
“Well, I could split you up and—”
Ryan pressed his hand to my chest. “Alone is perfect.”
She grinned. “I thought it might be. Helps that you don’t have children.”
And, by my calculations, she’d split up Quinton and Everett to make the numbers work—so that Ryan and I would have some alone time.
Ryan gripped my arm. “This is lovely. Thank you.”
“M-me? I didn’t d-do anything.”
“You know all these amazing people.” He squeezed my hand. “You asked me to come home with you first.”
I smiled. “You d-didn’t want to camp out on the floor with Alexa, Alannah, and Oliver?”
He shuddered. “Uh, no. My own kids, maybe. Someone else’s? Less enthusiastic.”
I stilled. “Your k-kids?” He doesn’t have kids. Is he talking about some hypothetical future or is he trying to tell me he wants kids? How am I supposed to respond? What if I say the wrong thing?
“Simeon?”
After a moment, I gazed into his eyes. “I w-want kids, Ryan. If you d-don’t, then that’s totally fine, but I w-want kids.”
Slowly, he smiled. “I do too. There are so many orphans out there. Kids in foster care. Kids who need our help. We have a house. A beautiful, amazing house. A house we could fill with kids.”
“So you’ll m-move in?”
He laughed. “I figured after I told the ticket place where to find me, that was a given.”
“I d-don’t want to assume.”
“I’ll give notice on my apartment. I signed a lease, but the manager said they’ve got a waiting list. She’ll let me out of the agreement.” He pressed a hand to my cheek. “I don’t ever want us to sleep apart again, okay?”
“F-fine by me.”
We kissed.
“Damn.” Maddox eyed his phone. He glanced up and hotfooted over to Justin. “Can I borrow your computer?”
“Sure, it’s in my office. Follow me.”
The two men headed down the hallway.
Ravi sighed.
Ryan darted to catch Violet who was again heading toward the kitchen. He snagged her around the waist. “Not so fast, monster.”
“Thanks.” Ravi held out his arms and Ryan dropped her into them.
“What’s wrong?”
Ravi appeared to consider. “Maddox has worked for this company for years. They just merged with two other companies whose cybersecurity sucks. Maddox has been struggling to get everyone aligned and where they need to be so there aren’t breaches. Apparently there’s a lot of highly classified information that would be really easy to hack into.” He drew in a breath. “I don’t care if Maddox has to work more…but this is really stressing him out. He needs to hire someone, but he keeps saying he doesn’t have the time to look through all the résumés.”
“Cybersecurity?” Ryan scratched his beard.
“Yeah.” Ravi laughed. “Way over my pay grade. I can manage the computer at work to do my job, but I want to care for my patients, not do all that data-entry crap.”
“When would he want someone to start?” Ryan continued to scratch his beard.
“Like, yesterday. He warned me he’s likely going to need to work tomorrow. Now, I’m not a traditionalist per se, but Christmas Day means a lot to me. To both of us. I support him, though. And the twins don’t understand yet. They won’t care when we actually open presents.”
Ryan snagged my hand and tugged me close. He cleared his throat. “I…I have a degree in cybersecurity. I didn’t just fly drones in Ukraine—I did computer stuff as well. A lot of it.”
Ravi nodded. “Okay. But I thought…” He didn’t finish the thought.
We all knew what he meant. Ryan could barely tolerate being around a cell phone.
But he set up my laptop. He bought the tickets. He’s been in therapy for over a month and he says it’s been helping .
I squeezed his hand, offering unspoken support. Whatever he wanted, I was all in. I’d have his back.
Again, he cleared his throat.
Justin reappeared. He headed our way. “All good. He says fifteen minutes tops. Stanley and I will take the kids on our sleigh ride and if Maddox isn’t back, one of us will go with you and the twins.”
“Uh, Justin?” Ryan’s voice was a little strained.
“Yeah?” Justin cocked his head. “Are you okay?”
“I think…” For the third time, Ryan cleared his throat. “I think I might want to ask Maddox for a job.”
Justin slowly nodded. “I think that’s a great idea. I think you might be ready.”
Ryan stood a little taller. “Yeah, I am.” Then he tucked himself into my side.
I held him even as he trembled. Well, either Maddox or myself would be with him for the next few days as I was off work until after Nanny and Bops moved into the retirement village. I pressed a kiss to Ryan’s temple. “You’ll b-be okay. I’ll take care of you.”
Again, he met my gaze with luminous blue eyes. “Yeah, I think I will be.”