Chapter 32
Danica
S wallowing thickly, I blinked back tears. Sunday was a gorgeous, sunny day, and we were in the desert behind the clubhouse fences, watching as Sean and Dex walked down the temporary aisle that had been placed out here. We were surrounded by cactus and bikers. The air buzzed with excitement.
The Austin chapter families had gotten here last night and some of the men from the Wyoming chapter arrived this morning. Lockout had made the call to Wyoming, asking for help with security for the wedding.
We were all gathered in one place and it would be devastating if Don Amato attacked today. Our men were all too preoccupied with helping Hush, so they’d brought in reinforcements. There were eight heavily armed bikers prowling the club’s perimeter while we were back here.
Gabby, Taylor, Cassie, Caitlyn, and Grace were Seek’s bridesmaids. And Sean and Dex were standing up next to Hush. Dex tugged on his shirt collar and gave Susie a desperate look. She returned it with a murderous one. He straightened up and dutifully paid attention.
All of the men and women had been helping Seek and Hush pull this off. We all thought it would be adorable to have all of the kids be a part of it, minus Tori’s because he was still too young.
Hush winked at Melinda as Riptide escorted her to her seat.
Her smile was radiant. It had been a shock to her when the date of the wedding was moved, but she’d gotten right on board and meticulously kept everything in order for us while we planned through what needed to be accomplished to pull off the big day.
She was in a beautiful teal skirt and blouse combination.
Seek’s sister, Jo, and her boyfriend sat next to Melinda.
Music started up over the speakers that Rip and Rat set up last night.
I didn’t know most of the group who came over from Texas, but Smoke gave me all of their names and we’d had a chance to talk a bit last night.
Everyone seemed so nice. Rat was sitting next to his wife Ari, and they were holding their twins.
A huge man in a suit was yanking on his tie and it made me think of Dex and laugh.
The woman sitting next to him batted at his hands and adjusted the tie again.
I hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to them last night, Riggs and Anna were their names, but I’d chatted with their adopted son Jared. Anna was holding a chubby baby girl.
The Austin families looked so happy and carefree and I wondered if that was ever going to be us. It seemed like we had so many troubles looming. This wedding was a break from them, a brief ray of sunshine through the storm.
Gasps of delight pulled my focus back to the wedding.
I laughed when I saw Auron and Jecht walking down the aisle, side by side.
They both had on little tuxedo tops over their fur and had bowties wrapped around their necks.
Auron was carrying a pillow in his mouth and Jecht had a basket of flowers.
Every couple of steps Jecht would growl and shake his head, causing the basket to fling from side to side and dumping flowers in clumps down the aisle runner.
“I swear those dogs are too smart for their own good,” Smoke muttered to me.
“You’re just jealous that they learn faster than you,” Toxic whispered over his shoulder.
Giggling, I watched as Sean took the pillow from Auron. Both dogs looked up at Hush, then sat when he commanded it. Jecht’s mouth was open in a happy doggy grin, the basket hooked behind his bottom teeth.
The music changed and we all stood. There were ‘awws’ from the women in the crowd as the little girls came down the aisle in a group. They were all wearing beautiful gowns and wore beaming smiles.
My eyes teared again—dang hormones—as Seek and Lockout began walking up the aisle. Her dad had died years ago and she’d asked Lock to take his place today. They shared a grin when they got a look at Hush’s stunned face.
Seek was gorgeous. She was glowing. It didn’t matter that she was heavily pregnant, she was just stunning. I sighed and laid my head back against Smokehouse’s chest as he wrapped his arms around me from behind.
Priest was standing up front in between his girls and Hush. He waited until Lock delivered Seek to her soon to be husband, then cleared his throat. The music cut off and everyone quieted down.
“I’ve performed quite a few ceremonies,” Priest started.
Looking up at Smoke, I whispered, “He has?”
“Yeah,” he rumbled. “Bunch of the guys in his unit wanted to get married to some local girls on one of their deployments. He helped them get all the necessary paperwork done, so they asked him to perform the ceremonies.”
“Oh, that’s why they call him Priest?”
“Nope,” Smoke chuckled. “That’s coincidence. They call him Priest because of how many men he sent to their maker. He was a sniper,” he explained.
Shaking my head, I went back to paying attention to what was going on. These men and their names were a topic of discussion for another time.
“There was a time where we weren’t sure we’d ever see Hush again,” Priest said. His voice deepened with emotion. “As grateful as we were to our Austin brothers for taking him in and making him a part of their family, we missed him here.”
I wasn’t getting through this wedding without crying.
At least the morning sickness had eased off a little.
Dabbing at my eyes, I listened as Priest explained how hard it was for Hush to come back to the city where his former wife had died.
By the end of it I was choking back sobs.
Smoke tightened his arms, holding me close.
I wasn’t the only one with tears streaming down my cheeks.
“Then he met Seek. She won us all over immediately, but Hush tried to hold out.” Laughter echoed through the air. “I’m pretty sure there isn’t anything Seek can’t do when she sets her mind to it, so Hush had zero chance of success.” Priest and Seek shared a smile.
“Seek wanted to make sure that Daphne, and her and Hush’s love, were honored here today, though I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.
She sprinkled little mementos that Daph would have loved throughout the ceremony and reception.
Those of us who knew Daph will probably spot them easily.
” Priest shifted on his feet as he said the next part.
“We couldn’t be more grateful, as a club, to you, Seek, for truly bringing Hush back to us. ”
I’d given up on trying not to cry. It was like a waterfall was pouring from my eyes. Mostly I was just trying to avoid disturbing anyone else. To hear these vulnerable words coming out of such a burly man, and knowing that they echoed the sentiments of all the men here was getting to me.
“We’re thrilled to welcome you into the family, officially.” Priest looked over at Auron, doubt in his eyes. “I assume someone with opposable thumbs has the rings?” My laugh was watery as I watched Hush dig into little pockets on Auron’s chest and pull out the ring boxes.
He handed one to Seek. The love shining there on his face made my heart clench.
They’d gone through so much to get here and guilt crashed over me at the memory of her running—that word might be debatable—at the head of the pack, headlong into danger along with her dogs last weekend.
Hush could have lost her and his baby. Smoke’s lecture was hitting home with a vengeance right now.
I tried to shove the emotions down and enjoy the day. We were here. Everyone was safe. For now, everything was perfect. I wasn’t going to let the memories of what had happened spoil the day.
“Jamie. Do you take this man? Do you promise to love and cherish him? Protect and support him? Put up with him even on his grumpy days? For as long as you both shall live?”
Seek waited for the laughter to die down. She grinned up at Hush. “I do.”
“Davis. Do you take this woman? Do you promise to love and cherish her? Protect and guide her? Forsaking all others? For as long as you both shall live?”
“I do.”
They slid their rings on each other’s fingers, then held hands as they looked over at Priest.
“Then by the powers given to me by the State of Arizona”—the tone of his voice called those powers fools—“I pronounce you husband and wife.” He waited a beat and we all watched as Hush stared down at Seek as though he was frozen in place. “Kiss her, you idiot.”
We all laughed as Hush pulled Seek into his arms and they kissed. My eyes narrowed as Butcher and Toxic crept up to the front. Butcher handed one of the girls a lighter, while Toxic did the same for Sean.
“What are they-”
I broke off in disbelief as Butcher scooped up the smallest girls and they all ran laughing like loons as firecrackers exploded to life.
Smoke’s laughter vibrated through my body as he held me close.
Hush was swearing a blue streak at his brothers as he covered Seek’s body with his own.
The firecrackers weren’t close enough to do any damage, but it was clear no one had been expecting that surprise.
Priest had a resigned look on his face. “I’m going to gut you if one of my girls ends up missing fingers,” he promised the two troublemakers.
Susie checked over her son, while Gwen inspected her boy and girl, but the kids were just fine and happy to have made a splash.
Seek winked at Butcher and Toxic. That one motion was enough to lead me to believe she’d been in cahoots with them all along.
The more I thought about it, the more I was sure.
Those men wouldn’t have done anything that might have ruined her wedding.
It made their kiss even more memorable. Everyone moved back into the fenced property for the reception after the commotion died down.
* * *