Chapter 40
HUDSON
I’m not sure where the saying “Blushing bride” comes from, but I may have a hunch. Leah’s cheeks are pink as we walk hand in hand out of the closet and then go our separate ways down the hall at the church before we’re united in holy matrimony.
In the hallway as the string band warms up, Jack claps me on the back. “You had us worried for a second.”
Pierre shakes his head. “Leah had to make sure he’s solid.”
“My brother is the most solid human on the planet,” a familiar voice says.
I turn slowly and it’s like I’m looking in the mirror. Only I don’t have as deep bags under my eyes. Otherwise, Hunter looks good, great in fact. Healthier than I’ve seen him in a long time.
A woman holding a baby steps out from behind him and he drapes his arm over her shoulder.
“What are you doing here?” It’s part accusation, part curiosity.
“Good to see you too.” Hunter strides toward me, arms lifted.
The guys hold rank at my flanks, ready to back me up if necessary, but my twin wraps me in a hug. Not just a bro hug, but a bear hug. The kind that tells me that he’s okay.
Not going to lie, my jaw tingles and my eyes prickle.
He sniffles and then says, “Man, thanks for not giving up on me. I owe you.”
I wave him off. What I didn’t mention to Leah is that each month I deposit some cash into an online account. Originally, I teased and said it was his allowance, hoping he didn’t do anything dumb with it. Perhaps it helped him exit the lifestyle he’d been living.
He says, “Congrats, by the way.”
“Looks like the same is in order for you.”
“Hudson, meet my wife Dara and our baby, Emil.”
My gaze brightens on the little boy. “That’s my middle name.”
“My one hope is that he’s half the man that you are, Hud.”
“Twice the man,” I correct, tickling his little toes. “Hmm. We’ll have to get him skates soon.”
Dara looks up at me and says something to Hunter in Swedish. I only understand a portion of the words, largely not having used the language since I last spoke to my mother. But I do catch the words ice hockey.
I grin at her, then to my brother I say, “Have you talked to Mom?”
He rolls his eyes, then squishes up his face at the same time a loud whirring comes from outside the church.
Hayden asks, “Is that a helicopter?”
“That would be Mrs. Roboveitchek.”
“Didn’t work out with husband number six?”
“Nope. This is husband number seven.”
I frown.
Hunter says, “She married our father.”
My eyes feel like they pop out of my head.
“I just found out two days ago. It took me that long to get ahold of her, but I figured she’d want to be at your wedding or at least know about it.”
I grunt.
Hunter lovingly grips his wife’s shoulder and says, “We were traveling and I was afraid you might turn me away after everything I did, so I didn’t want to announce that I was coming …
figured I stood a better chance by showing up.
” He shakes his head with dismay. “Hudson, I’m sorry for everything I did. I was a selfish, worthless—”
I stop him because seeing him healthy and happy erases so much of the past. But our mother? We’ll see.
“Thanks. I see that you’re good. We’re good. But she married our father?”
He wears the same look of bewilderment that I feel blazing on my face.
“This should be interesting.”
“I told her to be on her best behavior.” Hunter sighs.
“How’d you find out about this?” I wave my hand at the general assembly.
“Leah Smith sent me a very pointed and strongly worded letter.” He winces. “Said if I didn’t show up, she’d hunt me down and—” He slices a line across his throat.
Thinking about our conversations in the last twenty-four hours, I ask, “When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
That means she never had cold feet or second thoughts. But maybe she was just afraid of rejection and the past. I stand up a little straighter. Wow, do I love this woman. Now and always.
From the door at the other end of the hallway comes a cackling laugh. Hunter and I exchange a glance. I have a ton of questions for him, but have a feeling Dara and becoming a father had a lot to do with him cleaning up and turning around his life.
They start down the hallway to take their seats among the congregation.
In Swedish, I whisper to her, “Thanks.”
She merely smiles, perhaps having no idea about Hunter’s sordid past. That’s probably for the best.
As the musicians start the opening song, and everyone takes their seats, the guys and I find our places at the front of the packed church.
Leah’s family takes up a healthy three-quarters with the Knights and my mother—wearing what can only be described as a frock and a fascinator hat filled with feathers—filling in the rest. It’s outrageous.
Beside her is a tall man with dark features and brown eyes.
He’s easily my height and powerfully built.
It’s not quite the same as looking at my twin, but there’s no mistaking that we share the same genes.
Getting married and meeting my father on the same day, not to mention the mother-brother reunion should be overwhelming. There’s a lot to catch up on, and I will, but what’s most remarkable is that Leah did this for me. My chest aches with love for her.
The music changes and it’s like everyone in the room holds their breath—me included—until the most radiant woman on the planet approaches me from the other end of the aisle.
My heart races. My breath disappears. My thoughts recede.
Leah is stunning.
The golden autumn sunlight streaming through the window seems to follow her as she marches down the aisle.
When Leah reaches me, she hugs her father and then takes my hand with a warm squeeze.
Our eyes lock and nothing more needs to be said.
I know this is the woman I’ll be devoted to for the rest of my life.
As we say our vows, affirming these promises, her smile grows.
My heart swells. When our lips meet for the kiss to celebrate and seal our nuptials, I vaguely hear the crowd erupt in cheers, but she has my full attention. She always will.
We ride together in a limo—just the two of us to Stowells Street—probably the only moments we’ll get until the wee hours when the party disperses.
I say, “Thanks for writing a strongly worded letter to my brother.”
“I have a knack for those. Figured I’d put it to good use for once. But I didn’t hear back from him for a while, so I wasn’t sure he’d follow through …”
“It was quite the surprise.”
“No doubt he reached out to your mother. Who’s the new hubby?”
“My father.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Wow. That was fast. I don’t recall you ever adopting her previous boyfriends as dad.”
“No, I mean he’s my biological father.”
Leah’s mouth lowers. “Whoa.”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe it’s a good thing we’re postponing our honeymoon until after the season. You have some catching up to do.”
I draw her to my side. “But you’re coming with me to all those games. We’ll call them mini-moons.”
She bites her lip. “If I can get the time off.”
“Leah, I’ll make sure Stan has staff on hand to help. You’re coming with me.”
“Twist my arm, why don’t you?” She laughs.
“I figured you wouldn’t mind. Any more surprises I should know about?”
She taps her chin. “One more.”
“Are you going to tell me what it is or will I have to tickle it out of you?”
“I’m not ticklish.”
“Is that so?” I wiggle my fingers.
She’s already giggling.
My tickles turn into tingles and just before our lips meet and I close my eyes, I catch a glimpse of something ceramic in the bag by her feet, but I’m too far gone in my desire to kiss her to worry about why Howie is at our wedding.
When we get to the reception, the fiesta is already in full swing.
I’ve been to numerous receptions and typically flowers feature prominently that coordinate with the color scheme applied to linens and other practical decorations.
However, the Smiths went wild with wreaths, lanterns, pumpkins and hay bales, foliage and flowers, and harvest displays including a massive cornucopia.
There’s a photo booth, a bonfire, and little nooks with tables set out with food.
It’s a very classy version of the carnival, complete with a few games for the kids like donuts on strings, pumpkin painting, and a cookie decorating station.
Everywhere I turn, there’s something to feast my eyes upon, but my gaze hardly strays from my beautiful bride.
My mother is on the dancefloor with my father, who congratulated us earlier, but otherwise, seems to be a man of few words. Hunter and Dara, who holds the baby, sway from side to side.
I comment, “My mother is still a loose cannon.”
“Or a spicy grandma.”
“Wait until she meets Abuela.”
Hand in hand, we make our debut to a round of cheers.
The next hours blur. There are drinks poured, toasts made, dances danced, and a meal sort of eaten as the Smith-Torres family flies high with music, activity, and food that I don’t think was on Margo’s wedding day menu.
The members of Leah’s family never turn up to an event empty-handed.
Everyone is having a blast.
Until Leah appears at the DJ’s microphone, gripping the bag from the limo. “Excuse me, everyone. Hudson and I want to personally thank all of you for joining us today. We had an unexpected guest join us.”
I imagine she’s going to mention my family, so I join her at the mic.
Instead, she says, “His name is Howie.”
From the crowd, I hear a gasp and I’m quite sure it’s Cara.
Leah pulls the ceramic gnome from her bag.
“We’d like to formally return him to his home.”
The general looks of perplexity filter across the faces in the crowd. Then Hunter emerges and takes the figurine from her hands. He squints as if looking for someone and when he spots Coach Badaszek, he gives it back to its rightful owner.
“Howie?” Coach asks, looking from my brother to me. “Am I seeing double?”
Cara is by her father’s side. “No, Dadaszek. This is Hunter, Robo’s brother.”
“There’s another Robo?”
“I don’t play hockey, sir, but I did take this from your lawn a long time ago. He went on many adventures. I apologize.”
My coach grunts. “My wife got Howie for me when I was hired to coach the Knights. Uh, thanks for returning it.”
To my surprise, Badaszek plants his hand on my brother’s shoulder and draws him into a huddle.
The kid is either going to get the talking to of his life or a few pointers.
I place my money on the latter. For being the toughest coach in the league, he sure knows what matters …
and how to play matchmaker if my sense that he paired me up with Leah for figure skating was on purpose.
Turning to my wife, I say, “With that awkwardness out of the way, can I have this dance?”
“The only thing that could possibly make this better is if we were on skates.”
“Noted.” With that, I loop my hand around Leah’s middle and we sway to the music.
After a few box steps where we narrowly miss several of her smaller cousins playing Ring Around the Rosie, I say, “Returning Howie to Badaszek was bold.”
“Figured today is for closing some doors and opening others.”
Gripping her by the waist, I dramatically lift her as we spin in a circle. “You’re mine.”
She shakes her head. “No, you’re mine.”
Dipping her back, I say, “Are we really going to argue about this?”
“I suppose not. I didn’t realize it right away, but you’re my goal, my goalie.”
“And you’re my life win. My always. My forever.”
We kiss … and then kiss again after cutting the cake and another time when we’re alone in the hallway, waiting for more photos.
Again, after the first round of guests say goodbye, and another time after I talk to my parents.
My father says only a few more words, but my mother does enough talking for the two of them.
They’re attending my next game, so I plan to win.
However, my focus right now is on my wife.
Leah and I kiss another time when we sneak off to the kitchen to find some extra dinner rolls. Then we kiss again after we duet a karaoke song. When everyone says goodnight to us, we kiss in the limo. For a moment, I’m afraid I’m having déjà vu when I spot Howie on the seat beside her.
“What’s he doing here?”
“Badaszek said we should keep him and consider it a wedding gift.”
“Why?”
“He said his wife would want us to have him.”
“To keep the stolen gnome?”
“I suppose so.”
I tip my head back with laughter. Leah does too.
When we catch our breath, I say, “I love you.”
She repeats those very same words, and once again, we kiss. I have a feeling we’ll be doing a lot of this for the foreseeable future and I’m not mad about it.