Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
Ariel had been to wedding rehearsals before, but seeing Dax walking down the pretend aisle toward her with a dazzling grin on his face had her heart knocking like two cowboy boots in a good line dance.
He wore a blue sports jacket with a white shirt and camel-colored slacks with some pretty swanky shoes—certainly not the muddy tennis shoes he’d thrown into the garbage when they’d gotten back to the cottage after what Dax had fondly nicknamed Wig Gate. That had only sent her into more gales of laughter before she’d enjoyed his impromptu striptease before getting into the shower—a huge success since she’d decided she wanted him one more time before they headed to the rehearsal.
When they reached each other at the hallway point, he extended his arm to her in grand style. “Miss,” he murmured in that sexy drawl of his, “would you give me the honor of letting me escort you the rest of the way?”
“I’d love that.” She slid her hand into his proffered arm and enjoyed the way he clasped it with his other hand for a moment before they walked to the front to take their individual places with the rest of the wedding party at the end of the lodge where they were set up.
Before parting to stand on her side, she wanted to lean her head against the side of his strong body. It would have ruined the cadence, though, so instead she took in a deep inhale of his spicy cologne, which only enhanced his tantalizing masculine scent. Everything about him was becoming so familiar, and it made her insides light up like Christmas lights.
He’d become vital to her in the short time they’d been together. Everything was good between them—she’d enjoyed herself almost as much laughing with him over the crab video, for the third time, as she had in the steamy shower.
Tiffany had cried when she reached Rob at the end of the aisle, and they did the pretend ring exchange. Ariel was the only one besides Rob who knew she was probably hyped up on preggers hormones. She was glad Tiffany’s focus was on something other than her altered wedding dress and the sod lines on the grass, because all they had to do was get through tomorrow.
Her grandma’s house looked to be hers. Her new future could start unfolding here. Her gaze sought out Dax, standing to Rob’s side, his freshly shaved jaw enhancing his strength and good looks. Would he really relocate here? It seemed to be in the offing, and part of her wanted to jump for joy at the prospect. She couldn’t wait to spend more time with him. Maybe she could even ask him to move in with her. Was that too soon?
Even though it was super early, she really liked—okay, more than liked—playing house with him. Certainly, he could stay with her while he was figuring things out, but her heart ached when she thought about not seeing him every day. Waking up with him and going to sleep with his arms around her filled something she hadn’t known was missing.
Big thoughts, Ariel. Get through the wedding first.
She was worrying her lips when the officiant described how the end of the ceremony would unfold with the whole kiss thing as man and wife. Tiffany and Rob started down the aisle, and Dax met her at the front so they could link arms and walk after them.
When they reached the end of the pretend aisle, she turned and hugged him with all the hope and spontaneous excitement in her heart. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
He squeezed her against his warm, solid chest and leaned down so only she could hear. “Me too. Now, let’s party.”
At the rehearsal dinner, held at a well-known chophouse, she practically sat on Dax’s lap as Jeffrey embraced his life of the party persona hard. Carson and Perry were at their table, along with Frank and Gunner, and they were by far the loudest group, laughing until they were hanging on to each other as Jeffrey recounted everything from funny facts about Charleston—her favorite being that the locals started calling them palmetto bugs a couple hundred years ago because it was considered lewd to say the word cock—to his shopping spree for spiritual items designed to offset negative energy.
Their laughter reached booming levels when Jeffrey pulled up the wig video, with people wheezing and wiping tears, an awesome sight really since Dax and his buddies were all large, attractive men. She hushed them, fearing Jeffrey’s wig ploy would be overheard, but no one could make sense of their comments because the men were all laughing too hard. Fighting her own mirth—because man, it really had been funny seeing the wig walk into the ocean—she kept a keen eye on people who might not find it so amusing.
The Three Tornadoes were huddled together like usual. Her mother sat among them with a preening Trey, who seemed to be talking to her brothers-in-law about golf from the way he mimed swinging his club. Mother’s slack face didn’t hide her censure or boredom. She wasn’t the center of attention, her worst nightmare. Ariel caught her disapproving glances a few times when their table continued to be especially loud, but she finally stopped caring. She was having fun at a family function, and that was a rare treat.
Jeffrey finally went to the bar and brought back a fine bottle of bourbon, earning him a few back slaps, which had him playfully fanning himself. Jeffrey teased Dax about what the Navy would look like if they wore dress blacks instead of dress whites, and Dax rebutted that they’d look more like priests than pilots. Carson decreed that would never work because he had way too many lustful thoughts, and when Jeffrey confessed he did too, they all started laughing again.
Ariel was so grateful they’d so easily accepted her brother, because she would have needed to punch them otherwise. Jeffrey had had enough BS from her mother’s and sisters’ prejudices. She smiled at her brother, even happier that he was enjoying himself this much at a Deverell event.
Which led to her joining them in drinking the bourbon. She impressed Dax’s friends by how much liquor she could hold, but when Carson went to pour her a third drink, she put her hand over her glass, what with the wedding being tomorrow. He was talking to Perry and not paying attention, so he ended up pouring the bourbon on her hand and onto the table, which only had everyone howling with laughter all over again.
Rob sat quietly at the head table, nursing a drink while Trey nattered on about golf. Ariel wondered if he felt torn between staying with Tiffany and hanging with his buddies. She didn’t see any reason he couldn’t pop over for a bit, but there was no denying Tiffany liked exclusive attention—even if she seemed to mostly be talking to the twins and her sorority sisters.
Ariel caught him glancing their way once when she and the men raised their bourbon and shouted, “To the Navy,” but he didn’t come over even then. She felt bad for him. She knew his time ahead wasn’t going to be an easy one.
Like she’d told Dax, it wasn’t their decision.
When they all finally left the lodge to return to their cottages, it was after midnight. Her hand was in Dax’s and she felt languorous and loose after all the camaraderie. His Navy buddies were humming some tune from college days off to the side, which Dax had leaned down and told her was “Anchors Aweigh.”
Jeffrey put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. “You’re plumb tuckered out. Why don’t you give me a few more duties tomorrow morning since you’re going to be crashing with the setup crews?”
The checklist she had for tomorrow needed a binder clip it was so long. She hadn’t left anything to chance. “That’s so sweet. I’m working with the event manager early with our vendor for the wedding tent. They want to make sure the area isn’t too wet for the ground anchors to work.”
“Shit!” Dax exclaimed, slapping his forehead. “I hadn’t thought about that. What happens if?—”
“We’re not going there.” She held up a hand, her brain nearly imploding at the mere thought of the tent not going up as planned. “This contractor puts up tents for a living, so I’m choosing to believe they can get it done.”
Jeffrey dug out a vial of holy water and sprinkled it in the air, making her cough out a laugh. “Let’s hope so. We don’t need another ‘Can’t help you, ma’am, this here is an act of God.’”
Her stomach acid started to churn, making her feel nauseous. “Like I said. No doom and gloom. The sun is going to shine. The tent will safely go up. The wedding will come off at four o’clock in beautiful fashion, just like Tiffany imagines. All will be well.”
It had to be.
“What time do you need to pick up her wedding dress from the dry cleaner?” Dax asked. “I know that’s one of your main off-site tasks.”
“Dax and I can go and get it for you.” Jeffrey squeezed her tense shoulder. “You’re needed here. Consider us on call for any last-minute emergencies.”
“Did someone say emergencies?” Perry asked, as all the men stopped singing. “That’s our specialty.”
“We’ve got your back, Ariel.” Carson jerked his thumb at Dax’s buddies. “We didn’t break our backs in the mud pit for nothing.”
“Thanks, guys.” She looked around the group of men as they walked to the crossroads in the path, which branched off to all of the various cottages. “I appreciate the support. I’m going to have to do some fancy two-stepping to avoid the whole hair and makeup thing. Any ideas there?”
“Maybe just say you’re already pretty enough?” Carson suggested before Dax put him in a boyish headlock.
“Thanks, Carson, but that’s not going to work,” she said.
“Don’t worry.” Jeffrey thrust his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his leather loafers. “I’ve got my wig story. I’ll come back and say I can’t find it anywhere. Stormy won’t buy it—neither will the Three Tornadoes—but there’s not much they can do. Plus, the blame will rest on me. Better for you that way, Ariel.”
She felt herself melt. “Just like old times, huh? You covered for me when they wanted me to wear that horrible Easter egg pink pinafore dress to Tiffany’s high school graduation. God, that thing was ghastly.”
Dax’s smile flashed in the night. “What did you conceive of that time, Jeffrey?”
Her sweet big brother got a devious twinkle in his brown eyes as all the men clustered around. “I told the girl who lived next door that Ariel was giving some dresses away if she wanted them. Like a spring cleaning. When Mary arrived, I told her how good the pink dress would look on her, which it did. She was the cutest little blonde with a personality like homemade strawberry shortcake. She took the dress and a few others Stormy had gotten for Ariel, which did not suit her one bit.”
Ariel felt a cold chill touch her spine, thinking about the wardrobe her mother used to make her wear. Ruffles. Caps with flowers on them. Pastels. Gag. Her baby and toddler pictures needed to be burned someday. “Mother broke two nails searching for that dress.”
Jeffrey gave a dramatic shudder. “Which is the end of the world for Stormy. Nail lengths must match. Anyway, three weeks later, she spotted poor little Mary at the neighborhood block party in that pink dress and accused her of stealing it. I got into trouble, of course, after confessing—I couldn’t let Mary be carted off to jail, which I feared Stormy would insist on.”
“My God!” Perry shook his head, mouth gaping. “Forgive me for saying so, but I’ve never heard of such mean-spiritedness. What happened to you?”
Jeffrey gave a sly smile. “Stormy couldn’t touch me. She and my father were already divorced by then, and I didn’t live under her roof. Thank God!”
But Ariel had lived with her. She’d never told Jeffrey this, but Stormy had found a way to punish her. She hadn’t allowed her to go to Folly Beach to see Grandma that summer, and it had cut her in two. For a time after that, she’d ceded to her mother’s wishes. Leaving the house to go to college had helped, but her mother had never stopped trying to control her daughters.
Tomorrow, there would be a showdown about the wig. She’d take the brunt of her mother’s anger—the Tornadoes’ too—and tell them they had enough to focus on, didn’t they? She only hoped they’d let it go. For a time at least. Because her mother was known for payback.
“Jesus!” Carson’s voice held an edge. “No offense, Ariel, but Rob’s marrying into a nuthouse. I’ve been trying to keep an open mind, but I can’t say I like what I’ve heard here. Or from Dax.”
Gunner bared his teeth in the muted light. “Me either. I love my man, but this…”
“I keep wondering what it would take to have Rob snap out of whatever spell she has him under,” Carson added. “The way she acted about the sod lines really pissed me off.”
Arial looked at Dax, waiting to see whether he’d tell them about the rest of Tiffany’s behavior. He’d wanted to stop the wedding as much as anyone, and God knows he’d told Rob everything to no avail. But he only stood there, his body tense beside her.
Frank looked off, his mouth twisting. “I’m not from a perfect family, God knows, but I respected my stepdad when my mom remarried. I even came to like him. Rob’s not even starting on that foot, and I’m not sure Tiffany is going to help any.”
“He’s repeating his own family issues.” Perry’s tone was clipped. “Dax, did you tell Ariel? Rob had trouble with his stepdad growing up. For the five years his mom and stepdad were married, anyway.”
She wanted to put her hands over her ears, especially when she thought about the baby they were bringing into the world—the one only she knew about. “I know this is hard, but we need to remember that they love each other and want to get married. We have to make this the day they want.”
Because Ariel didn’t like the niggling doubt still swirling in the back of her mind. If Tiffany was going to complain about sod lines, what else could she find fault with tomorrow? She wanted to trust her sister and the moment they’d shared, but she had too much evidence to the contrary.
“You mean what Tiffany wants, which you can never seem to deliver despite all you do,” Jeffrey bit out. “Sorry, Ariel, I’m still really pissed that she’s extorting you over your grandma’s house. It’s below the belt and then some.”
She winced. Jeffrey might as well have poured gasoline on their already heated conversation.
“What’s this about extortion?” Carson asked, flicking his sports coat open. “Ariel, honey, that’s the lowest of the low. I know we’re probably being way too honest here, but no one should treat anyone like that—especially family. Now I’m really concerned for Rob.”
“You’re telling me,” Perry added, his entire face narrowing.
While Dax’s jaw audibly cracked, he didn’t fill his friend in, and for that, she was grateful. Her usual peacekeeper role felt like too great a task right now. She’d rather run from a gator. “Please—it’s not helpful to focus on. Look, I’m exhausted, and I’m sure y’all are too after everything with the mud pit. Thanks, by the way.”
Carson’s gaze was downright flinty. “You’re welcome, but you shouldn’t be the one to say thank you.”
“Hey!”
They all turned at Rob’s shout. He was striding down the path, alone, a bottle in his hand.
“What in the hell are you guys doing?” He slapped Carson on the back when he reached them and gazed around the now-quiet group. “Looks like you’re plotting a mission to down the enemy.”
Jeffrey sputtered out a laugh before he silenced himself. “Sorry,” he coughed.
Ariel sent him a pleading look.
Rob wrapped his arm around Perry and pulled him closer. “This here’s a celebration.”
“Is it, man?” Carson asked, brows mashed together. “Because we’re a little concerned about you and how things appear.”
“What the hell?” Rob spat. “Dax, did you say something?”
Dax only shook his head.
“He didn’t have to,” Perry continued after a look at Frank and Gunner. “We’ve got eyes.”
Rob tapped his fingers to his temple. “Do you? Because you all sound like a bunch of babies, crying over a whole lot of nothing. I’m getting married tomorrow, dammit, and like I said, this here is a celebration. Who wants to grab a drink?”
Dax took a step forward and gripped Rob’s shoulder, the action speaking of longtime friendship. Ariel wondered how much it had cost him. Carson and Perry looked as tense as statues, and Gunner’s and Frank’s body language wasn’t much better. “All that manual labor has us wanting to up and cry like those babies you mentioned, Rob. We’re going to grab some shut-eye. You should try to do the same. It’s going to be a big day tomorrow. We can hang out all day and toast to your future.”
Rob’s eyes lowered a moment before he shoved Carson and Perry away. “Yeah, we’ve got all day, right? Tiffany is going to be doing the whole bride thing, starting with all that hair and beauty stuff at eight in the morning. God, I’m so glad not to be a girl.”
Dax nudged him, and Rob’s head snapped up as he glanced her way. “Sorry, Ariel.”
“No problem.” She took Dax’s arm. “See you in the morning, everyone.”
She kissed Jeffrey’s cheek, inclined her chin to the other men, and then made herself start walking. Dax walked stiffly beside her. When they reached the cottage, she let Sherlock out. Dax was in the shower again when she came back in, and seeing her through the steamy glass door, he opened it a crack with a tired smile.
“Come on in here, Elizabeth, before you fall down.”
She stripped slowly, feeling off-center and a little sad. For her messed-up family, for Rob, and for how sometimes life just couldn’t be perfect—no matter how hard you tried.
The hot water was comforting as Dax made room for her under the spray. But so were his strong hands on her shoulders, massaging away the tension, and something deeper, something she didn’t want to name because it would break her heart.
When his lips touched the side of her neck, she turned in his arms. “Yes. Make love to me.”
She’d never said those words quite that way—even with her ex-fiancé—and while he might not know it, her heart did. It thundered in her chest. Her blood beat in sweet torment as his arms came around her and lifted her to him. Their lips met—urgent, knowing, and without any buildup. He slanted his mouth over hers, again and again, until she was digging her nails into his back. When her tongue swept in to mate with his, he groaned and pressed her against the hot shower wall, making her cry out in response.
“Now!” she whispered, kissing the underside of his jaw and then biting gently on the long line of his shoulder. “It’s got to be now.”
He swore as he opened the door and carried her out. They were wet when they hit the bed, him reaching over her for a condom. Sliding it on, he thrust inside her seconds later. She was hot and wet and ready for him. Wrapping her legs around him, she lifted to him and met his thrusts. Hard. Fast. Perfect. She came when he pressed his open mouth to the side of her throat, her need for him so great that she cried out his name.
He reared up, feeling her tighten around him, coming hard with a hoarse shout of his own before letting his forehead fall into the crook of her shoulder. They lay that way, breathing hard, gripping each other, still damp from the shower and not caring. The release had her opening her heart to him even more. Before, the door was halfway open, but now, it was like he was inside her, in that inner place she’d always kept closely guarded, wanting to protect what she loved about herself, what she knew to be true, what she valued. There, she could be who she wanted, who she was meant to be, and given how precious it was, she’d never shared it with anyone else save her dear brother. Not even her former fiancé.
But now there was Dax…
She kissed the side of his face, feeling the rough stubble on her sensitive lips. Her heart was still pounding, but it might as well have been four times bigger than it had been before she’d stepped into that shower with him.
She pressed another kiss to his jaw, curled her hand around his nape, and simply brought him closer to her. He rolled them to their sides and fitted her to him, nuzzling her neck, kissing her with a tenderness that made tears burn in her eyes.
“Oh, Ariel…”
The way he said her name—in his deep, assuring voice filled with a trace of awe—had her squeezing her eyes shut. “What, Dax?”
He lifted up, his green eyes glowing with light. “We’ve gone and done it, haven’t we?”
She knew what he meant. She waited for that precious part of her to withdraw, to turn protective. But instead, her heart pulsed with something new. Happiness. She was aware of a smile spreading across her face. The act struck her with its profoundness. She wasn’t scared. She was filled with joy.
Tracing his jaw, she met his eyes straight on, taking stock of his features, the ones that had become so dear to her so quickly. The way his sandy eyebrows lifted when he was amused. The glint of his green eyes when he cupped her cheek, like he was doing now. She even knew how his earlobes were attached and thought them adorable. Everything was. Because he was her Dax.
“You mean the whole L thing?” she asked, her voice hushed but strong and true.
His eyebrows really lifted then, a grin touching his sculpted lips. “The whole L thing, huh. Elizabeth, I expected a better declaration from you.”
Ah, she knew the words. They were rare in the thinking, even more precious in the saying. But she knew it was right to say them now. Nothing could have stopped her from speaking the truth of her heart then and there. “How’s this? I love you.”
His grin had her heart turning somersaults in her chest. “As good as it gets, because I love you too. Despite it only being, what…” He checked his watch. “Nearly one hundred and sixty-eight hours since we’ve met. To some, that might not sound like much, but to a pilot, that’s a lot of hours. Did you know that you only need forty hours of flight time to be able to legally fly a private plane?”
She started laughing. “Of all the things I expected you to say, Stephan… So that’s what? Over four pilot licenses?”
“We’re overachievers.” He tucked her hair tenderly behind her ear. “What I’m trying to say is… Flying is one of the most profound acts of my life, and I got there in a short time.”
She could feel herself practically melting into the bed. “Forty hours.”
“Exactly.” His fingers glided over her lips, his sweet gaze warm and pure. “So why wouldn’t I do something equally profound, like falling deeply, madly in love with you, in one hundred and sixty-eight hours?”
She tightened her arms around him. “I like your logic.”
“I’m a logical kind of guy.” He kissed her softly then, so softly she sighed into his mouth. “And when I chart a course, I see it through.”
Linking her arms around his neck, she pulled him down for another kiss. “So do I.”
“Good.” He gave her a swift kiss and tucked her close to his body, closing his eyes. “I’m glad we’ve settled that. I love you. You love me.”
The words to the song “We’re a Happy Family” sounded in her mind. That inner part of her did clutch then. A happy family? What in the hell was that even? What about happily ever after? People talked about wanting that all the time, but didn’t it have to start with a wish or a desire to be happy in the first place? Then Dax squeezed her tenderly and she remembered. Dax knew. That would help them find the path.
Because she didn’t know what in the world that looked like, but she realized she wanted it.
Bad.
“You know,” she heard him sleepily say, “I’m glad we covered this.”
The urge to chuckle was too great. “You are?”
“Yeah.” He clutched her closer to his warm, solid body. “It will make things easier. Tomorrow.”
If her reality were a building, she would have fallen down a few floors. “Right. Tomorrow.”
The wedding.
Where she’d hopefully—finally—get one of the main keys to her future.
She hadn’t come here with the expectation that she’d find another key waiting for her. But here he was, and she wasn’t letting him go. No matter what happened at the wedding.