Chapter 13
LARK FORRESTER
“I can’t understand how this is a good idea,” Janis said as she shimmied into her bridesmaid dress. I twirled my finger around, and she followed my direction and did a slow spin.
I separated a few big curls and made sure she didn’t have any flyaways, then smiled when she stopped turning and said, “Damn, girl. You clean up well.”
“Do you know how much I love Bella for letting us pick out our own dresses?” Janis asked.
Bella had surprised us all when she gave us ten styles to choose from.
The material she chose was stretchy but still somehow silky and shiny.
She even gave us options on colors, so we got to pick something that would complement our skin tone.
Before I had a chance to answer, she said, “Spin around, and let me see.”
“How do I look?” I asked as I did a slow turn.
When I was facing her again, she said, “You’re smokin’ hot!”
“Thank you,” I said as I ran my hands over my stomach.
The dress pattern I’d chosen had a deep v-neck, three-quarter sleeves, and an empire waist that let the material fall over my baby bump - helping disguise it so no matter how much I was showing on the big day, it wouldn’t be the main focus.
“I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I’m sort of excited to have this done. ”
“I can’t believe I’m about to admit this out loud, but I don’t hate this dress.
” Janis ran her hands over her hips and then looked over her shoulder so she could see her backside in the mirror before she said, “I don’t know how the hell it works, but you can’t tell I’ve got more junk in my trunk than a street vendor. ”
I laughed before I said, “You have a fantastic ass, and deep down, you know it!”
“Only because Donut tells me multiple times a day.” She ran her hands over her butt before she said, “For once in his life, he might be right about something.”
“I promise I won’t tell anyone you said that.”
“Not if you want to live,” Janis threatened good naturedly. “You look good too. You can’t see there’s a hatchling growing under there unless you really look.”
“Ladies! I need you to hurry and get dressed. The golden hour is close, and we need to get shots of all of you together and separately before we run out of time,” Heather, Bella’s assistant who had flown in from New York this morning, announced from the hall.
“As soon as you’re ready, go outside so the photographer can get started. ”
I ignored the woman and asked, “Can we stop referring to my child as the hatchling?”
“No. We can’t. You’re the first one of the bird family to incubate an egg.”
“It makes me sound like a pterodactyl or something when you say it like that.”
“Of course you’d go straight to a terrifying carnivorous flying lizard rather than a chicken or something.”
Lark shrugged before she explained, “Griffin’s going through a dinosaur obsession.”
“Yeah, but it makes sense because your attitude is more velociraptor and less chicken.”
“The pterodactyl is the only dinosaur bird I could come up with off the top of my head.”
“Why are you in here talking about dinosaurs when you should be outside getting your pictures taken?” Holly snapped from the doorway. “Move, children!”
“At some point, the elders are going to realize that we’re all grown up now and can actually stand up for ourselves when they try to boss us around,” I told Janis as I glared at Holly.
“Well, that day is not today, Baby Bird, and if I have to drag your ass outside by the hair, it won’t be the first time,” Holly threatened.
Janis sighed before she said, “When she says shit like that, it’s hard to remember she’s one of the nice ones.”
“You look beautiful, stunning, blah, blah, blah. We’re losing light, people. Move it!”
Janis and I followed Holly outside, not because we were afraid of her or anything, but because we were ready.
Okay, maybe we were still a little afraid.
Holly was one of the nicer ones, but the woman had a deep reserve of untapped anger and rage that we’d seen a few times and didn’t want to uncover again.
By the time we got to the field of flowers, I was surprised to find that Zoey, Cydney, and Teague had already finished their shots, and Rain was in the process of posing for hers.
I had to admit, this “golden hour” thing they kept insisting on was perfect.
Somehow, everything seemed to glow with the sun disappearing over the horizon.
It was the perfect background for the shots the photographer was eagerly snapping as she moved back and forth in front of Rain, barking orders like a drill sergeant.
At one point, Rain kept her body still as she slowly turned her head to raise one eyebrow at the photographer, and I knew that would be perfect. Even if others were more beautiful, with her gorgeous smile and perfect poses, I knew the picture with her irritated look would be the very best one.
“She’s doing exactly what I told her to do,” Holly said, her voice low enough for only Janis and I to hear. “I told her to get the pretty shots but to also get the ones where the girls looked at her like she was tap dancing on their last nerve and they were about to lose it.”
“So, she’s irritating them on purpose?” Janis asked in shock.
“Well, I didn’t tell them that, but I’m telling the two of you so nothing happens to my photographer that she can’t recover from before the wedding.”
I barked out a laugh as Janis deadpanned, “Probably a smart decision if you want her to live another day.”
“You were beautiful, Rain!” the photographer said cheerfully, a complete turnaround from the snippy attitude she had just a few seconds ago. “Next!”
“I’ll go,” Janis volunteered as she started walking that way. She frowned at Holly as she passed and said, “And I’ll even fucking smile.”
“You will if you know what’s good for you,” Holly snapped back. Janis was about ten feet away when Holly yelled, “Love you, Janster!”
Janis’ only response was to lift her arms up with middle fingers raised.
Rain stopped in her tracks and gasped as she put her hands to her mouth. I saw that she was staring at something behind me. I turned around, and the sight before me took my breath away.
Bella was walking toward us in her wedding dress, her train and long veil held off the ground by Heather, who was following close behind her.
“Holy shit,” Rain said. “That is the most . . . She’s just so . . . I can’t even . . .”
“Damn, Conner,” I called out as Bella got closer. “You clean up pretty well for a trouble-making biker chick.”
“You could look better, but I guess I’ll just have to deal and hope your face doesn’t terrify the flower girls,” Bella retorted. She stopped in front of me and looked over my shoulder at Janis, who was currently being bossed around by the photographer. “Wow, she looks beautiful!”
“I know, right?” I asked as I turned around to watch Janis try to tolerate the instructions she was being given. She even managed to smile a few times, and they seemed almost cheerful, or at least as cheerful as Janis could be on command.
“Come on, Grissom! Smile like you’re happy, not like you do when you spot a victim you want to emasculate and traumatize.”
Janis cut her eyes at Bella, the facade of fake cheer dropping as she glared at the bride-to-be. I noticed, though, that the photographer never stopped snapping.
“Perfect shot!” Holly whispered. “Her dad is gonna blow that one up and frame it.”
“I’m not sure what it says about us that you think our true facial expressions are . . .”
“They’re RBF to the extreme, Lark. Admit it.”
“I do not have resting bitch face,” Janis yelled. “My face has captions that show all I want to say even when I am able to bite my tongue.”
“Which is rare,” Bella yelled back. “Now turn around and smile, dammit! We’re running out of light!”
“Stuff it, Bridezilla! There’s not any kind of light that’s gonna make you look any better than you do right now,” Janis said before she tilted her head and smiled serenely at the photographer.
When she directed Janis to switch poses, Janis called out, “By the way, you look stunning in that dress. Matteo’s not gonna know what hit him! ”
“Aww. Thanks, Janis. You make that dress look good, girl.”
“It’s not too much?” Janis asked uncertainly, running her hands over her hips. She turned so we could see her butt before she asked, “How’s the ass?”
“Fantastic as always,” I assured her as the photographer waved me over.
She released Janis and started barking orders at me, but I managed to control myself much longer than the girls had.
It hurt, but I did it until I couldn’t restrain myself anymore.
I glared at her, hoping that I’d finally developed that magical power I’d always dreamed of and would be able to set her hair on fire.
Once we were done, I stomped toward Bella and said, “You owe me big for this shit, Conner!”
“I know! A dress, full glam, and shoes without a waffle tread. The horror!”
“Damn straight!”
◆◆◆
RIN TEMPEST
“I’m going up to help them get the kids settled for the night,” Stan said as she leaned over the back of my chair to kiss my cheek. I reached up and took her hand in mine as she smiled at the men around the table and ordered, “Play nice while I’m gone.”
“She’s gotten bossy in her old age,” Simmy, one of Zach’s relatives, said as soon as she was out of earshot.
Santa, the biker married to Stan’s Aunt Frankie, laughed and said, “You should never let Frankie hear you say anything like that about Constance. She’s convinced that it’s all an illusion, and Stan is still a fresh-faced young girl.”
Rico shook his head before he said, “It’s hard for me to see her as anything else because she’s still my little girl.”
“Your little girl has moved away and started her own life just like my kids,” Ziggy, Stan’s uncle, said sadly.
“When my kids were young, I was just trying to survive the chaos, but now that they’re all out on their own, we don’t talk nearly as much as we used to.
I don’t like to think of how old that makes me. ”
I didn’t know if it would help, but it was worth a try. “If it’s any consolation, Stan has a video chat with Ziva and Zara almost every day.”
“She does?” Ziggy asked.
I laughed as I explained, “It’s not always about important stuff. They do something called a ‘fit check’ while the girls get ready for their classes, and they text back and forth all the time.”
“That makes me feel better.”
The men’s guards, who were seated strategically around the room, went on alert when a group of people walked into the dining area. Santa asked, “How in the hell do you guys ever get used to that shit?”
Without thinking, I said, “It becomes second nature, or at least that’s what Stan keeps telling me.”
“I’m glad Frankie doesn’t have to deal with that.”
“Only because she swore she’d never speak to me again if I didn’t stop having her guarded,” Rico told him. “Since she hooked up with you, we’ve felt a lot better about her safety.”
“They caught some live ones,” Santa said with a grin as he looked toward the doorway.
I turned to find some of my cousins talking to Rico’s guards and said, “They’re here to see me.”
Rico waved toward the guards, and they let Parker, Brandt, and Calder in to join us at our table.
When I introduced my cousins, Rico asked, “Did all of you travel separately?”
“Parker’s mom lives here, so he visits all the time, but Brandt and Calder were born and raised in Rojo.”
“Have we met your parents?” Rico asked. He laughed before he said, “Not that I would remember seeing how many people we’ve met already.”
“There are a lot of us to keep up with,” Parker agreed.
“Our dad is Rin’s uncle, and our mom is Jenna Forrester,” Brandt explained. “Smokey and Martha are our grandparents.”
“We’ve met them along with your uncles.”
Simmy laughed before he said, “And about fifty other bikers.”
“And who are your parents?” Rico asked Parker.
“My dad is Micah Tempest, Rin’s uncle, and my mom is Jewel Parker. She’s a . . .”
I heard Ziggy growl, which made Rico start laughing as he said, “We’ve met her.”
Parker smiled knowingly. “She makes quite an impression.”
“She and Frankie became instant friends,” Santa announced.
“She introduced her to some of the other women who are with us, and they got along great.” I wasn’t quite sure how to take it when Rico, Simmy, and Ziggy quietly stared at Santa but understood when he admitted, “The thought that there’s another one like them here scared me a little too. ”
“Stan loved all of her Aunt Frankie’s friends.”
“And what do you think about them?” Rico asked.
“They’re . . . uh . . . outspoken and . . . er . . . genuine.”
“Damn. He’s good.”
I smiled at Santa’s praise before I asked, “What do Frankie and her friends think about me?”
Now it was Santa’s turn to smile, and paused a bit too long before he said, “They understand that you make her happy and treat her well.”
“Are you running for office?” Rico asked.
“I did good, didn't I?” Santa asked proudly.
“You handled that like a pro,” Ziggy assured him.
“Meaning?”
Parker laughed before he said, “Mom made friends with these women you’re talking about, so I’ll jump in and translate.
They are happy that Stan’s happy but have already taken your measurements and guessed your weight to figure out if they can transport you without mechanical help to the destination they feel you deserve, depending on how you hurt her. ”
When the laughter died down, Brandt added, “And if they’re anything like my mom and her friends, they’ve already got a couple of dumpsite options, depending on the situation.”
“And the weather. That’s a factor too,” Calder added.
“What you’re saying is that you were raised by women a lot like Frankie’s friends from Tenillo,” Rico said, still chuckling at the thought.
“If you mean loyal, loving, caring, nurturing, and lethal, then yes,” Brandt said without so much as cracking a smile.
“You forgot smart, sarcastic, and funny,” Parker added.
“True. They’re all that too,” Calder agreed.
“I didn’t have a mom like that, but I have plenty of aunts and cousins that fit the bill, so I agree - all of those characteristics fit.”
“And they describe my daughter,” Rico pointed out.
“Exactly.”