Chapter 52
”Whew, and wow!” Becca cheered after dropping five pounds on the dance floor, thanks to sweating it out to a couple of line dances. ”I need a drink.”
Meghan fanned her flushed face. ”I am wiped,” she panted. ”This is me losing my street cred as a gym teacher. Aargh!”
Angie Sullivan let out a boisterous snort of laughter. ”Red, your phys ed. reputation is intact. What you”re experiencing is what happens when you mix endorphins with the glorious excesses of a banquet—alcohol, rich food, and all the naughty carbs.”
”The cake was delicious,”Becca chimed in. ”I maybe definitely had two slices.”
They linked arms and made their way as a single unit, moving in the direction of the bar.
”Champers good?”Angie asked. ”I can”t have anything wilder.”She rolled her eyes. ”Hubs made me promise to be half sober when it”s time to leave.”
Meghan just shook her head and laughed.
They walked away from the noisy bar area with their drinks in hand and headed to an enclosed patio where they could sit, rest their feet, and enjoy their champagne.
Meghan let out an audible sigh. ”Eight months in, and this has been a hell of a year. Three weddings, this elopement, Rafe and Domineau”s wedding later this month.”Her expression was half mockingwhen she shook her head. ”And four babies. One a complete surprise!”
”Do you think there”s something in the water?”Angie asked with a straight face that she maintained until they all cracked up.
”Here”s to Finn and Remy,”Meghan toasted. ”What a wild ride those two have been. Pardon my Boston for showing, but I”m fucking wicked happy for them.”
Becca nodded. So did Angie.
Then, the mood and subject shifted, and Becca felt the glare of an interrogation lamp when Angie drolly commented, ”You and the hot doc look super loved up. I guess things are going good, huh?”
Becca caught Meghan”s sly smirk. ”My husband used the words cute and adorable to describe you guys, and he was referring to Jamie. Quite a change has come over our veterinarian. Care to comment?”
If Becca had not gotten the message, Angie clarified things with an additional comment. ”This is an official inquiry—the ladies want a status report.”
”He is adorable, isn”t he?”she laughed. ”In a dorky way.”
Angie grinned. ”Parker says we were distracted by his annoying buttoned-down, tight-ass act. The smoke and mirrors hid the truth from us—that he”s a real, live boy and not an uptight, asocial asshole.”
”Well said,”Meghan drawled.
”We play a game,”Becca told them. ”A TV show scavenger hunt.”
”Ooh, I love a TV or movie hunt. What show?”Angie asked.
”Golden Girls. His sister is in a social media group that does Golden Girls-themed stuff. She gave him checklists and clue keys for a couple of seasons. We video chat while watching an episode on nights when we can”t hang out in person. It”s stupid fun.”
”Kori seems awfully enthusiastic about you and Jamie,”Meghan remarked.
”They”ve had a weird friendship for some time,”Becca replied. ”I don”t mean creepy weird. I mean quirky weird. They”re like the two oddballs at summer camp bonding over British humor and baking cookies.”
She looked at Meghan. ”Has she approached you yet about a fencing workshop at the Double M? Jamie confessed he has some skill at the bougie sport, and now she”s all gung-ho.”
”You”ve met her, right?”Meghan replied with so much mockery in her delivery that Angie honked with laughter. ”When your daughter has something on her mind, she is relentless. Just like my husband. Whenever she can, and by that I mean every diaper change when she”s helping out, is a chance for her to sell the idea.”
”So what you”re saying,”Angie interrupted, ”is that the dorky doc can lunge, parry, and riposte like in The Princess Bride?”
Meghan squawked, ”Princess Bride? Well, damn! Now we have to offer a workshop! Can I get one of those life-size character figures of Westley as the man in black? Great marketing gimmick!”
Happy contentment filled Becca”s spirit. It wasn”t just that she and Jamie were good together. What he”d brought to her life couldn”t be calculated in ordinary ways. Their extraordinary connection revealed things about herself that made her feel complete. How do you put a value tag on something so huge?
Grinning at Angie, she said, ”He”s also a whiz in the kitchen. A man who likes to cook is a new experience for me. Not having to feed everybody all the damn time is kind of cool.”
”I never imagined Jamie would be so domestic.”Meghan sounded surprised. ”Another of his hidden attributes. Sounds like a keeper to me.”
Oh, hell yeah, she was keeping him! Now that she knew what a future with him looked like, there was no way in hell she wasn”t nailing this thing down—tight.
Angie finished her champagne and gave an exaggerated ”Ahhhhh.”She tipped the empty glass upside down. ”Wah wah. All gone.”
Becca followed suit and finished her glass—as did Meghan.
”Come on, ladies.”Meghan poofed her hair. ”Let us return to the shimmy shakin” and see what shenanigans are brewing!”
They slipped back inside, put their empty glasses on a tray, and looked around. The DJ was a wedding pro. He had a knack for keeping the dance floor in motion. Right now, ”Twist and Shout,”the Beatles” golden classic, had the senior Justice folks, even her boss Stephanie Dane, on the dance floor, giving everyone a master class in 60s coolness.
”Oh my god,”Meghan merrily hooted. ”Look at my parents!”
”And my parents!”Angie exclaimed.
The two sisters-in-law dashed away to join the fun.
Becca shuffled around the periphery of people, looking for Jamie or Kori. Eventually, she spied them, standing just inside an entryway at the back of the room. Alex was with them, and the three appeared in high spirits. They laughed, high-fived, and laughed some more.
At one point, Kori hugged Alex.
She wondered what it all meant for a few seconds and then figured she didn”t need to know. What mattered was their smiles.
Jamie saw her first. His face split into a wide grin, and his jerky wave reminded her of an awkward teenage boy.
He said something to Alex. Kori perked up and looked straight at her. Her daughter”s expression was one of absolute joy.
She and Kori knew how to connect no matter what was happening around them. It was one of the mother-daughter positives that her in-laws had not destroyed. Becca placed her hands at her chest and made a heart with her fingers. Flashing a big smile, Kori responded in kind.
Becca knew she was a damn fine mom and, for the first time, seriously contemplated having another child. The thought made her both nervous and excited.
Jamie made his way to her, strolling through the dancers. Becca”s heart raced, knowing she was his focus.
”Dance with me, pretty lady,”he said loud enough for her to hear him over the music.
Eagerly taking his hand, she followed as he led her onto the dance floor and swung her into his arms.
Becca already knew he was an excellent dancer. His confident moves gave her a thrill as they joined in, moving to the rhythm of the music.
They swayed to the DJ”s catchy beats. Occasionally, he”d spin and twirl her. Their movements were sometimes playful—their bodies responding to the familiar melodies. They laughed and smiled, lost in the music and each other.
After twenty minutes of blasting rock hits, the tempo changed. WhenForeigner”s”I Want to Know What Love Is”filled the air, Jamie wrapped her in his arms.
As they glided across the dance floor, she felt his hand on the small part of her back, guiding her movements. Her body responded instinctively to his lead. Each step was full of emotion. In Jamie”s arms, she felt safe, cherished, and understood.
The world around them faded—they were in their own enchanting universe of small touches and murmured words. Moving in harmony, she lost herself, savoring every second of their time together.
It would have been no hardship to stay wrapped in each other forever, but this was a wedding reception, and as guests, they had parts to play.
She and Jamie chose a spot at the edge of the dance floor to watch the bride and groom share a final dance. Her eyes went to the newlywed couple”s parents standing side-by-side.
”Do you feel it?”Jamie murmured in her ear. He was behind her, holding her close with an arm around her waist.
Closing her eyes, Becca breathed deeply—inhaling the energy of love and goodwill swirling in the air.
”Mm-hmm,”she sighed. ”It”s lovely, isn”t it?”
Jamie”s arm tightened, and he tenderly kissed her cheek.
When the dance ended, and the bridal couple left the room to get ready for their official exit, Becca and Jamie took advantage of the time-out to refuel at the dessert table. As everyone knows, chocolate and sugar are always the answer to everything.
Prickles of awareness—not the sexy kind—got Becca”s attention while she was slaughtering a lava cake oozing with caramel cream.
She glanced around and found Angie talking to Stephanie and Calder Dane, with her husband, Parker, by her side. The two couples appeared relaxed and happy. Suddenly, Stephanie reacted to what Angie was saying. Her blonde head snapped straight, and in the next second, the ex-beauty queen”s gaze locked on Becca”s.
Oh my god. Were they talking about her?
Calder was next. He also turned his head to look directly at Becca. What in the world was that about?
Her gaze moved to Kori. She was with Alex and Meghan, who each held one of their precious one-year-old twins. As usual, her daughter laughed at everything Alex said. The Major was a father figure to Kori—a role the big man took seriously.
”Where”d you go?”Jamie asked between gobbling mouthfuls of a chocolate raspberry trifle he declared a winner. ”I notice when you go quiet.”
Rolling one shoulder to indicate her silence was not a big deal, she licked her spoon clean and said, ”Do you ever get the feeling people are talking about you, but when you look at them, they”re looking back with a big smile?”
His reaction was a sly smirk followed by a cute grin. ”All the time. It”s my magnetic charm and bubbly personality. Also,I”mtold I have a memorable rear view—whatever that means.”
”I was serious, Dr. Cocky. And who told you that about your ass? I want names.”
”Are you bothered by other women checking me out?”
”Idon”t know,”she answered truthfully.”I mean, every girl wants to be with the hot guy that all the other girls—and a couple of guys—drool over. Hot boyfriends are as good as currency out in public, so I must admit, that part is cool.”
She showed her concern and displeasure with a tight mouth and hair flip.
”But I don”t know how I feel about random chicks lusting after what”s mine. It”s a short walk between harmless fun and man-stealing.”
”I”m unstealable. Wait. Is that a word? Can you unsteal?”
Seriously?
She gave him an exasperated look. ”Is this the time to quibble over grammar?”
There was zero bite to her growl—maybe that”s why he grinned. ”I like it when you stiffen up and get all snotty. Divine bitchiness is my love language.”
”What the hell is wrong with you?”
”Oh honey, so much,”he laughed. ”So, so much.”
Becca found it hard to be mad when he was so playful.
Tapping her nose, he leaned close. ”You need not worry about me wandering off or getting poached.”
She blushed. ”I do know that, Jamie.”
”Do you?”
”Yes,”she nodded. ”I fully understand what a commitment means to you. I was being flip.”
”Yes, you were, but I heard the point you made. I want you to know how insignificant anyone else”s opinion is to me. For real, Rebecca. You are all I care about. The only person I think of. My reason for happiness.”
The moment might have continued if not for the impending appearance of the newlyweds to do the traditional tossing of the bouquet before their departure.
They got swept up in the fun and headed into the venue”s front hall, where Remy and Finn would toss the bouquet and say their farewells from atop the grand staircase.
Kori and Phoebe joined them as they waited.