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Quint chuckled. “Hey. Buddy. You’ve got some drool coming out of the corner of your mouth.”
Doug quickly closed his yap and sent a finger to catch the…Yeah. Right. He wasn’t actually drooling. “Asshole,” he whispered.
Quint just laughed even harder, and this time Corrie and Mike—who’d clearly heard the exchange—joined in.
If Talia hadn’t stepped out onto the porch at that moment, all attention would have been on their little group, and Doug would have never lived it down.
In a dreamlike haze, his eyes never leaving Pixie, the processional traversed the aisle before concluding at the steps of the bus. Doug then sat with the rest of the crowd and listened to the vows spoken.
Fleet, the groom, looked like he’d swallowed a flame, his face was so aglow with love. Talia, normally tough as nails, was definitely on the verge of happy tears during the entire ceremony.
Doug couldn’t have been more joyous for the pair, but once the “I do’s” and the kisses were over, his patience was done. He needed to get to Pixie; hold her in his arms and breathe in her schoolmarm scent.
His foot began tapping impatiently, watching the wedding party milling about, until finally, Mason, in his overloud voice cried, “Party time!”
Okay. Finally. But…Would the people in his row please move?
Doug wanted to growl at everyone to get out of his way, but managed to control himself. If he was turning over a new leaf, he didn’t want to sound like a Neanderthal. But seriously? He looked right, he looked left, and nobody was moving. They were all chatting with people in the rows in front of them, or the rows in back.
After several minutes had passed, Doug’s patience finally ran out. “I need—”
“You need to find your woman,” Quint finished. “I get it.” He raised his voice in a loud, commanding bark. “Hey. Move it, people. We have an emergency, here,” he yelled. “If you don’t want to see blood, you’ll all get out of the way.”
There was good-natured grumbling once everyone clued into the “emergency”, then the exodus was accompanied by some seriously R rated taunts. But finally the aisle cleared and Doug was free to find Pixie.
He strode rapidly to the front where the wedding party stood, but…there was no blonde sprite amongst the group. He hurried to the food tables, knowing Pixie would head for sweets as soon as she was able. But she wasn’t there, either.
After covering the grounds, twice, he finally sought out Talia, hoping she’d know where her sister had disappeared to.
“Doug. You look very dapper today,” Talia told him as he approached. “Did Pixie have a hand in dressing you? Look what she did to me.” Talia gave a twirl, and Doug obediently nodded his head. But he didn’t want small talk. He wanted Pixie. He allowed a few moments to play nice. “You look awesome, LT. But no. Pixie didn’t dress me. My aunt picked this out for a familywedding we attended last year, and it’ll be my go-to until I get too hefty to wear it.”
“Well, with how hard we work you, you don’t have to worry about that happening any time soon,” Talia retorted before looking around. “Where’s Pixie? I thought the two of you would be all over each other by now. She looks mighty fine today, too, doesn’t she.” Talia winked.
“She does,” Doug agreed. “But I haven’t been able to find her. Do you know where she might have gone?”
Talia’s brows drew together. “Right after we finished up, she said something about going to the lady’s room. But…” She looked over to the porta-potties and frowned. “…that was a while ago, and there are no lines.” Talia looked thoughtful. “Maybe she went inside to use the more civilized facilities,” she offered.
“Nope.” Mrs. Sothard came up behind them. “I was just inside, and she’s not in there.”
“Well, where the…?” Doug’s face paled. “You don’t think…? Oh, my God.” He reached out and gripped Talia’s arm, and she was instantly of the same mind.
“Shit,” Talia cried, then let out a shrill whistle that made Mrs. Sothard’s previous attempt sound lame. “SWAT squads front and center,” she bellowed.
It was clear, at first, that everyone thought the call-out was part of the festivities, but as soon as the units caught sight of the LT’s face, the atmosphere of the party took on a whole new air, and the team scrambled to gather.
“Deploy,” Talia gritted out. “Pixie’s missing, and I want no stone left unturned.”
After twenty minutes, when everyone reconvened, empty handed, it was a certainty. Every inch of the property had been searched, and Pixie was nowhere to be found.
The nausea that Doug hadn’t felt when thinking about her before, hit with full force.
Who the hell had taken his woman?
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Wake up, bitch.”
Pixie heard the voice and tried to respond, but grogginess hindered her. She tried to open her eyes, and groaned. Her cranium hurt, and her eyelids felt like they were glued down with paste.
