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I got close enough to finally see her impassioned face between two of the men’s shoulders. She stopped short when her eyes met mine. I gave her a weak smile.
Without another word, she scrambled past the police officers and came barreling toward me. She closed the distance between us so quickly that I had no time to brace myself for impact. Marley slammed into me so hard, I tumbled backward into the damp dirt. She peppered kisses on me from the top of my head, to my cheeks, to my brows, to my lips.
I laughed softly as she did, so glad to have a woman who was willing to greet me like this when I smelled like a bag of gym clothes.
“Cole,” she said, looking down at me and brushing some hair away from my face.
The sky stretched on above her, the sun shining behind her head and making her look like an angel.
“I missed you so much, baby,” I said, my body relaxed and blissful. “I missed you so much.”
“You’re so thin.” She began to weep, brushing her hand down my cheek. “We need to get some food in you.”
“Gramps?” I asked.
“One of the first ones they got out.” Her thumb kept tracing gentle circles on my cheeks.
“Noah?”
“Noah is safe and sound at your mom’s.”
I let out a soft breath and closed my eyes. “Good,” I said, finally able to relax now that I knew everyone was safe.
I didn’t remember falling asleep.
* * *
“Bro, you have got to stop fucking sweating,” Travis told me. “This is the fourth shirt you’ve sweat through.”
“I know,” I groused.
“What the hell are you even nervous about? You already got her to say yes to marrying you once. Now you’re just making it official.”
“I don’t know why I’m fucking nervous. I just am.” I yanked off the tie around my neck and popped open the shirt without much care. Buttons dislodged and tumbled all over the kitchen floor of our lakeside property, the sound echoing off the still-unfinished walls.
“You guys don’t even have a real group gathered out there,” Travis said. “Just your parents and Noah and Marley’s folks and a few friends. You’re flipping out.”
“Did you not just hear me say that I don’t know why I’m nervous?” I asked him, grabbing the fresh shirt from his hands.
“No, no, no, no,” Travis said. “You need to towel off and calm down first, man. Come on. Just have a seat already.”
Travis gestured to a director’s chair that had been set up for Marley’s makeup earlier in the day. I grumbled as I climbed into it, brushing a hand over my face and taking in a deep breath.
“Seriously, dude, what is up with you?” Travis asked me, walking over to a cooler with back-up drinks for our miniature reception and grabbing a chilled bottle of water. He brought it over to me, and I accepted it, pressing it against the side of my neck to cool myself down.
Travis leaned against one of the countertops we’d just finished installing and crossed his arms. “I know you well enough to know that you’ve got some kind of mental block going on in there. Why don’t you just spit it out so we can handle it already?”
I brushed my free hand through my hair and settled back into the seat. He was right. Something was bothering me, but I didn’t want to say it. It felt like bad luck to mention insecurities on my wedding day. But at this rate, I wouldn’t make it to the altar if I didn’t stop worrying about it.
“Do you think I’m a shitty mate?” I asked.
Travis gave me a strange look. Then, without missing a beat, he said, “I mean, listen, man. You know I love you, but not like that.”
“Oh, fuck off,” I said, cracking a smile regardless. “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I do wonder why you’re asking me that, though.”
“After the Lanyon Clover thing a couple months ago, and the shit with Curt and Wyatt…I’m starting to wonder if I can even protect my family, let alone my entire pack. That’s the one thing Marley should be able to expect from me no matter what—protecting her. But I don’t have the best track record.”
