“You could say the same for me,” he told Rock, taking a sip of his beer. It was the first time he’d had alcohol since being released from the hospital, and he felt its effects. Of course, if ever there was an occasion to get a little tipsy—or a lot tipsy?—it was at your own wedding.
The BKI crew had cleared the shop floor of equipment and motorcycles and festooned the huge space with bunting and balloons and paper lanterns in all the shades of the rainbow. Rusty had teased Ace and his mother, who’d conspired together to plan the wedding, about being a little too on the nose with the color scheme. Both of them had insisted it was the only way to go. Rusty was out, and it was a celebration!
Confetti littered the concrete floor. The folding chairs and wedding altar that had been used during the ceremony had since been shoved back against the walls. And the sugary smell of the decimated wedding cake competed with the familiar Black Knights Inc. aromas of grease guns and coffee.
Rusty thought it was perfect, and his heart glowed with so much happiness he was surprised light wasn’t streaming out of his orifices.
“Thank you for playing and singing during the ceremony,” he told Rock. “You have a beautiful voice, and I know it meant a lot to Ace.”
“My pleasure,” Rock drawled. “I’m just sorry this damn blizzard meant the party got cut short.”
Rusty glanced at the huge leaded-glass windows on the north wall and saw the flurry of snowflakes battering themselves against the panes. He shrugged. “That’s the risk you run when you plan a January wedding in Chicago. Besides, the party’s still going.” He motioned with his hand around the room.
Mac and Delilah cuddled on the old leather couch shoved beneath the base of the metal stairs. They shared a glass of champagne and whispered in each other’s ears while their big, goofy yellow Lab—who sported a rainbow bow tie for the occasion—snored loudly at their feet. Zoelner and Chelsea stood over by the dessert table, feeding each other wedding cake between sweet, laughing kisses. And Wild Bill and Eve shared the dance floor with Ghost and Ali and Dan and Penni.
The three couples swayed slowly to the soft music coming from the small sound system Rusty had rented for the occasion—the only detail of the wedding Ace and his mother had allowed him to have a say in. A plastic baby monitor hung from a carabiner clipped to a belt loop on Dan’s suit pants and a matching one hung from a string around Ghost’s wrist. Ali had delivered a healthy baby girl two weeks ago, and they’d put her and her older sister to bed upstairs soon after the ceremony. Same for Dan and Penni and their little bundle of joy, Cora May, as well as Snake and Michelle’s two sons.
When the blizzard had hit earlier, and after Rusty and Ace had called cabs for the rest of their guests, the Black Knights along with their children had decided to spend the night at the shop in their old rooms. They didn’t want to stop celebrating with Ace and Rusty.
And what a celebration it was. So much dancing and singing and good-hearted ribbing and drinking and—
“Your folks make it to their hotel okay?” Rock asked.
Rusty patted the breast pocket on his suit jacket where his cell phone rested close to his heart. “Texted and said they’re snug as bugs in a rug.”
He smiled when he thought back on the look of sheer joy on his mother’s face when he and Ace had said their I do’s. His smile widened when he remembered the way his father had shaken Ace’s hand afterward, dragging Ace close and threatening to cut off Ace’s balls if Ace ever hurt Rusty.
“Rock, baby.” Vanessa, Rock’s fiancée, snagged Rock’s arm and gifted him with a siren’s smile. “Take me to bed, or lose me forever.”
“Don’t gotta ask me twice, ma petite. Lead the way.”
“Beautiful ceremony, by the way,” Vanessa told Rusty.
He nodded and winked at her. “You’re next.”
“I know! And Rock’s driving me crazy with wedding plans.” She slid Rock a sidelong glance and leaned in to mock-whisper. “How did you stand Ace these last few months? I swear, Rock is a groomzilla!”
“A word of advice?”
“I’m all ears.”
“Let him have his way.” He gave her a conspiratorial wink. “He’ll thank you for it in the most…pleasurable ways imaginable.”
Rock grinned and pulled Vanessa toward the staircase. “Sound advice,” he told her. “Sound advice indeed.”
“Wait a minute!” Becky called when she saw the couple headed for the stairs. “You two can’t go to bed yet. Frank and I haven’t made our big announcement!”
After the guests had left, Becky had told the gathered group that she and Boss had something important to discuss with them later on. Rusty glanced down at his watch. It was 11:54 p.m. He supposed that qualified as “later on.”
“Let me guess,” Vanessa said. “You’re finally pregnant?”
“Well, yes,” Becky said impatiently. “But that’s not our big announcement and—”
“What?” Boss thundered, his craggy face draining of color as he stared down at his tiny, blond-haired wife who, for once, wasn’t wearing coveralls covered in grease. Quite the opposite, tonight Becky had on a royal-blue cocktail dress and six-inch stilettos that still only raised the top of her head to Boss’s shoulder. “You’re pregnant?”
Becky blushed and caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “I took the test this morning, and I was gonna surprise you with it tonight, but it just sorta slipped out and—”
That’s all she managed before Boss whooped and lifted her into the air, spinning her around. When Boss finally set her back on her feet, he laid a kiss on her that was so deep and passionate that more than one person in the room felt the need to clear their throat.
