“I’m sending you a voice clip just in case something happens to my phone.”
“A voice clip?” Falcon asks.
“It’s my way of saying thank you for always protecting me,” I say to Falcon, and then I look at Mason, “and for always having my back.”
Mason gives me a questioning look, and when the message pops up on his phone, he presses play.
I lean closer and fast forward toward the end. “This is the part that matters most.”
‘Yes, get the pie, or anything with strawberries. Get Miss Shepard to eat it. Preferably when she’s alone, so no one can rush her to the hospital again. We want it to work this time. If only I could get rid of Stephanie that easily. One of these days, I might just lose my patience and run her over with the Rolls Royce. Accidents happen so easily these days.’
“Holy fuck, Lake,” Mason breathes.
“That’s a confession, right?” Falcon asks.
“Not only do we have a confession, but we also have her plotting murder,” I say. “That’s some serious jail time right there.”
I watch as the realization hits Falcon, and he whispers, “She’s going to pay.”
I lock eyes with Mason. “It also means Serena doesn’t have a get-out-of-jail-for-free-card anymore.”
Mason shakes his head, then closes his eyes. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” He darts forward and grabs me around the neck in a tight hug. “Thank you.” I hug him back, just feeling grateful I could help in some way. “You helped me keep my promise to Kingsley. Thank you.”
Falcon hugs me from behind, and then I mumble, “If someone sees us, they’re totally going to get the wrong idea.”
“Oh yeah?” Mason chuckles. “Should I throw in a hip thrust for added effect?”
“Don’t you fucking dare,” I grumble, shoving him off of me.
“I can just see the headline in the newspaper tomorrow; how close is too close? CRC threesome on the golf course.”
Falcon cracks up, and with his arm around my shoulders, we begin to walk back.
“Fuck we make a great team,” Mason murmurs.
“I have a new pact for us,” I say.
“Yeah? Let’s hear it,” Falcon replies.
“If we ever split up I’ll kick your damn assess,” Mason suddenly grumbles.
“That caught the gist of what I was going to say,” I laugh.
When we get back to the reception, I see Dad has Lee on the dance floor. I walk over to Mom and hold my hand out to her.
She takes my hand, and gracefully rises to her feet. When we get to the dance floor, I wrap my arm around her, and she places her hand in mine. As I dance with my mother, I look down at her, thinking she’s getting shorter.
“Are you shrinking?” I ask.
“Lake, you’re never too old for a smack upside the head,” she warns, then a smile stretches over her face, “I’m only wearing three-inch heels today.”
I let out a chuckle and hold her a little tighter.
She shifts her hand from my arm to my cheek. “No matter how old you are, and whether you have children of your own, you’ll always be my beautiful baby boy.”
Coming to a standstill, I let go of her hand and wrap both my arms around her.
“It fills me with so much pride to be your son,” I whisper. “I love you, Mom.”
“Thank God I’m wearing waterproof mascara,” she sniffles against my chest.
Dad and Lee stop next to us. “Let’s switch. I want to dance with my sexy wife.”
“Yeah, you’re traumatizing me right now,” I grumble as I let go of Mom and take Lee’s hand.
Dad wags his eyebrows at mom. “Hey baby, do you want to go home with me tonight.”
“Asher, do you want to walk out of here tonight on your own two legs?” Mom scolds him. “Try calling me baby again.”
As the song ends and there’s a moments silence, Kingsley’s phone begins to ring.
‘It’s your daddy calling, and you know he’s gonna chew your ear off.’
“Oh crap,” she hisses while digging for her phone.
‘It’s your daddy calling, all you’re gonna hear is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.’
I let out a burst of laughter when she tips her whole bag over on the table, and all I see is candy scattering everywhere.
She finally finds it and answers sweetly, “Hi, Daddy.”
“Never a dull moment,” I murmur as I turn my attention back to Lee. “Come here.” I pull her to my chest, and we just sway to the music.Chapter 22LakeOn the drive over to the hotel, I notice Lee growing quieter until she’s just silently staring straight ahead.
Before she stops breathing, I say, “Relax, nothing’s going to happen tonight.”
Her head snaps to me. “Why?”
“I don’t want you to feel pressured. Just because we’re married doesn’t mean we have to have sex immediately. We’ll let it happen naturally.”
“Okay,” she whispers, looking a little more relaxed.
Knowing she’s reserved, has me wondering whether she might have any questions she’s not asking out of fear of being embarrassed.