Page 37 of Echoes and Oaths (Guardian Security Dynasty #4)
“Absolutely not,” Eira’s mom declared, slamming her tea mug on the table. “I will not be hanging electricity from the barn rafters. That is senseless. I don’t care what pin … pin …” She looked at Eira questioningly.
“Pinterest board,” Eira informed her again.
“That … says. It doesn’t make sense,” her mother said and crossed her arms.
Eira, sitting in the middle of the table surrounded by a sea of wedding magazines, lifted her head from her hands. “It’s just twinkle lights, Mom.”
“You say that now,” Raven deadpanned from her perch on the windowsill, cleaning her nails with a butterfly knife. “Until one string shorts out and the whole hayloft becomes a flaming death trap.”
“Raven,” Eira groaned. “We all know what you do for a living. You can handle fairy lights. I have faith in you.”
Raven shrugged. “Well, in my defense, none of my jobs have asked me to coordinate floral arrangements with burlap runners and fairy lights.”
“I am just saying,” Eira’s mom announced to no one in particular and everyone at once, “there will be no fires at this wedding.” She glanced over to Raven. “And no boots with knives hidden in them.”
Raven snorted. “So, that rules out half the guest list.”
“I heard that,” Eira’s mom said from where she filled her teacup with hot water.
Eira sighed. She was unusually used to these types of conversations. Thank God they were speaking in Spanish. Otherwise, the Macys would think they were all insane. “This leads our conversation to the dress you’ll be wearing as my bridesmaid.”
“Oh, no. I wore a dress and heels on a mission once,” Raven said, stretching. “Had to use one as a projectile to escape an elevator ambush. Almost took a guy’s eye out. ”
“?Dios mío!” Her mother gasped, clutching her chest. “You see? This is why I told Eira to marry a dentist.”
“Mom,” Eira said without looking up from her notebook.
“He’s better than a dentist.” He just turned out to be an internationally sanctioned assassin with a ranch and a collection of misfit animals and friends that were slightly off-kilter.
She snickered at her thoughts. “He has a ranch with a milk cow. Be happy.” He had also changed his name.
He still went by Mateo, but in the States, he was Mateo Dean, and she would become Mrs. Dean… soon.
Raven held up a finger. “Technically, it’s two cows now. Mr. Macy bought another. Teo named her Moo Moo. Have you forgotten?”
“Impossible.” Eira chuckled.
“That cow has opinions,” her mother added, sipping her tea with a wry smile. “Loud ones.”
“I need wine,” Raven said.
“It’s 9:03 in the morning ,” Eira pointed out.
“Flowers, fairy lights, and burlap, need I say more? I’m not wearing a dress, but I’ll look good.” Raven shrugged.
“I get approval of the outfit.” Eira didn’t even look up as she paged through the bridal magazines.
She had a specific idea of what she wanted her dress to look like, and a seamstress in Hollister said she could help her make her dream come true.
She had a meeting with her tomorrow and needed to give her a good idea of what style she wanted.
Just then, Teo came flying in from the hallway, dragging a stuffed donkey and wearing nothing but cowboy boots and pajama bottoms. “Moo Moo!” he said as he headed to the living room and his toys.
Raven muttered, “Miss Moo Moo’s authority is expanding quickly.”
“Chaos,” her mother said as she followed Teo into the living room. “Next thing you know, we’ll have a flower goat. Don’t think I didn’t hear Mateo say that.”
“Could be,” Eira said, laughing as she scribbled on her wedding to-do list. “Mateo already said if Teo wanted a flower goat, he’d rent a damn tux for it.”
Raven leaned forward, voice low and wicked. “I could train the goat to deliver the rings. With a GoPro.”
Eira lifted her eyes at a strangled gasp. Her mother stood in the doorway and looked one second from stroking out. “Ladies,” Eira said calmly, “I love you. But if this turns into a barnyard battle royale, I’m eloping in Vegas with a bouquet made of antelope jerky. ”
There was a moment of stunned silence before Raven raised her tea mug. “To jerky weddings.”
Jinx stepped into the kitchen with absolutely no clue what he was walking into. At the table, Eira was surrounded by Post-it notes and something that may have once been a wedding seating chart but now looked like an explosion at a Crayola factory.
Raven was sharpening her throwing knives and watching Say Yes to the Dress on her phone.
Eira’s mom was … praying. To whom, Jinx wasn’t sure. But it sounded serious .
Teo, wearing one of Raven’s tactical vests, was dragging a stuffed donkey around while mooing.
Jinx blinked. “Should I … come back later?”
Eira’s mom turned toward him with the intensity of a soap opera villain. “ You. ”
Jinx took a careful step back. “Me?”
“You’re the reason we are hosting a barnyard wedding with potentially armed livestock and assassin bridesmaids. You proposed. You opened this portal to chaos. ”
Jinx slowly raised his hands. “Okay, that’s fair. But, just for clarity…who gave Teo access to gear? ”
“I did. Things are getting rough in here,” Raven said without looking up. “And honestly, I respect that. Strong women, strong opinions.”
Eira looked up at him and sighed, “What kind of cake do you want? You don’t get to have feelings about color schemes, but I’ll give you cake input.”
“Chocolate,” Jinx said automatically, eyes wide. “With caramel. Maybe whiskey glaze if no one’s morally opposed.”
“See? Now, that’s a man’s answer,” Raven grunted and turned up the phone. “Oh, here, look, Eira, is this what you were talking about?”
Eira stood up, her eyes slightly wild, her ponytail halfway collapsed like a flag of surrender. She took the phone and jumped up and down. “Yes! Screenshot that, please?”
“Got it, girl,” Raven said and grabbed the phone back. “I love some deep research. I knew we could find it.”
Jinx started to back out of the kitchen. Things were warped into a weird little wedding world right now. But Eira turned on him and pointed to Raven. “Did you know that if we invite your full Guardian team, we’ll probably need security for the security if they are like my friend here? ”
“Wait, are you inviting Phantom?” Raven asked, suddenly alert.
Jinx frowned. “Of course, I’m inviting him.”
“Oh, good,” Raven purred. “He owes me money. I’ll make him wear a sash, too. He’s gullible.”
“No one’s wearing a sash,” Eira’s mom thundered.
Raven laughed. “No promises.”
Jinx slowly walked over to Eira and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her gently to his chest. She let out a sigh that was part exhaustion, maybe a small part exorcism.
“I love you,” he murmured into her hair.
She leaned into him. “I just spent the last hour arguing about whether an imaginary flower goat should wear boots.”
“Did you win?”
“No. He’s wearing boots. They light up.”
Jinx grinned and then laughed. “I’d call that a victory.”
She tilted her head back and met his eyes. “This is insane.”
“This is us ,” he said. “Completely nuts. Unexpected. Surrounded by armed women and mischievous toddlers. And perfect.”
She smiled, slow and tired but real.
From across the kitchen, her mother hissed, “ Don’t kiss her, you’re going to smudge her makeup. We’re doing engagement photos later!”
Jinx raised an eyebrow. “Engagement photos?”
Raven flipped a knife and caught it by the hilt. “You and her, field of wildflowers, holding crossbows.”
“Never! Do you want this old woman to teach you a lesson, young lady? You’re not too old to be taken to the woodshed.” Eira’s mom pointed at Raven. “No weapons allowed.”
“… I’ll allow it,” Jinx said.
Raven and Eira’s mom turned and looked at him simultaneously. “Which one?” Raven lifted an eyebrow.
“Figure it out,” Jinx said and laughed when Raven bolted up and ran from the house. “I’m not going to the woodshed,” she called out as the door slammed shut.
Eira shook her head into Jinx’s chest. “I don’t even care if the goat walks me down the aisle now.”
Jinx kissed her temple and whispered, “No animals. Just us.”
The barn at Jinx’s ranch stood tall against the endless South Dakota sky, its weathered wood and dark metal roof softened by strands of fairy lights draped from beam to beam.
Wildflowers, white daisies, purple coneflowers, and golden sunbursts lined the aisle between two rows of wooden benches filled with their Guardian family, the Macys, and a few others Eira had met in the local area.
The scent of fresh hay and sweet clover drifted through the air, mixing with the faint sound of wind chimes that hung at the barn doors.
Inside, the space had been transformed. White muslin fabric swooped in gentle arcs between the rafters, and hanging lanterns cast a soft amber glow over the polished wood floors.
A reclaimed wood arch stood at the far end of the aisle, twined with ivy and dotted with fresh blooms. Beyond it, the open barn doors framed the sweeping prairie beyond, filled with golden grasses swaying in the warm breeze.
The Black Hills were just visible on the horizon.