Page 55 of True Honey (The Hornets Nest #4)

SHORE

“ B eautiful.” I pressed my palm flat to my chest and shifted in my uncomfortable dress shoes at the end of the bed as Drew appeared from the bathroom.

The mid-morning light bathed her in a hazy golden light that made her glow like an angel.

I swallowed tightly, my heart racing so fast in my chest I could have sworn it was ready to escape.

“Stop it,” she said, turning to the large mirror on the wall.

She fidgeted with the dark red satin around her breasts making sure it was hanging appropriately and not revealing too much but my focus was on the thin, wispy pieces of lacing that worked up the small of her back in a criss-cross pattern.

“I have something for you,” I said, moving around her. My restraint was waning and it made it so much worse when she looked as perfect as she did.

“Silas the dress was enough,” she hummed, fixing the pieces of her hair back behind her ear.

“It’s from Auggie,” I said to her and handed her the box.

Inside on a simple chain was a small gemstone that matched August’s birthday.

It had taken him two hours to pick out and cost me a fortune but he was proud of himself for finding something that Drew would love.

And by the look on her face, he had been right.

“He picked this?” She asked, her finger running over it. “It’s perfect.”

“Just like you,” I said, taking the necklace out of the box and wrapping it around her neck so it rested on her collarbone.

I took the chance to press a kiss to the back of her throat, looking across to the mirror just to see her smile.

Her fingers came up and tangled into the scuff against my jaw holding me against her for a long, private moment.

I love you.

The words bubbled up again but stayed locked behind the wall of fear.

Logically she would be okay, maybe there was even a small chance she felt it back and even if she spiraled from hearing them I could talk her off the ledge.

But I selfishly didn’t want to have to do any of that, I wanted to say and hear it back.

So I stayed quiet, hoping that one day I’d look up and see it in her expression instead of having to guess.

“Auggie is in the living room with some of the boys, I need to get out there…” I said, finally releasing her from my grip. I pressed a kiss to her palm and stepped away to let her breathe, “save the first dance for me?”

“Of course.” She confirmed watching me until I disappeared from her view. Everyone was making their way down to the forested path behind the house.

The dock was set up with a hundred bushels of lavender that softly rained petals in the breeze.

Mom was standing with Arlo, in a dark green dress that matched the suits of the groomsmen.

And Arlo was wearing all black, with a green tie and gold jewelry that seemed to drip from him.

He looked handsome, his hair pushed back off his face and his eyes a lighter shade of brown than usual.

I’d never seen him nervous but he was spinning his finger around his mothers wedding band on his pinky finger and staring off into the distance.

“Two steps at a time,” I said to him, invading his space without asking and knocking my knuckles against his heart. “Take a breath.”

Arlo listened and his chest rose slowly, the focus coming back to his expression as his jaw tightened. “You clean up nice,” he said, swallowing tightly and looking over my dark blue suit.

“Ella said jewel tones.” I gave her all the credit. Even the mention of her made Arlo’s shoulders relax a touch. “We’ll do this quick and you can go back to hiding in the shadows, asshole.”

“Prick,” he coughed out.

“Language gentlemen,” Ryan cleared his throat in defense of my mother. I narrowed my eyes on him and he flashed a smug smile as the wind pushed around his graying dirty blonde hair.

“Mom,” I nodded, my eyes still watching Ryan like a hawk.

“I got him, honey. You go.” She kissed my cheek and I made my way down the dock past the team that was sitting and found my book.

Everyone else took their seats, Drew sat with Josh in the second row looking nervous but radiating like the sun.

Grandpa sat a few chairs away, chatting with Nicholas who had been stuck as his escort for the night.

I hadn’t wanted to turn the wedding into a chess piece but having him here, having him see me with Drew in this capacity was necessary. He had to know it was serious.

I just hated every second of it.

One by one the wedding party made their way down, Van, Dean, Lucas and Sawyer stood beside me as Mom and Arlo came down the aisle arm in arm. She kissed his cheek gently before retreating back to her seat and he carefully slipped into place beside me under the archway of lavender.

“Cael did good,” he whispered, his brown eyes trailing over the arch.

“We knew he would,” I smiled. He had helped Ella every step of the way there wasn’t a single flower out of place, or a problem he hadn’t solved.

He was stepping into the role of event planner like he’d always belonged there and it wasn’t hard to be proud of him, it was overwhelming and warm against my chest to see him thrive.

“Hey Si,” Arlo said as the music started for Ella.

“You can’t run now,” I joked but he shook his head.

“Thank you for bringing Ella to me,” he said, his eyes a little watery.

I nodded as he tapped his fingers to his chest and turned his attention to the end of the dock.

Ella stood there, her blonde hair pulled back off her face in soft curls that bounced around in the breeze.

The smile on her face was luminous and one by one everyone stood from their chairs.

Her something blue stood beside her in a dark suit that glimmered in the sunshine with his hair shaved down.

Cael beamed just as brightly as Ella as they walked behind Zoey who led the charge.

Arlo cleared his throat as they approached, taking Ella from Cael who joined Zoey at the side.

Our family, complete, and right where we all belonged.

“Ready, Blondie?” Arlo asked.

Ella nodded holding back tears as Arlo reached out and fixed a piece of her hair .

“As ever, Cap.”

I gave them another second before taking a deep breath, slipping on my glasses, and doing the job they asked of me. Van dog whistled loudly as I pushed them on my face and Jensen hollered out something intangible as Addy tried to get him to be quiet.

“Settle down," I warned before clearing my throat.

"Friends, family, and Hornets, we come together today, in the sight of you as witnesses to join Arlo King and Ella Miele in marriage. We gather around them now in this wonderful place, and we look on with love and hope as these two begin their new life together as one.” My voice carried across the dock into the trees as everyone listened on.

Getting through all the necessary lines before stepping back and letting Arlo and Ella take the reins.

Arlo rolled out his shoulders and it took a whole thirty seconds for him to speak but when he started I knew it was going to be good.

“My sunshine incarnate,” Arlo said quietly, the vows only for Ella.

“My bossy blondie." He smiled and Ella was a goner, a heavy tear trickled down her face and Arlo reached out, rubbing it away with the pad of his thumb. “There’s no epic speech coming because frankly I’m a little better at actions than words but you incite all the best emotions in me and I never wanna experience anything on my own again.”

“How do I follow that?” She pouted.

“Don’t let me win now,” Arlo teased. I cleared my throat, digging out the piece of paper she had given me last night for safekeeping. “I should have known you two would be in cahoots.”

“Shh, you have a whole hat full of names and secrets with Zoey,” Ella whispered to him and unfolded it.

Arlo steeled himself, but I proofread her vows, he didn’t stand a chance.

“A year ago I was lost, seemingly forever. Determined to punish myself and struggle through life alone because that’s what I thought I deserved. ”

Arlo opened his mouth and Ella shook her head, “argue later, listen for once,” she laughed as he sighed but surrendered to her demand. “And you’ll only ever hear me say this once in our lives, Arlo King, but I was wrong.”

That brought a smile to his face.

“You are the most stubborn, annoyingly pushy person I know. You have insulted me, pushed me away, chased after me, followed me home with your car, stole my books, stole my heart. ” Ella hummed, “I was committed to walking alone, to spending the rest of my life apologizing to ghosts and sitting in the dark. But from the moment you laid eyes on me, you were committed to making sure I never did. You have been here, two steps at a time, incessant and convincing. Thank you for not giving up on me even when it felt too big, even when I slammed the door in your face.”

I looked over at Drew who was staring through the two of them at me. She had that soft worried expression on her face and it tightened the string around my heart. Fear blossomed there, stinging the cuts left behind by the thread. I needed to try harder, for her. For us.

“Arlo I love you,” Ella said softly, “you will always be my favorite.”

Ella and Arlo were sitting at their table in the center of the baseball diamond.

It was dressed in hazy lights that hung low into the center in long rows of buzzing bulbs.

The tables scattered out over the field in a circle so everyone was included and Ella had refused to do a seating plan.

“Everyone can sit where they want .” She declared much to Cael’s annoyance that day.

But she had a purpose because now the whole thing felt like a family dinner.

Cael had even brought Lorraine’s chair up from the Nest and it sat in the corner, with her picture, along side one of Arlo's mother, and a basket overflowing with lavender.

Cael was getting restless but it wasn’t until Ella nodded that he sprung from his chair, dragging it across the grass to rest by their table and clambering up on top so everyone could see him.

He tapped his glass of water a few times with the back of a knife but he wasn’t loud enough for people to realize he wanted their attention.

“Shut up!” Arlo stood, his palms flat on the table and yelled like he always did.

The field went dead silent.

“Thanks princess,” he said before clearing his throat.

“Most of you know who I am, and honestly if you don’t I’m not sure why you were invited…

” Cael trailed off and Ella shook her head at him with a laugh.

“And yes if you were wondering I’m her something blue,” he waved to his seat but I’m also Ella’s something borrowed,” he smiled down at her, “a brother.” She held her hand up to him and he took it gently in his own.

“I never met Ethan but I’ve heard every story that could be told about him and there is one thing I know for sure. He’d be so proud of you.”

Ella’s nose scrunched up as she fought to keep from crying.

“You showed up at Harbor with the intention of keeping your head down, finishing school and disappearing forever. But Harbor had different plans for you and I like to think that Ethan did too. Then you bulldozed your way into the Nest without expectations and took every single one of us under your wing. Peachy, we probably wouldn’t have survived this long without your love.

Arlo definitely not.” He laughed and Arlo flipped him off.

“When you asked me to be your something blue I obviously took it too far and decided that if I’m one, I’m clearly all four. ”

“Cael,” Arlo grumbled loudly, “fuck off.”

“I’m speaking,” he hissed playfully at Arlo.

“Seriously?” He looked to Ella for help but she was too focused on Cael to care. “I hate you both.”

“Something new was a little harder to get my hands on, I’m not an artist and I don’t even have a paying job but I can get creative when I need to.

” Cael said the mischief was violent in his expression.

He dug in his pocket and tossed a set of house keys at Arlo.

“By creative I mean I roped Silas into a plan so I could spend his money.”

“What are these?” Arlo asked but his gaze was on me at the next table.

“You can’t live at the Nest forever, Ar,” I said to him with a sad smile, the end of an era playing out right in front of us.

“If my best friends weren’t rats, I could have tried,” his voice was tight and angry but there was a smile on his face. He was grateful he just wasn't sure how to say thank you.

“We love you too,” Cael laughed, using Ella for balance as the chair shook in the grass.

“Mom would be proud,” he got serious, looking at Arlo.

“She always knew you were the best of us and she’d be ecstatic you found the best. This is also my chance to petition that your first born be named after me! ”

“I’m going to strangle him.” Arlo surged from his chair and Cael almost fell backward but somehow kept his balance against the odds. “Finish your speech so I can kill you.”

Ella snorted, tugging on Arlo’s belt to get his attention. One look from her and he was sinking back into his chair with a tight jaw, but Cael would live to see another day.

“The distance between us will be hard,” he cleared his throat and looked around at the team now.

Everyone sat quiet in the realization that it was all coming to an end.

The family we’d been for nearly ten years, players coming and going, relationships forming and growing.

Soon we’d all be on our own and the fear of solitude was horrifying for a group of people that had grown into themselves just feet from each other.

Drew squeezed my hand under the table, her touch bringing me a semblance of relief as Cael continued.

“But not impossible,” he said. “Time pushes and pulls people around but we’ve always been a force to be reckoned with and that doesn’t change.

The Nest will always have new faces to nurture, new players to help.

It doesn’t end here. We will always be a family.

Living under one roof or many, we’ll always find home in each other and that’s a promise.

” Cael tapped his fingers to his chest, holding them there.

Ryan rose from his chair and mirrored the motion creating a waterfall effect of players that joined in.

Soon the entire team was staring at Ella and Arlo.

Two fingers to the chest, a universal sign for I love you.

Something old.

“To Mom and Dad!” Cael yelled loudly and the entire room cheered.