Page 17 of War Games (Jacky Leon #11)

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

S unday came fast. Saturday was making sure those of us in the wedding ceremony were ready for it. Carey made sure we had the makeup to look presentable for the pictures. The men made sure their suits were ready, including Niko, who showed up in it to make sure the boys liked it on him. I tried on the gorgeous dress Carey, Heath, and Aisha had picked out for me. I didn’t see the full effect of the look until Sunday morning when Carey was finally finished with my hair and makeup.

“Go look in the mirror and tell me what you think,” Carey said, leaning back, seeming pleased with herself.

I’ll need to thank Aisha. She has great taste. I feel like an impostor in it, but it is beautiful. I’m glad Heath and Carey asked her to help pick it out.

I sighed, happy at how good it looked on me, never having felt as beautiful in something so feminine. It wasn’t that I never had been one to wear dresses. I had enjoyed them sometimes growing up. But they didn’t work in my day to day the way Zuri or Mischa could do, handling business in whatever designer gown they decided to put on that morning.

“Thank you,” I said, a little embarrassed by how I needed her help to get ready. “You know me. I don’t… do this very often.”

“You’re going to look even better when you and Dad get married,” she said brightly, smiling from ear to ear. “I guess this is a sneak peek to that day.”

I flushed, my heart touched that she looked forward to that day as much as I did, even though there was no date set, no plans made, or even the whisper of such things being decided.

“Don’t get emotional on me right now. I can’t do my makeup and fix yours in time. Go hang out with Dad in the living room or something.” She pointed to my door, and I left her in the bedroom.

I saw Heath downstairs the moment I went out the door. He looked dashing. A suit was always a good fit for him, and today was no different.

“Where are the guys?” I asked as I approached him, but he didn’t seem to hear me. The smell around him was full of need, the kind of need that normally led back up the stairs and made him lock the door so no one could interrupt. His eyes went up and down me several times, and his stormy-blue eyes turned ice blue, lightening to their wolf color as excitement filled the air.

“Woah. We have a wedding to attend,” I reminded him.

“Your eyes look amazing with that color,” he said, the huskiness of his voice sending shivers down my spine.

“Are you looking at my eyes?” I asked teasingly. “It is a beautiful dress, though. Aisha did well.”

“I’m glad Aisha agreed with my choice,” he corrected with a smile that made me flush for a very different reason than Carey’s did.

“I… I didn’t know you picked it out,” I said softly, suddenly understanding some of the choices that made the dress sexy. Like how the low back made me feel a little risqué without being too much. Or the way it couldn’t be worn with a bra, thanks to that back. I had on pasties recommended by Aisha to help me feel more comfortable, and there were some clear sticky things helping hold certain parts of the dress in the right place. The front didn’t plunge the way the back did. It seems rather tasteful from the front where it looped around the back of my neck.

His warm, calloused hand slowly touched my open lower back as he leaned in.

“How do you feel in it?” he asked, his lips brushing my ear.

“Gorgeous. Like a model,” I answered, trying to sound casual.

“Good. I wanted you to know what I see every day.”

“You have to stop, or we’ll miss your son’s wedding,” I said, wondering if I was going to break out in a sweat just from standing next to him. “Maybe I should get some fresh air.”

“We’re not allowed outside yet. Teagan is making sure the ceremony spot is ready.”

“I won’t be in the way on my own porch,” I said, feeling his hand move up and down my back, showing no sign of releasing me anytime soon. “You are something else right now.”

“I’m nothing different than I was yesterday when I decided to follow you into the shower.”

“You have to stop before Carey comes out,” I said, putting my hand in his face. “This can’t just be from the dress.”

He chuckled and released me.

“It’s not. It’s the idea of a wedding and hoping for ours one day.”

“You and Carey have brought it up this morning. You better not be planning it behind my back.” I wagged a finger at him. He’d promised the engagement could be as long as I wanted it to be.

“Of course not. This wedding probably had both of us thinking about that day, whenever it comes.” He leaned over but didn’t kiss my lips or cheek; he went lower to my neck. When he came up, my face must have said everything because he laughed.

“I can’t ruin your makeup. She will kill me.”

“You never did answer me. Where are Landon and Dirk right now?”

“Dirk is getting ready at Niko’s house. Landon will be here in thirty minutes, so I can make sure he’s ready.” Heath took my hand, and I let him lead me to the kitchen. Inside, there was something I had never seen before—an old wooden crate with little bits of hay sticking out.

“What is this?”

“Something I wanted to show you before I took it to Kick Shot. I had to drive to Dallas yesterday to get it. Kept it properly stored there for decades.” He cracked open the crate, which wasn’t big. I owned bigger pots in the kitchen. He lifted out something that made me gasp.

“Richard gave this to me the day Landon was born,” he explained, running his thumb over the label. “I have one from him for Carey, too… Something to drink on the happiest days of their lives.”

That nearly ruined my makeup as Heath put the bottle of bourbon on the counter. The fact that he had taken such good care of it was impressive.

“Is it drinkable?” I asked, not wanting to touch it.

“Even back then, we paid for the help of witches and fae to preserve things. It’s drinkable. The enchantment was refreshed yesterday before it left storage. They keep the entire storage unit enchanted, but everything gets enchanted, too, in case of emergency. It’ll be as it was the day it was bottled and Richard handed it to me as a gift.” He smiled, showing how it was still sealed, never tampered with. “I get to finally crack it open today.”

“Wow… Can I touch it?” I asked, my hand hovering on the counter next to it. He nodded, waving for me to look at as much as I wanted. I couldn’t stop myself from reading over the old label, seeing the year and knowing it was a piece of his history, his life—the year Landon was born.

“Richard had good taste, so I’m excited to finally try it.”

“Why did he do it?” I asked.

“When he was born, my father-in-law at the time gave his mother and me two bottles of wine for Richard. One to drink that day. One to toast with at his wedding. Richard knew about those bottles. When she passed, the unopened one was part of her things, and I made sure to protect it. It was right beside this one in storage. Carey’s is there as well.” Heath smiled, his eyes on the bottle of bourbon. There was a hint of melancholy to his scent, understandable considering the memories the bottle held for him. More importantly, there was a lot of joy, and that was what glowed in his eyes. “He picked bourbon for Landon and scotch for Carey. He knew I liked both far more than a bottle of wine. I also didn’t get Carey’s on the day she was born. You know the story.”

I did. Hard to be there for the birth of a new baby when no one told the father that he’d fathered a child. Carey’s mother had hidden the pregnancy because Heath and she had already ended things before either could tell she was pregnant. He didn’t know about Carey until she was left at his home.

“That’s so wonderful,” I whispered, putting the bottle back on the counter. “Trust it with Oliver. He’s educated, and if he doesn’t know how to handle it, his family is all involved in the food and drink industry with Davor.”

“He and I already talked about how I was bringing a very old bottle of bourbon. He knows what to do with it. It will be fine.” Heath picked it up. “I’m going to deliver it now. Can you let Landon in if he gets here before I’m back? I want to check on the reception prep as well.”

“Yeah, I can do that.” I watched him leave, smiling at the touching memories and history he’d just brought me into. For the first time in a little while, I thought about Richard, how he and I had met and how he had died. The tragedy of it.

Banish those thoughts, Jacky. Today is Landon’s wedding. He won’t want me sad about his brother today. It’s not the right feeling for a wedding.

Landon arrived before Heath got back. He was already dressed and seemed too anxious to sit down as he stood in my kitchen, drinking the coffee I had decided to whip up. Carey still wasn’t down, and I was almost grateful for that. The quiet was good, except for the way Landon kept looking at me.

“You probably think we’re crazy,” he finally said, putting down the empty mug in my sink.

“No, not crazy. Besides, we both know you don’t really care how I think.”

“I care a little,” he lied.

Since we could both smell the lie, I didn’t call it out.

I just stared at him.

“I care a lot about what you think of me, Jacky,” he said honestly. “Because I respect you. I really am sorry for how I was acting. It’s okay to think this wedding is an insane idea. We already have the mate bond. I should have talked to Pa and Dirk sooner about how I was feeling… I didn’t even think I was getting bad until Dirk had to call Pa, and at that point, I thought I had broken everything.”

“And instead, you’re getting married.” I crossed my arms.

“I was apologizing to him, and he promised he would always be with me and we’d get through things… I asked him to marry me.”

“Seems about right,” I said, chuckling. “Landon, it’s not crazy. You two are already in it for eternity. This is for here.” I poked his chest over his heart. “Right?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Where’s Pa?”

“He’s walking back from Kick Shot right now,” I answered. “I need to check on your sister. Her hair and makeup shouldn’t be taking this long.”

His laugh followed me upstairs, and I heard Heath asking about it as I went into my room to find Carey. She was nearly done, finishing the last curl she wanted for her blonde hair.

“You look great. Get down here and say hi to your brother.”

“Oh, I was wondering who drove up!” She unplugged the curling iron. “I didn’t even look at the time. I wanted to make sure I looked perfect today.”

I held the door open for her and watched as she stunned her male family members until Landon pointed and looked at Heath.

“This is why I’m glad she gave up on dating.”

“That’s… Stop that.” Heath waved Landon away before hugging her. “You look lovely.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

I hung to the side for a second, letting the Everson family look each other over, making sure they were all ready.

At noon, Niko and Dirk arrived. Teagan was right after them, then it was time to watch them get married.

Teagan waited at the small wedding arch that had been quickly put up just for this, looking like it was meant to be there from the beginning. The wedding arch was raw dark wood with ivy climbing around it. From the dark green to the raw nature of the arch, there was some wild and a little masculine about it, though it could have been my bias, knowing who the wedding was for.

“This makes sending Dirk here more worth it than I could have ever thought,” Niko whispered as we waited, offering his arm.

“Thank you for sending him,” I replied, smiling at my brother before I took his arm.

Across from us, Carey was holding Heath’s arm, both looking for Landon and Dirk. Heath glanced my way for just a second, and I could only keep smiling before turning to wait on the grooms as well.

Then they walked out. Dirk and Landon came down together, neither wanting to be the one standing alone nor the one walking alone.

They stopped in front of Teagan, and I bit my lip, wondering what each of them would say.

They both chose traditional vows, but there was a mischievous note in how they said those vows that told me they had just said what they had really wanted to say after we left them inside. They had simple gold rings for each other, each shaking a little as they slid them on each other.

“You two know what to do,” Teagan said, chuckling.

They kissed.

It was perfect.

I looked at Heath, saw him staring at me, and made a decision.

Come hell or high water, I was going to marry that man in one year.