Rock Chick Reckoning

by Ashley, Kristen

  The dress looked exactly like what an angel would wear.

  If that angel were a sexy, sultry redhead.

  Her hair was down in curls and waves (like she said Lee liked it) and her makeup was subtle but exquisite.

  She wasn’t going to wear a veil.

  It was beautiful but that beauty all came from Indy.

  Kitty Sue was standing back and staring at her.

  Then she said softly, “I just need to go check something.”

  Then she ran from the room.

  Indy and Ally watched this. Everyone else in the room was silent.

  Then Indy turned to Ally, put her hands out to her sides and asked, “What do you think?”

  Ally gave her a once over and when her eyes moved back to Indy’s, you could see the tears.

  “Righteous,” Ally whispered then gathered Indy in her arms and gave her a hug.

  “Old, new, borrowed, blue. Old, new… blue.” Tod was surreptitiously studying his clipboard and muttering to himself. He leaned toward Stevie and whispered, “Shit, I think we forgot the borrowed.”

  “Man in the room,” Shirleen announced, walking in followed by Mace who’d changed and was now wearing a tux.

  I took one look at him and the sight of my gorgeous boyfriend in a tux sent my breath on a cruise of the Caribbean.

  It was clear Indy wasn’t going the romantic route with Lee’s groomsmen because it wasn’t your average, everyday tux, it was a hot tux. It was black on black: black suit, black shirt, black silk tie and not a bowtie either. I could tell immediately it wasn’t rented, it was tailored to fit perfectly.

  Shirleen kept talking. “He’s here for Stella, Lana and Chloe.”

  She wasn’t wrong, he was our ride.

  Though it was kind of weird she brought him up to the bedroom.

  I watched and wasn’t insulted when his eyes caught on Indy and didn’t move.

  “Shirleen! You don’t just bring a man into a bedroom filled with ladies dressin’!” Daisy snapped, even though everyone was already dressed. “Especially if one of those ladies is a soon-to-be bride!”

  “What? It’s Mace. He’s taken. It ain’t like he’s out on the cruise,” Shirleen snapped back.

  Indy looked at Mace through the mirror, smiled and greeted, “Hey Mace.”

  He gave her a chin lift.

  “Indy, honey, I don’t mean to alarm you but we forgot the borrowed,” Tod called.

  “What?” Daisy asked.

  “We got old, her Mom’s earrings, new, Ally and Kitty Sue’s bracelet, blue, her garter but nothing borrowed,” Tod explained.

  “Oh shit,” Ally mumbled.

  Shirleen looked at Tod. “Borrowed is easy. Anyone can give her something borrowed. Shit, she could use a borrowed bobby pin.”

  “Her hair isn’t up, Shirleen,” Ava told her.

  Shirleen looked at Indy then muttered, “Oh yeah, right.”

  “I’ll get my jewelry box, see what I have,” Daisy announced and ran to her dressing room.

  “A hankie’s good. Anyone got a hankie?” Roxie called out.

  Since I was watching everyone search for something borrowed, I almost didn’t catch Mace walking toward Indy. His arms were around his neck and then the chain with his sister’s ring on it was off and dangling between his fingers. He upended it on one side, the ring falling out into his palm. He shoved the chain in his trouser pocket, stopped in front of Indy, took her right hand and slid the ring on her pinkie finger.

  Only Jet and I caught this and, watching it, we both were breathing so heavily trying to rescue our makeup, we sounded like we were hyperventilating.

  Indy looked at the ring then up at Mace. The she curled her fingers around his bicep, leaned into him until their faces were close and she smiled.

  The sun from the windows highlighted the tears glistening in her eyes.

  Jet and I looked at each other. She reached out, grabbed my hand and squeezed.

  We looked back to Indy as she took her hand away from Mace’s arm, swiped under her eye, turned to the room and announced, “I’m good. Borrowed needs a checkmark, Tod.”

  “What? Where?” Tod asked, jerking his head around looking at the floor as if he’d been told to capture an invisible rabbit in the room.

  Mace came to me sitting on the bed, leaned in, grabbed my hand, pulled me up and said, “Let’s go.”

  We got into the hall when he asked, “Where’s Mom and Chloe?”

  “In the dining room, drinking champagne with Trish, Dolores, Nancy and Blanca.”

  “Oh fuck,” he muttered.

  I looked up at him. “What?”

  “They’re with Trish. Roxie’s parents are nuts. They make Tex look adjusted,” Mace told me.

  I laughed. “I’ve been noticing that.”

  We were down the stairs and nearly to the dining room when I pulled at his hand to stop him.

  He halted and tilted his head down to look at me, body still facing forward.

  “Babe, I’m a groomsman, I gotta –” he started but I interrupted.

  “Kai, what you just did for Indy –”

  His face went hard and his body turned toward me.

  Then he leaned in and clipped, “I told you, don’t call me Kai.”

  I blinked because I hadn’t even realized I’d done it but even so I was stunned at his reaction to it.

  Then I felt my eyes narrow and my blood pressure skyrocket. “Sorry, Mace, it just slipped out and the only reason I can think of as to why is because what you just did for Indy was something a good man named Kai would do, not a badass called Mace.”

  I yanked my hand out of his, muttering under my breath about how moody he was and started to stomp away but he caught me and whirled me into his arms.

  “Effing hell, are we gonna fight again?” I cried as I tilted my head back to look at him.

  I no sooner got my eyes on him than his mouth was on mine.

  He kissed me, deep, slow and sweet.

  When he was done, he didn’t move his mouth from mine when he said, “You’re gonna have to be patient with me, Kitten. This isn’t fuckin’ easy.”

  At his admission, my blood pressure settled, I put my hand to his face and whispered, “Okay.”

  His eyes travelled my face and down, his arms gave me a squeeze and he whispered. “Babe, you look great.”

  I eyed his tux. “Not as good as you.” Then I pulled out of his arms, grabbed his hand and went on, “Now, let’s go get your Moms.”

  His brows went up and he didn’t move even though I was tugging at his hand. “My Moms?”

  I went back to him, lifted up on tiptoe, put a hand to his chest and touched my lips to his. “Don’t ask, just go with it.”

  He shook his head but he followed me to the dining room anyway.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Confession

  Stella

  I was standing in a corner with Ava and Luke listening with half an ear to Ava doing everything she could (and seriously failing) to get Luke to dance but watching the dance floor with frightened eyes.

  Tom and Lana were cutting a rug. Tom was flinging Lana around while Nick (who was Indy’s DJ) played The Brian Setzer Orchestra’s “Jump, Jive an’ Wail”.

  I already knew Lana could move but Tom was something else. He couldn’t just boogie, he could boogie woogie. He might be a bit older but the man was strong. He flipped Lana around like she weighed as much as a wet towel.

  They’d been nearly inseparable since the dancing started (after Lee and Indy’s first dance and the father-daughter/mother-son dance and the wedding party dance, of course) and I wondered how Mace would feel about his mother hooking up with Indy’s dad.

  “Stella.” Luke’s deep voice came at me.

  “Uh…” I muttered, eyes still glued to Lana and Tom, mind still engaged with images of Mace going berserk.

  “Earth to Stella, come in Stella,” Ava called.

  My body jerked and I turned to Luke and Ava. Luke w
as looking at me. Ava was looking at the dance floor.

  “Do you think Mace will go ballistic if something happens between Tom and Lana?” I blurted.

  Luke’s eyes moved to the dance floor. Ava’s came to me.

  “Crap, I hadn’t thought of that,” Ava breathed.

  Luke’s gaze came back and he asked, “They’re all adults, including Mace. Why would it be a problem?”

  “Mace can be unpredictable,” I told Luke.

  At my words, Luke threw his head back and let out of bark of laughter like I was being funny.

  I was, by the way, not.

  Ava and I stared at him.

  When he was done laughing, his dark blue eyes were dancing and he informed me, “Mace is the one of the steadiest men I know.”

  I stared at him a beat wondering if he knew a different Mace than I knew then I mumbled, “Obviously you’ve never pissed him off.”

  Luke started chuckling and said, “Nope. Try to avoid that.”

  “Shit, what do you think Indy will think of Tom and Lana?” Ava put in and we all looked back to the dance floor.

  Indy was dancing with Malcolm and as our eyes hit them, Malcolm swung Indy out and she collided with Lana. Both women’s bodies tumbled, Tom’s arms went around Lana, Malcolm jerked Indy into his before she could fall. Indy and Lana’s gazes locked, Indy burst out laughing and gestured to Lana. They pulled away from the men and started swinging each other around.

  “Don’t think she’ll mind,” Luke muttered.

  I smiled at Ava.

  The wedding had gone off without a hitch. This was mostly due to Tod’s impeccable planning. It was also partially due to a number of off-duty but still uniformed Denver Police checking everyone’s names against lists Tod made for them and patrolling the Red Rocks Amphitheater and facilities so no one was kidnapped or shot at which would have ruined the vibe for sure.

  Indy and Lee had been married on the Upper Terrace at Red Rocks with nothing but the panoramic views as decoration. There were no flowers, no ribbons, no urns, just some chairs set up and only the romantically-clad Rock Chicks, the angelic Indy, the Denver skyline and the red rocks formations setting the scene.

  It was perfect.

  They could have had the reception there but Indy and Tod decided not to because they didn’t want folks getting snockered so far away from a taxi call.

  Indy had said that Lee wasn’t into “this wedding business” but I found myself thinking he changed his mind when Tom guided Indy onto the terrace. You could hear all the air being sucked out of the night sky when his eyes settled on her.

  She was smiling at him and looked as calm and serene as she had all day.

  Lee wasn’t smiling. He stood frozen and was, no other way to put it, staring with slightly parted lips as if he’d never seen her before in his life but he still was going to carry her to a deserted island and ravish her the instant their toes touched the sand.

  Hank was best man and standing next to Lee then it was Eddie, Darius, Luke, Monty, Mace, Vance and Willie. Ally was maid of honor, then Andrea, Marianne, Ava, Jet, Roxie, Daisy then Jules.

  Lee’s eyes never left Indy, not when Tom was giving her away and not when Tom gave her the father’s kiss.

  But when Tom placed Indy’s hand in Lee’s, his fingers closed around hers and you could see the sharp tug right before her body slammed into his. One of his arms went around her waist, the other hand bunched in her hair and he kissed her right then and there.

  And it wasn’t a chaste peck on the lips either.

  He went whole hog. So whole hog it took Ally doing a catcall and the preacher touching his shoulder to stop the make out session.

  Everyone in the congregation and wedding party chuckled except Lee and Indy. Lee took his time finishing the kiss. When he’d lifted his head an inch, he whispered something to her that made her press her lips together, probably in order not to cry.

  Then he turned to the preacher and said in a deep, authoritative voice, “Carry on,” like he was officiating the ceremony.

  Lana, who was sitting next to me, leaned in and whispered, “I think I like Kai’s boss.”

  I grinned at her because I knew I did.

  Other than that, the ceremony was simple and short. Neither bride nor groom were traditional, they didn’t bother with the reception line, they stood smiling at folks, embracing, talking and shaking hands while they let their guests and their photographer take pictures (Indy wanted no posed photos, only candids and that’s what she got) and then they took off in Lee’s Crossfire.

  Indy had built in a goodly amount of time for them to get to Cherry Hills Country Club but, Daisy confided in me, mostly it was so they had time to get home “to consummate the marriage, compende?” and get to the Club.

  They arrived half an hour late.

  No one cared.

  The Brian Setzer Orchestra finished, Lana and Indy stopped swinging each other around and Nick’s voice came over the sound system.

  “Got a request,” he told the crowd. “From a man named Kai.”

  There was some general muttering but my eyes flew to Nick, my breath caught and before I could unhinge it, a hand was at the small of my back. I looked over my shoulder and Mace was standing behind me. He started pushing me toward the dance floor as Billy Joel’s “And So It Goes” started playing.

  We were on the dance floor, one of his arms sliding around me, the fingers of his other hand drifting down my forearm when I found my voice.

  “Mace…”

  His arm went tight around my waist bringing my body full frontal to his. The fingers of his other hand laced with mine, he brought our hands up, twisted his wrist and rested the back of mine against his heart.

  “Dance with me, Kitten,” he whispered.

  That was all he had to say.

  I melted into him.

  Mace and I had never danced before and he was good at it. Not like he was a ballroom dancer, just that his body fit perfectly into mine, his swayed with a natural grace and he was so strong, mine went along for the ride.

  “Got a confession to make.” He’d tipped his head forward so his smooth cheek was against mine, his mouth at my ear.

  “What?” I whispered into his.

  “Went to The Bear to watch you play. I don’t like missin’ your shows and I wanted to talk to you after the gig, work out our shit.” His hand gave mine a squeeze. “I saw you singin’ this to me.”

  My head jerked back, my face coming to the side to look at him. His head lifted an inch and his eyes locked on mine.

  Before I could say a word (not that I had any words to say), he kept talking. “Watchin’ you sing that, hearin’ the words, knownin’ what it meant, it was then I knew I loved you, Stella.”

  I wanted to find words but I couldn’t. So instead, I slid the hand he wasn’t holding from his shoulder to around his neck and I got on my toes and kissed him.

  He kissed me back. When he was done, he put his cheek back to mine and we finished the song, bodies pressed together, cheek-to-cheek.

  For your information, it was the single most beautiful moment of my life.

  Outside of the first time he told me he loved me, of course.

  When it was over, he touched his mouth to mine again. We disengaged and he started to guide me off the dance floor but our eyes hit Chloe and Lana who were standing together at the edge of floor and watching us. Chloe (definitely a crier) had tears in her eyes.

  Lana smiled at me.

  I smiled back.

  Mace caught the smile exchange, his hand slid from the small of my back to around my waist and he gave me a squeeze.

  We arrived at Lana and Chloe and I was going to say something but I saw movement at the entryway. Roam and Sniff were standing there. Sniff was bouncing on the balls of his feet and grinning ear-to-ear. Roam gave me a chin lift.

  “Erm, excuse me,” I mumbled to Mace, Lana and Chloe.

  I turned and raised my hand to motion to Nick. I’d primed him e
arlier so he gave me a nod, a grin and he grabbed the microphone.

  “If everyone could go out onto the patio,” he announced.

  A murmur went through the crowd and the guests all looked at each other in confusion. Then slowly, with more guidance from Nick, they did as they were told.

  Mace’s fingers tightened at my waist. “What’s goin’ on?”

  I smiled at him. “Nothing, just…” I paused, “I’ll see you back there.”

  I pulled free and went out the front door. Floyd, Pong, Hugo, Buzz and Leo were all waiting for me. Buzz and Leo were holding their guitars. Pong was holding his drumsticks. Floyd had my guitar.

  I took my guitar from Floyd and nodded to my band.

  Then I said, “Let’s go, guys.”

  We walked through the club and by the time we got back to the patio where Roam, Sniff and the Gypsies had set up our amps, Pong’s drums, Hugo’s keyboards, a set of bongos and wheeled out the Club’s piano, all the guests were gathered around. The band took their places and plugged in while I went to the mic.

  I put the strap of my guitar around my shoulder as my eyes found Indy and Lee.

  Once I did, into the mic I said, “Don’t have a lot of money so we thought we’d give you a memory.”

  Indy pulled in her lips, Lee’s eyes crinkled and I nodded to Pong.

  He started the beat.

  Then I started to speak the first words of Shania Twain’s “You’re Still the One”.

  It was hokey, but for Lee and Indy, it was just perfect.

  Hugo started at the keyboards and, as I finished speaking, Floyd’s piano came in then I hummed a sweet, “Mm, yeah.”

  Then I began to sing a sweet, hokey, perfect love song that said it all as my band played.

  And when I started singing about them taking the long way, I saw tears filling Indy’s eyes. And when I was singing about them holding on, still together and strong Indy was flat out crying.