They touched down onto the runway and Dylan held his breath until the plane successfully slowed to a less teeth-jarring crawl. A moment later they taxied toward the small terminal where he would disembark and catch his ride to the MGM.
Relief swept him when he spotted the limo. Making a mental note to repay Luke for the favor by not busting his chops for the rest of the day, Dylan unclicked his seatbelt.
Less than five minutes later, he tipped his Stetson onto his head and loped down the deplaning ramp to the waiting limo. Sending a nod in greeting to the driver, he slid onto the backseat. He blinked in surprise as his gaze fell on the passenger sitting across from him. “Ma.”
Georgianna grinned and abandoned her perch for the spot next to him. They exchanged a hug and a smooch before she patted his cheek. “You didn’t think I’d miss this, did ya?”
He wasn’t the least bit ashamed to admit that he loved having her there. The only thing that would have made it a million times better was if Zoe and Hunter could have been there too. He disbursed the gravely emotion in his throat with a gruff cough. “Did Luke help ya set this up?”
“He did. He’s quite a wonderful man.”
He gaped at his ma. “Are we talkin’ about the same person?”
She smacked his knee. “Stop that. He’s always been good to you.”
“Would that be before or after he coldcocked me for knocking up his daughter?”
“You probably deserved it. Besides, you would have done that same thing if you were in his shoes.”
He pondered on that for a bit. “Yeah, I reckon ya might be right.”
“Of course I am. I’m your mother.” She offered him another affectionate tap on his cheek. “Now tell me how my sweet daughter-in-law-to-be and grandchild are doing? I’m sorry they couldn’t be here.”
“Yeah, me too.” He ducked his head. “They’re good.”
Silence filled the interior of the limo. Before it became too unbearable, Georgianna reached for his hand, drawing his focus back to her. Worry etched her features. “Has something happened?”
“No, no. Nothing like that. Just...”
“What?”
He swallowed thickly. “I don’t know if I made a mistake comin’ here.”
“Why in the world would you think that?”
He gave her the abridged chain of events leading up to his shaky departure.
“Oh dear.”
He stared at his mom, panic thumping in his chest. “Do you think I did the wrong thing?”
She squeezed his hand. “It’s what she wanted you to do. So no, it wasn’t a mistake or wrong. I’m just so sorry that you’re both having to go through this. Relationships certainly aren’t a smooth journey, but the love you two share, I know you’ll be able to overcome whatever odds come your way.”
“Thank you. It means the world to me hearing you say that. I just don’t want to screw this up. If I lose Zoe—” He choked up on her name, unable to say anything more.
“Oh, my sweet boy.” Tears in her eyes, Georgianna hugged him fiercely. “Keep faith in your love. In Zoe. And the family you’re building together. You deserve that happiness. All of you do.” She stroked his face. “All those years I saw how much it hurt you, not having Dusty in your life. And it hurt him too. More than you will ever know. We can’t change the past, but you have the brightest future ahead of you. Deep in my heart, I know it. I always have. And the very first time I met your Zoe, I knew she was the one for you.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Then don’t ever lose sight of that.”
His heart lighter than it’d been in the last several days, he hugged his mom. “I won’t.”
They arrived at the casino and the limo drove around to the secured private entrance reserved for VIP guests. The door opened and a hand reached inside to assist Georgianna. Dylan followed after his mom and jerked to a halt when his gaze landed on Luke. The man didn’t even look his way. He was too busy fawning all over Georgianna. Blushing like a school girl, she pressed a hand to his chest. Luke lifted it to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.
Dylan narrowed his eyes. What the ever livin’ fuck. He started to take a menacing step toward Luke, but then he spied the happiness radiating on his and Georgianna’s faces. His mom’s wise words chose that moment to penetrate his brain. “You deserve that happiness.”
Aw, hell.
As if he’d finally been hit with a two-by-four reminding him that he and Georgianna weren’t the only ones in existence, Luke glanced toward Dylan. “How was the flight?”
“We didn’t crash.” Which was always a good thing in his book.
Luke checked his watch. “Well, it’s perfect timing. They’re about ready for us at sound-check.”
“Good deal.”
Luke slowed his pace. “Zoe and Hunter? They’re all okay?”
The last person he was going to divulge his relationship troubles to was Luke, especially considering he was a big part of the problem. “Yeah. They’re good.”
“Good,” Luke parroted awkwardly. He stared at his boot. “I really am sorry I couldn’t make her concert. I feel like I’ve failed her. Yet again.” Misery laced his tone.
Yeah, the man could be the biggest prick on the planet at times, but he couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. “Then make it up to her by spending Thanksgiving with us.”
Luke jerked his head up. “Y...you want me at your Thanksgiving?”
“Is there a damn echo in here? Cause I’m pretty sure that’s what I just said.” So much for not busting his chops. Then again, Luke probably wouldn’t know what to make of it if Dylan didn’t give him shit.
As if to verify that, a grin stretched Luke’s mouth. “Okay, smartass. I’ll take ya up on the offer.”
Dylan nodded and started to step forward, intending to catch up with Georgianna before she ditched them completely. He dropped his boot back down and gripped Luke’s shoulder. “In the interest of full disclosure—if you hurt my ma in any way, I will break every bone in your body.”
With that settled between them, Dylan clomped down the hallway.
CHAPTER TEN
“That was an absolutely lovely concert.”
Zoe slid a look to her mom. “You don’t have to keep saying that.”
“And why wouldn’t I? It’s the truth.” Samantha leaned forward in the passenger seat and cranked the heat up another notch. “It’s just a shame that your father is too much of a selfish bastard to have been here to show you some support.”
And there it was. She’d been waiting all night for that shoe to drop. “We’ve already discussed this. It’s completely understandable that he couldn’t make it.”
“No, it’s not. That stupid concert isn’t more important than his own daughter.”
Tension pressing against her sternum, she white-knuckled the steering wheel. “So what are you saying? That Dylan is a selfish bastard too? Because he’s at that concert too, in case you forgot.”
Her mother looked taken aback. “No, of course not. You know I adore him. Besides, you told him to go.”
“But if I hadn’t and he’d gone anyway?” she persisted.
“Zoe, I don’t understand why you’re being so argumentative with me. I’m not the enemy. Your father is.”
“Would you please stop it? Just for once?”
“Fine. I’m shutting up.”
That lasted for a blessed five minutes. Exactly until they pulled into the driveway. “Your father really should have insisted that Dylan stay here.”
The pressure building in her head, Zoe wrenched the keys from the ignition and grabbed Hunter from the backseat. She stalked up the porch steps. Shifting Hunter to her other side, she fumbled with the lock. At last she got the door open and she carried her son to his room. Fortunately he was down for the count, so she didn’t have to deal with him begging to stay up and watch cartoons at least. For the best, considering her mom seemed to be on roll tonight. But for the first time since her arriv
al, Zoe wasn’t content with letting her have the last say.
She shut Hunter’s door and stalked back into the living room. “First of all, I told Dylan to go. Secondly, Luke wanted him to stay.”
“I highly doubt that. Your father would be against anything that’d inconvenience him.”
Zoe rubbed her temples, her mom’s obstinacy taking its toll. “Yes, I git it. Luke is a selfish, raging asshole. God, why do you insist on constantly reminding me of it?”
Her expression wounded, Samantha crossed her arms over her chest. “Why are you taking his side?”
“I’m not taking anyone’s side.”
“Yes, you are. That man abandoned us, but it’s like you’ve totally forgotten it.”
“Believe me, I haven’t.” She shook with repressed emotion. “You’ve made it impossible for me to do that. Because it’s the one thing I can always count on you bringing up.”
“Only because I don’t want him to hurt you again, Zoe.”
“But in the process, all you’re doing is hurting me.”
Samantha tossed her arms up. “How am I hurting you? For God’s sake, all I’m trying to do is protect you.”
“By what? Building walls around me? Convincing me that no matter how much Dylan loves me, I’ll probably fail miserably at this marriage stuff because I have two parents who are as dysfunctional as they get?”
Her mother frowned. “Why would you say such a thing?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because it’s true?”
Samantha was quiet for a long spell. An occurrence rarer than a Bigfoot sighting. Finally she stepped toward Zoe, her expression chagrined. “You really think you’re going to fail as a wife? Zoe, that’s the most absurd notion in history.”
Anxiety welled in her chest. “If I marry Dylan he’ll finally see what a fucked up mess I am.” It wasn’t until that moment that she finally got it. That was the secret fear squirreled away in her psyche. The reason she couldn’t bring herself to set the wedding date all this time. “I can wing being a fiancé. And I know I’m a damn good mom. But I don’t know the first thing about marriages that don’t involve death threats and throwing things.”
Samantha bowed her head and took a deep breath. When she lifted her gaze back to Zoe’s it was full of sorrow. “I had no idea the damage we were doing to you. That I’ve continued to do to you all these years. Jesus, I’m just as much of an asshole as your father. Possibly more. Because I’m your mother. I should have seen it.” She wrapped Zoe in a tight hug before looking her in the eye. “Listen to me, you will never fail as a wife to Dylan. You know why? Because there is no such thing as failure if you put your heart and soul into loving someone. Your father and I didn’t do that with each other. That’s why we didn’t make it. Good God, we couldn’t even last four months. You and Dylan, on the other hand? You survived four years of separation and still managed to find each other and build the foundations of a family. If that’s not the makings of lasting strong marriage material, then I don’t know what is.”
Zoe released a shaky sigh. “I just don’t want to mess this up.”
“You won’t. My daughter isn’t a quitter, and she’s one of the strong women I’ve ever known. She even raised a child all by herself. But now she has a wonderful man to help her.”
Sniffling, she allowed her mom to pull her in for another hug. Samantha’s fingers stroked over her hair. “But Zoe, think long and hard about whether you really want to wait three and a half months before marrying him. Because I have a feeling once he knows about the baby he’ll work hard at getting you to that altar. Even if it means hogtieing ya.”
Blinking, she pushed away from her mom’s chest and stared at her. “How...?”
“Sweetheart, I’m your mother.” Samantha offered a wink. “I know everything.”
***
He was dead exhausted by the time he made it back to the airport. Half the day spent in sound-check, followed by a lot of standing around waiting for the VIPs to arrive, and then a two hour live set was enough to take it out of a fella. But on the plus side, they’d killed it on stage. County Limits was already talking about the possibility of them collaborating on some special projects, and maybe even cutting a single or two together. That was some beyond amazing shit right there. On the even brighter side? He was done for the night and could finally go home to his two angels.
He couldn’t wait to see them. Now he just had to get through this flight. The driver opened the limo door and Dylan climbed out. He frowned as he took in the vacant spot where the jet was supposed to be parked. “Where’s it at?”
Someone dressed in a steward uniform hurried up to his side. “Apologies, Mr. Walker. We just got word that the plane had a slight delay. It should be arriving shortly. With any luck, it’ll be around the same time as the rest of your party.”
Dylan frowned. “I think there’s some kind of mistake. My dad’s jet should never have even left that spot.” He pointed to the tarmac. “And I sure as hell don’t have a party arrivin’.”
“Actually, that’s not true.”
He whipped his head around at the sound of Luke’s baritone. The man stepped forward, flanked by an Elvis impersonator. Dylan winged his eyebrows upward. “You’re hanging around some interestin’ folk these days.”
“Yeah, I was damn lucky to run into him on the way over. Figured it’d be a bitch tryin’ to line this up last minute.”
“Line up what?”
Rather than respond, Luke dug out his wallet and handed Elvis a hundred dollar bill and a scowl. “The King must be rolling over in his grave with the way you’re rippin’ off a hard workin’ man.”
Looking completely unperturbed by that possibility, Elvis pocketed the dough. Dylan grimaced. “Do I even wanna know what you’re payin’ him for?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Jesus. That was terrifying.
A pair of SUVs with dark tinted windows rolled up. Why did he have a bad feeling he was about to be trapped in the middle of an Elvis impersonator sting gone horribly wrong? He started to inch toward the terminal behind him, only to slam to a halt when his entire band climbed from the vehicles. He blinked when he spotted Georgianna. “Ma? What are you doing here?” He cycled his stare between her, Trin, and Mal, and the rest of the gang. “I don’t understand. What’s going on?”
“Ya always were a little slow on the uptake.”
Dylan shifted his focus to Luke just as the man lifted his gaze to the sky. A grin stretched his mouth. “I do believe the guest of honor is about to arrive.”
Dylan pivoted and eyed the approach of Dusty’s jet. Thank you, sweet Jesus. Soon he’d be on that plane and headed home, leaving this—whatever the hell it was—for Luke to deal with.
The sleek jet touched down and taxied toward them. He waited for it to come to a complete stop before turning and tipping his hat. “It’s been a pleasure, but I’ve got a family to get back to.”
“Damn straight you do.” Luke clapped him on the back. “How’s about we take a walk?”
Dylan bit back a growl. “The only walking I’m doing is to that plane.”
“That works out fine for me.” Giving him a pat, Luke steered him in the direction of the jet. “It dawned on me that I never had a sit down with you regarding my daughter and this upcoming wedding of yours.”
“Do we really hafta talk about this right now?”
“Yeah, we do. I wanna be sure that you intend to worship the ground she walks on.”
“Hell, that goes without sayin’.”
Luke nodded. “Do you intend to cherish her for as long as you live?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good.” Luke hauled to a stop. “Then I guess that about covers the important stuff.”
“Err...”
“Might want to get yer tongue untied cause I believe Elvis is gonna have a few more questions for ya.”
Bemused by the whole weird chain of events that’d progressed over the last several
minutes, Dylan tweaked his nose. “I don’t have time for this.”
“Yeah, ya do. Might wanna practice that one. I do.” Winking, Luke hitched his chin to the right.
Dylan dropped his hand and followed Luke’s gaze. Zoe stood at the bottom of the jet’s debarking ramp, a vision in white. He gaped at her. “Angel.”
Mal hurried forward and placed a boombox on the ground. He pressed a button and the familiar opening chords of The Wedding March drifted through the speakers. Samantha appeared at the top of the stairs, a wide-eyed Hunter in her arms. She carefully made her way down the ramp and carried his son to him. Hunter hugged him excitedly. “Lan, I gots to ride in a plane!”
His heart filled to overflowing, Dylan squeezed his son in an embrace. He couldn’t tear his gaze off Zoe. She looked so damn beautiful, it was a miracle he didn’t embarrass himself by beginning to bawl. The danger of that edged closer to a reality as Zoe walked toward him, her own eyes glistening. A dozen more steps, and she stopped in front of him. Mal clicked off the music and freed Hunter from Dylan’s arms so that Zoe could take his hands in hers.
“If you want the big wedding, we can still do that too.”
“That’s not important to me, angel. All I care about is having you as my wife.”
She smiled. “You have me. Always.”
Elvis cleared his throat. “You guys are kinda stealing the spotlight from me.” That earned a laugh from the crowd.
Properly chastised, Dylan and Zoe grinned at each other. Elvis struck a pose. “Dearly beloved, we’re gathered here today to join these two hunka hunka burnin’ loves in holy matrimony.”
Zoe rolled her lips together, visibly struggling to contain her mirth. Dylan was having his own difficulties in that department. Well, he’d wanted a lifetime of memories to build with her. Looks like they’d be starting off their marriage with a real doozie.
“Do you, Dylan Mitchell Walker take Zoe Lynn Chapman Pendergrass to have and to hold from this day forward, for richer and poorer...” Elvis continued with the rest of the vow and patiently waited for Dylan to speak his part.
Zoe & Dylan: The Sons of Dusty Walker Page 7
