Just Business
Page 26
“What . . . ?” Justin trailed off.
Rabbi Berkowitz clasped Eli’s father’s hand, paused, and leaned in a bit. Whatever they said to one another, it was lost in the throbbing in Eli’s ears. His mother turned and gasped. His father did likewise—and straightened.
Pride. Anguish. Oh, Dad.
He stepped forward. “Did you think we would miss our own son’s wedding?” His father’s voice was rough and thick, his English full of the musical dips and swells Eli had so loved as a child.
He had to blink a few times to clear his watery vision. “I wasn’t sure you still had a son.” Yes, that hurt them; those words made them flinch. “But I’m grateful you do, and I am glad you’re here.” Maybe, maybe they could find a path through the pain and hurt and all the shit they’d done to him.
Such a journey needed to start somewhere, and Eli wasn’t alone anymore. He had a family—one of his own choosing.
Justin held out his hand. “I’m Justin White, Eli’s fiancé.”
His father hesitated, then shook Justin’s hand. “Jaco Ovadia. This is . . . this is Eli’s mother, Reiza.”
She took Justin’s hand. “I thought my son was lost. I was wrong. Thank you for finding him anyway.”
Justin folded his other hand around hers. “He and I . . . We were both a bit lost. We found each other, brought each other home.”
Eli’s chest didn’t need to be any tighter. He forced himself to breathe, though that became quite hard when Justin let go of his mother’s hand and she turned to him, her eyes full of tears. “Eli.” Just that and no more, but it carried the weight of the years that lay broken between them, the missed opportunities, the joys that never were, the sorrow that was, and the fear he knew so well.
He wouldn’t turn his back. Not when they’d come this far. “Mom.” He handed Justin his cane, then stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.
She sobbed once, a sound that both broke and mended his heart. There would be more tears. Probably yelling, too. Anger lurked in his heart and mind, justifiable, given everything. But this—he could not deny that love lay in her. When he pulled back after several long moments, he saw it in his father as well.
“Thank you for coming.” Now his voice was heavy and his vision far too blurry.
“Eli?” Michael stepped forward, a formidable figure in his tux. “Shall I show your parents to their seats?”
“Please.” How they would deal with the sudden appearance of one of the grooms’ parents, he didn’t know. But that’s why there were wedding coordinators. And best men.
Michael offered his arm to Eli’s mother. “I’m Michael Sebastian, Eli’s best man.” He led Eli’s parents toward the inner doors.
Once they were safely out of sight, Eli wiped his eyes. “This is not how I thought I’d end up crying at my wedding.”
Justin’s own eyes were moist. “I can always stomp on your foot during our dance if you’d like a different kind of crying.”
The absurdity, the ridiculousness in that flipped Eli’s brain over until it settled down on one thought alone. “God, do I love you.” That smart mouth, those blue eyes.
Justin smiled. “I hope so. This is a lot to go through for a casual fling.”
Eli smacked Justin’s ass with the back of his hand, hard enough to make him yelp. “Nothing casual about it, Mr. White.”
“Good.” A bit breathless and blushing slightly, Justin was captivating. He stepped closer and stole a quick kiss. “And I love you, too. More than ever.” He stepped back.
A polite cough caught their attention. Rabbi Berkowitz stood at the doors. “We’re all set, whenever you gentlemen are.”
Eli nodded, and the rabbi vanished past the double doors.
“Are you ready?” Justin’s warm fingers smoothed down his lapel.
“Yes.” He’d waited his life for this. He took Justin’s arm in his and walked forward.
* * *
Justin didn’t tramp on Eli’s foot while they slow danced. His husband. That was what the vows and the rings said. The stomping on the glass. He kissed Eli’s neck and took pleasure in the shiver that resulted.
“Stop that.” No malice in those words at all.
Justin stroked Eli’s back. “Why?”
“Because you’re turning me on, and no one needs to see that.” Eli’s smile was as bright as the sun.
He nibbled at the spot again. “It’s our wedding. I’m allowed to turn you on.”
Eli ran his fingers through the back of Justin’s hair—they both still wore kippot. “When we get home, I’m putting a very different ring on you.”
Now it was Justin’s turn to shudder. Fear and excitement at that thought. “Promises, promises.”
Eli chuckled, and tipped Justin’s head up for a quick kiss. “Have I ever not delivered?”
“No.” To Justin’s great delight.
As the last strains of the music faded, a crowd formed around them—with two chairs.
Uh-oh. He’d heard about this. “Eli?”
Eli shook his head, but his grin was wider. “I didn’t plan this—honestly.”
Justin recognized the man that came forward—Noah’s dad. “What is a wedding without a hora, Eli?” He pointed at the chair. “Sit.”
For the first time, Justin watched Eli obey an order without a quip or a frown. He sat and looked up at Justin, one eyebrow raised.
Oh God, he was going to have to do this, wasn’t he? From out of the crowd, his sister’s voice carried. “Don’t be a wuss, Justin!”
He sat, the music started, and up they went, rocking back and forth, high above the heads of the dancers. Justin clung to the underside of his chair and tried not to fall off while those dancing him around aimed for the opposite.
Nearby, Eli’s laughter rang out—his head was thrown back and that look of unrestrained joy took Justin’s breath away and stripped Justin of fear. He reached out his hand and Eli took it, grinning from ear to ear. Awe and love bubbled out of Justin and into the laughter he could not hold back. Too soon, the dance was over and they were set back down. Somewhere along the line, they both stood and ended up breathless in each other’s arms.
“You okay?” Eli gripped his arm.
Justin’s heart hadn’t quite forgiven him yet. “That was the most horrifying, wonderful—” He sucked in a breath. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
Eli kissed him and they both stumbled back to the head table to rest and let the guests have the dance floor. Justin grabbed a glass of water while Eli stretched out his left leg. They never stopped holding hands.
His husband. Holy shit. Justin giggled.
“What?”
Everything. Justin set down his glass. “This is not what I expected when I handed Sam my résumé.”
Once more, Eli laughed, his eyes mirroring the joy. “Nor I, love. Nor I.”
Love. Yes. He squeezed Eli’s hand. His. Theirs. Together.
It really didn’t get any better than that.
☻☻☻
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Once again, I would like to thank my fans, friends, family, co-workers, and fellow writers for their constant encouragement and support. I’m still amazed yinz read my books, n’at.
I owe a mountain of chocolate to Jennifer Udden for helping me wrangle an out of control manuscript into a reasonable draft, and to Cindy Hwang and Kristine Swartz at Berkley for much fine-tuning, and to all the other folks at Berkley who helped along the way. There’s so much more that goes into creating a book than just the writing of it.
While Grounds N’at doesn’t exist, my great thanks to all of my favorite Pittsburgh coffee shops for giving me somewhere to write for hours on end. Brian’s shop is a bit of a love letter to all those wonderful and unique independent coffee shops.
Finally, while I was writing Just Business and pondering Justin and Eli’s HEA, same-sex marriage became legal in Pennsylvania. Thank you to all who made that possible. Happy
Ever After should be for all.
Anna Zabo, the author of Takeover, writes contemporary and paranormal romance for all colors of the rainbow. She has an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, where she fell in with a roving band of romance writers and never looked back. She also has a BA in Creative Writing from Carnegie Mellon University. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which isn’t nearly as boring as most people think.
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