“You think we’re not being fair to Wolf?” She hated the idea. Hated it in a really nauseating way.
And could she really go without babies? It seemed like she was surrounded by them all of a sudden. Olivia and Josh. Chloe. Here in Bliss it was multiplied by ten. There was her new niece, and the parade of kids that came through the G seemed to never end.
Could she live a lifetime without holding her own baby in her arms? Without seeing a little one who looked like Wolf or Leo? But Leo had seemed so indifferent to the idea. She also couldn’t stand the thought that Leo wouldn’t want the baby.
The wedding she’d been so crazy about just minutes before now seemed too close for comfort.
What if they were making a mistake? Aidan and Lexi and Lucas had seemed so happy, and now they were miserable. What if love just couldn’t work out in the long term? What if people were just too different to really make it work?
“You’re freaking out,” Beth said, taking her hand.
She was a little bit. “My first marriage was horrible.”
“But Leo and Wolf didn’t blackmail you into this. Neither one of them is using you as a front for their drug dealing and information brokering business.”
“But what if I just make horrible decisions?” It was a thought that had crossed her mind more than once before. Her first marriage had been beyond terrible. Bryce had been a criminal who threatened her whole family.
Beth squeezed her hand. “You don’t make bad decisions. You got caught in Bryce’s trap. Leo and Wolf are about as far from Bryce as you can possibly get, so put that thought out of your head. Now, the kids thing is something you need to work out.”
But there was so little time left. She was getting married in roughly twenty-four hours, and she wasn’t supposed to see Leo or Wolf until she walked down the aisle. It was a stupid ritual, but she’d insisted because at the time it seemed romantic. Now it simply seemed silly.
Maybe she shouldn’t worry about it. Maybe it would all just work out in the end.
That was exactly what she’d thought the day she’d allowed herself to be pulled into Bryce’s world. She’d stood there at the courthouse and convinced herself that everything would be fine. It hadn’t been fine.
Lexi was staring off into the distance, her eyes still watching where her husbands had walked away from her. It wasn’t fine for Lexi.
What made her think it would be fine this time around?
“Oh, Alien Queen!”
Shelley turned. Normally she wouldn’t think that a crazy voice screaming for an alien queen would be referring to her, but here in Colorado she knew damn well it was all about her. “Hello, Cassidy.”
Two women she’d met previously were with her almost mother-in-law. Rachel Harper and Callie Hollister-Wright were standing on either side of Cassidy Meyer, who wore a string of beets around her neck. Yep. She might need to rethink that whole “everything’s going to be fine” thing.
“I’m sorry,” Callie said apologetically. “We tried to talk her out of it.”
“But she’s stronger than she looks,” Rachel added.
Cassidy stared at her. “Please don’t take my boys away, Alien Queen. Take me instead.”
Shelley felt a headache start and realized that if she had any real shot at making her marriage happen, she needed to start by compromising. “Somebody get me some beets so I can prove my humanness.”
Cassidy’s eyes went wide. “You’ll take the beet?”
Apparently there was some form of ritual. “Sure. I’ll take the beet and then someone needs to hand me some whitening toothpaste because I’ll be damned if I get married with purple teeth.”
Cassidy smiled and showed that she didn’t mind the color purple. From what she’d heard, the older woman had been bingeing on beet smoothies in an attempt to ward off aliens who would come to the wedding. “Excellent. We’ll do it tonight at Trio.”
“You can’t just hand me a beet from your necklace and let me have a bite?” It would make things so much simpler.
Cassidy was all grins now, as though the weight of the world had been taken from her shoulders, and Shelley felt a little hint of guilt. She’d been stubborn. “No. We have to have a whole ceremony. Your Beeting Ceremony is going to be even more beautiful than the wedding. Do you know how long I’ve waited for a daughter?”
Probably longer than Shelley had waited for a mother-in-law who thought she might have tentacles hidden away somewhere. But a thought occurred to her. “Do the boys have to be at the ceremony?”
“Oh, yes. They play a very big part.”
And then she could talk to them face-to-face. And maybe the feeling of dread would pass if she could just see them.
“Oh, I have to get cooking. We need beet pie and beet stew and, oh, so many wonderful dishes. Rachel and Callie, call Nell and have her meet me at my place.” Cassidy gave Shelley a sheepish grin. “She was going to protest you, I’m afraid. I’ll call it off and we’ll just get to cooking.”
Cassidy practically skipped back down the drive.
Callie pressed a margarita into Shelley’s hand. “You’re probably going to need this. And just so you know, all your drinks are free tonight at Trio. My husband runs the place.”
Shelley took a long swallow. “Thanks. That’s awfully sweet of you.”
Callie turned a nice shade of green. “I’ve eaten the beet pie. You’re going to need it.”
Yep. It sounded like she would.
* * * *
Wolf looked around the well-manicured lawn of the Mountain and Valley Naturist Community and wondered, just briefly, why the hell he’d ever left Bliss. Oh, he was happy he had because he would never have met Shelley, but there were times when he really missed this place.
“Why the hell is everyone naked, brother?”
Yeah, this was totally one of those times. Leo’s eyes were as wide as saucers as he stared at what Mel thought a reception should be. There was a cooler of beer, and it looked like he’d bought a bunch of cold cuts and put them on a tray.
Shelley was at the Talbot mansion, likely sipping champagne and eating a spectacularly catered meal, and they got cold cuts Mel had picked up at the Stop ‘n’ Shop and a sea of naked dudes.
“He forgot the bread,” Chase Dawson said, walking up to them. He was in the altogether and it didn’t look like he minded. “But there’s something called tonic and Ben is already shit-faced. He only had one drink. I promised Nat I would be the designated driver, thank god. I think it might have affected Ben’s brain. If one of us is going to be brain damaged, it should really be the himbo.”
Chase was eating what looked to be a rolled up slice of ham. Ben walked up beside him, a loopy grin on his face.
“Hey, we’re all naked. And there are pork rinds. I thought they would be disgusting, but after a couple of drinks, they’re really good. Salty. It’s nice.”
Yep, Ben had some of the tonic. Mel made it himself. It was really a kind of rotgut whiskey. He was surprised more people hadn’t gone blind from it, but Mel’s tonic was a sort of rite of passage in Bliss.
Wolf was just going to settle for a beer. He kind of thought his bride would be pissed if he had to have his stomach pumped before he walked down the aisle.
“This place is completely bat-shit crazy.” Leo was looking around like there was some magical exit he could go through. “I spent the afternoon talking to Max Harper, and I swear he would be my next project except for one small problem. He’s completely happy. He’s a lunatic who’s managed to find a way to get married and have a kid. It was disturbing. And then he got a phone call and he said something about a kidnapping. I’m worried he’s actually going to hurt someone. Should I call the police?”
“Harper? The one with the twin?” Chase asked.
Ben huffed a little. “They’re weird. They finish each other’s sentences and stuff. It’s annoying. Hey, are you going into the weird teepee thingee? I crawled into it, but it was really hot.”
Leo shook his head. “No. We’re not going in there.” He turned to Wolf, a desperate look on his face. “Tell me he didn’t.”
“Yep, I think he set up a sweat lodge for us. What did you expect, man? Did you expect Mel to hire a couple of strippers? He wouldn’t. Apparently stripping as a profession is high on the alien preference list. Nope. We’re stuck with naked Mel and an ancient Native American tradition.”
“Huh. That’s funny.” Ben started laughing. Wolf had no idea what he was laughing at. Ben kept up his giggles as he started to stumble off toward the volleyball court saying something about finding a beach.
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t kill himself,” Chase said with a smile. “I’ll also probably take a couple of videos. I like trashed Ben. He’s fun.”
He followed his brother.
“Why didn’t we go to Vegas?”
“Because Shelley wanted a big wedding and this is the only time Ma is ever going to get to watch her sons get married. Because we make sacrifices for family and that is a very good lesson to learn right before our wedding day.”
Leo’s shoulders slumped. “Where do I change?”