His Saint (Forever Wilde 5)

“Yours,” MJ said to our grandfathers. Her arm was around Neckie who held little Reenie asleep on her shoulder. She’d finally recovered enough from the emotional delivery to decide she wanted to be an auntie to the baby she’d carried for Nico and West. Every time the two of them were together, I thought my grandfathers would break their phone cameras with overuse.

“What?” Grandpa asked.

“You haven’t told them yet?” King asked.

“We’re already married,” Doc said with a frown.

“You are, but as you also know, your forty-five-year anniversary is in a few weeks,” West said. “And, well…”

“You’re going to renew your vows,” Aunt Gina cut in. “In Napa. And we’re all coming.”

Sassy nudged Hudson out of the way to get to the front of the group. “It’s going to be epic!”

Doc and Grandpa exchanged a look. “A family trip sounds nice, but—”

“It’s already arranged,” MJ cut in. “You just have to show up.”

“Why Napa?” Grandpa asked.

MJ and I exchanged glances. The idea had only come about a few days before, but Nico had managed to pull it all together after calling Rebecca Marian. The vineyard hosting us was owned by Matilda Marian’s family. The vow renewal ceremony was the perfect excuse to get grandpa there without him coming up with another excuse to avoid seeing his sister.

Nico fielded the question. “I know the people who own the vineyard. They’re giving us a great deal.”

I thought about traveling to California with Augie to celebrate my grandfathers’ unofficial but very real forty-five-year marriage. The idea that one day he and I might be able to do the same brought tears to my eyes. The past forty-five years in Doc and Grandpa’s lives had brought love and pain, joy and grief. They’d raised children and lost friends. They’d been to war and come out of it changed forever. They’d ranched and practiced medicine and watched over their small town with affectionate pride, even when the people there didn’t support their union.

But most of all, they helped raise two generations of Wildes to help change things. The Hobie we lived in now was very different from the Hobie they’d raised my father in and the one I’d grown up in. And it would be different from the Hobie I hoped to raise Augie’s children in.

Augie turned to look at me with an excited smile. Can I go too? he mouthed.

“Always,” I whispered past the lump in my throat. “You’re one of us now.”

“An honorary Wilde?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Yes,” I said.

And in my mind, I took the word “honorary” and chucked it right out the door.

Continue reading for a bonus scene.

Bonus Scene

Augie - New Year’s Eve

I was late getting home from a client’s house where I’d spent way too many hours indulging a young Westlake society wife on how best to set a table for her “authentic Downton Abbey” murder mystery evening. Let’s just say it involved last-minute sourcing of twenty sets of Royal Worcester dinner plates to replace the Wedgewood Gillman ones she’d discovered had been sold in the US instead of the UK in 1915.

“Regardless of her American daughter-in-law, Lady Crawley wouldn’t have allowed such things on her table,” Ashley had insisted with a sniff. “As soon as I discovered the mistake, I about lost my shit.”

It had taken every ounce of self-control not to point out that she may need to work on her vulgar language before slipping into her corset and evening gown later. But it was honestly none of my business.

And I had a hottie waiting at home for me.

“Anyone home?” I called out when I entered the front door to the farmhouse. Milo let out a mrrp before trotting toward the back of the house. Saint had a fairly new habit of stopping by the shop to grab him before coming home so Milo wouldn’t be lonely overnight. The jury was still out on how Milo felt about the daily commute back and forth. As I watched him go, I noticed two things: the interior of the house was lit by only candles, and there was a trail of scattered keys on the floor leading toward the bedroom.

“Saint?” I called, setting down my own keys and wallet on the table by the door. I kicked off my shoes and tossed my coat over the back of a nearby chair before following the trail of keys deeper into the house. “Sorry I’m late. Ashley kept asking me how to make pin curls and whether or not to choose the Lotus clip or the Vever comb. Remind me never to carry women’s hair jewelry in the shop again if I want to avoid discussing historical hairstyles.”

I was babbling because I was nervous. As I came closer to the bedroom, I could hear the distant lazy sounds of Roxy Music spinning about Avalon.