H is for Hawk (Men of ALPHAbet Mountain)

“You look gorgeous,” I said as she passed me to get in the car.

“Thank you,” she said, a flush of color going across her cheeks and down her neck as she sat down. “You look very handsome.”

“Thank you,” I said as I grinned and went around to the driver’s side and got in. “Ready?” I asked as I turned on the ignition.

She nodded, then looked behind her to see Rose in her car seat. She was facing the other direction, but I had a tiny mirror above her so I could see her face in my rearview mirror.

“Oh my gosh, she looks precious,” she said. “Did Kim leave that dress for her?”

“No. I bought it yesterday.”

“You bought that?” she asked in what I assumed was a mixture of surprise and suspicion. “You went shopping for baby clothes?”

“I did. Though I admit I didn’t even think about it until I had gotten my suit. Thankfully, I remembered and asked the tailor, and he sent me to a lady who makes these custom dresses.”

“You did great,” she said.

We settled into a comfortable, if light conversation about things she had done for the wedding. It sounded like the last few days had been a whirlwind for her and Wendy, and I bristled at the thought of seeing her friend again. I wondered what she was going to say when she saw me with Dee. In the end, it didn’t matter. I would face Wendy down a thousand times if it meant I got to see where this was going to go.

I dropped Dee off in the back of the church since she needed to go in and attend to some of the preparation things. I brought Rose around to the front of the building and got her out, joining the handful of family members that were already there. I got to meet Gerry’s parents, Lana and Hank, and little Alice, who was staying with them for the day.

When I explained, very briefly, how I ended up with Rose, we spoke about children and the adoption process a bit. It turned out Gerry was adopted when he was a teen, but the process was still similar to what I would need to do. They offered me their contact information if I had any questions they could answer and of course told me that I could reach them through Gerry.

Eventually, Dee joined me out front, opening the doors from the inside, and we went in. Wendy was mostly directing the wedding in terms of when people did what, so all I had to do was accompany Dee until it was time for her to walk down the aisle as a bridesmaid and then accompany her afterward. Rose seemed to know something was up and was a little angel through the entire ceremony. I stayed in a back row, just so I could whisk her away if she started up, but it wasn’t necessary. Instead, I got to spend the entire time looking at Dee in amazement. She really was stunning.

The reception was a blast, and I finally got to meet Desiree, who was attending the wedding. We spoke a little about Rose, and then she offered to watch her while Dee and I went to the dance floor. She had two little ones of her own, but they weren’t babies anymore, and she missed holding one. I kept one eye on her while I went to the dance floor for a while, but Desiree was the happiest person in the room besides Malia and Gerry.

“So, did you enjoy the wedding?” Dee asked as we danced to an old eighties song among the throng of people on the floor.

“I did,” I said. “Did you? You were running all over.”

“I did. It was a lot being a wedding planner, maid of honor, and sister of the bride, but I handled it fairly well, I think.”

“You did. And looked damn good doing it.”

“Thank you,” she said, her cheeks blushing again. “I never knew you could dance.”

“Well, I never got a chance to show you,” I said, hoping she wasn’t being sarcastic. I felt like I looked as if I were flailing like a madman, but she didn’t seem to have a hint of anything other than genuine compliment in her voice.

“I’m glad you are now,” she said.

“Me too,” I responded.

The song ended, and I was about to suggest I go check on Rose when a slow song hit. In the opening notes, Dee’s eyes widened and connected with mine, and I reacted instinctively. I pulled her in tight, and her breath on my neck made my stomach tighten. I held her close as we swayed back and forth, our conversation slipping into nothingness as she rested her head against my chest.

In those few minutes, it was as if we were surrounded by a magic bubble, excluding us from everything else in the room. Nothing else mattered. The sweat on her neck from running around and then dancing glistened in the flashing lights from the stage. I could smell her perfume, the same as she had worn as a teenager, and it took me back to that night in the car up on the mountain. I longed to taste her lips. As the song neared its end, her head rose, and she looked deeply into my eyes, blinking slowly.