Authors: RJ Scott
Riley stepped up close to Jack, until they were inches apart. Riley cradled Jack’s face and stared right into his eyes. “Hell, yes.”
They walked back out of the barn, past everyone, and found Jim where they’d left him. He didn’t look like he was worried, merely looked up from a pile of legal precedents he’d pulled together, and smiled.
“Okay?” he asked.
Riley returned to his seat, Jack next to him. “So, Dad, if we decide we want to fight this adoption issue starting now, what do we need to do?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
September 19 was apparently going to be a typical Texas late-summer day: warm, but not one of the mega-hot days. Jack was awake at five, and out at the fence with coffee by five twenty. He’d left Riley buried under the covers with a kiss to his husband’s hand, the only part of him visible. Eden would be here later, but he didn’t imagine there would be much to do. Between meetings with lawyers and organizing today, the last few weeks had flown by so fast.
Eden was the wedding planner extraordinaire; Sean had the interview appearing in two weeks with planned wedding photos to accompany it. Everything was a go. They would be exchanging vows of sorts, and this was a marriage blessing rather than a full wedding ceremony, but at the heart of it, Jack felt like he was getting married all over again.
“Ready for the wedding of the century?” Riley asked from behind him.
Jack turned to face his husband, leaning back on the fence and smiling. Riley looked like he’d been dragged through a hedge backward. His blond hair stuck up, adorably cute, and his jeans sat low on his hips without a belt. He was bare-chested, and there was definite stubble burn around his left nipple.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“I brought more coffee,” Riley handed him a mug, which Jack took eagerly. He could never get enough coffee in his system to start his day.
“Why are you up?”
“I was cold after you left,” Riley said with a smirk.
“You stole all the covers. How could you be the one who was cold?”
Riley stood next to him, resting a foot on the lowest rail and his coffee at the top. “You snored, I had to cover my ears.” This familiar, teasing discussion was easy.
“Het-boy, I do not snore.”
“You sure do, cowboy.”
“Not sure why you want to marry me again, then,” Jack said.
Riley huffed a laugh, then turned to face Jack with a serious expression on his face. “The minute you leave the bed, I know you’ve gone and I don’t like it.”
Jack pressed a soft kiss to Riley’s lips. “Good morning,” he whispered. They hugged and separated to look at each other. Riley had a goofy expression on his face, and Jack knew he probably looked exactly the same. Something about today was special. Perfect.
Love was in the air.
“I have something to show you,” Riley said. He rummaged in the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his cell phone. “This came up when we were asleep. Seems the network’s got wind of the wedding in more ways than one.”
He handed the phone to Jack, who took it much like he would a ticking bomb. He didn’t want to see hate, or bigots, or anything that would ruin his day. He scrolled the article to the top.
“A real Texas wedding,” he read out. “Today is the wedding celebration of Riley and Jack Campbell-Hayes. A spokesman for the couple confirmed what we already know. Officially married some years back, these Texas boys wanted to show their love for each other in something wholly, truly Texas. Here at KLIF we want to wish the two of them the very best.”
Jack finished reading and scrolled to some of the comments. There were already over a hundred well wishes. Some crap, but he ignored that.
“You know what this means,” Riley began.
“No? What?”
“One, we’re getting all the publicity we need for the adoption case, two, we’re gonna need security.”
“I’ll get on that,” Jack said. Security had been the one thing Eden had said Jack could have control of. After all, no one knew the ranch like he did.
“And three, we need to make this wedding more Texan,” Riley finished. He turned his back to the fence and looked at the huge, startlingly white marquee festooned in the same blue they had chosen from so many. Riley hooked his thumbs in his belt, and tilted his head in contemplation.
Jack copied his stance and rested a heel behind him on the bottom rail of the fence.
“We’re having barbecue,” Jack pointed out.
“One thing, Jack. What is there here that makes this a
Texas
wedding.”
Jack considered the question and closed his eyes briefly. With them shut, he could still see the house in his mind—every window, each corner. He could see the old barbecue and imagine his mom watching them from the window where she always stood to keep an eye on
her
children. He could scent the air, envision the sky.
“We don’t need to add anything else,” he said as he opened his eyes. He pressed the heel of his hand to his chest, right over his heart, then pressed it against Riley’s. “Texas is in our hearts and in the soil we stand on, and in the sky above us. It’s in our family and our home, and that is what matters.”
“Jesus, Jack, if your vows are anything like that, I’m screwed.”
Jack chuckled. “A cowboy poet, that’s me.”
“Don’t do that,” Riley said. He moved to stand between Jack’s legs. “Don’t talk like you don’t have the words inside you, when I know you do.”
They kissed briefly.
“We’ve done this before.” Jack turned them to face the green fields that extended right to the school in the far distance. “Stood here in the morning, before anyone got up, drinking coffee.”
“The morning we went to pick up Max.”
“The one when we decided on the twins’ names.”
“The morning after the night before,” Riley teased.
“Which night?”
Riley waggled his eyebrows. “All of them.”
“You remember the barn fire?” Jack glanced at Riley. “The morning after you came home.”
“I remember.”
“You put yourself in there for the horses, and you were hurt. That moment, when I saw through the shell and into the heart of you.”
“Jack?” Riley sounded concerned. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve loved you for so long now. I’m the luckiest man alive.”
Riley huffed a laugh and knocked shoulders with Jack. “Shouldn’t you be saving this for our vows?”
“Nah, I have embarrassing shit for those.”
“Does it help that I think I’m the lucky one?”
Jack sighed and rested his chin on his hands on the top rail. “I’m pretty sure 2010 was a pretty good year for us both, at the end of it all.”
A car turned into the yard, and they checked out who had arrived. Eden.
“It’s way too early,” Riley muttered. “She said seven I’m sure.”
They watched her climb out of the car, a little awkward and with a definite start to the rounded belly that held their niece or nephew.
“Gotta love her dedication,” Jack laughed.
She waved at them and walked toward the fence. “Thought I’d get an early start,” she announced.
“Everyone is asleep,” Riley protested as he hugged her good morning.
She hugged Jack, then stepped back to examine them critically. “Jack is rocking the stubble, but Riley, we’re gonna need ten hours to sort out your hair.”
Slowly but steadily the early morning became a noisy, messy family breakfast, the kind that Jack loved. With more food on the floor than in their tummies, the twins were on their best form for food throwing, Max was verbal and a little hyper, and Hayley was chatting back to him about Thomas and fences. Jack was kind of relieved that Max had somehow formed an attachment for the long straight fences on the D. That meant he had lots to check, although some of those were close to the road and Max didn’t have an awareness of danger. He and Riley had fretted about it, then the solution became evident. Last week they had fitted a stable-style door to their kitchen. Now the top could be open, the bottom locked, and there was no chance Max could go wandering.
However, the door was an open invitation for people to lean over and say hi. Robbie first, followed swiftly by Vaughn and Darren, who were off on some kind of mission for Eden to do with flowers.
As for Eden, she was in the good room one minute, then grabbing toast and heading out to check on the huge marquees on the back field. Steve had arrived, sorting out parking signs, and he too had leaned over to ask for a coffee.
“What did we let ourselves in for?” Riley asked as he got a face full of egg from a particularly accurate Connor.
“Not sure, but Eden has it under control.”
Riley encouraged some of the egg into Connor’s mouth, only to have it smeared back at him. “You got something against eggs, buddy?” he asked as finally Connor swallowed the spoonful and grinned at him with his gap-toothed smile.
“Dad, is it true we could start mining asteroids?” Hayley asked around a mouthful of bacon.
“If we use all our natural resources here, yes. I know some companies are already looking at feasibility studies for the next fifty years.”
“Wow. So I could see that one day.”
“Maybe. You’ll probably see all kinds of cool things as you get older.”
“Dad, could I come to the office one day?” She closed the book, and Jack saw the cover,
The Beginner’s Guide to Geology
.
“Hmm,” Riley said, distracted by his epic battle with egg and toast and a reluctant Connor.
“As soon as we’re back from honeymoon,” Jack answered. “Your dad will take you in. Won’t you, Riley?”
Riley glanced up and over. “Sorry? What?”
“Hayley wants to visit CH, and she’s reading a book about geology.” Jack wasn’t sure how much more obvious he could make it.
Riley wiped Connor’s face, then the high chair. He pulled out another wipe to clean himself up. “Can I see?” He held out his hand for the book.
Hayley passed it to him, sat up in her chair, and sprawled across the table. “The oldest rocks in Texas are from the Meso-pro-prot—”
“Mesoproterozoic,” Riley offered.
Hayley smiled. “They’re, like, one thousand six hundred million years old, and they could be right under our feet.”
Riley flicked through the book. “You enjoy this kind of thing?”
“I do, and Mrs. Stimpson said I should ask you to come in and do a talk about geology on our next careers day.”
“She did?” Riley said a little weakly.
“I showed her the homework you helped me with. The one about oil.”
Jack couldn’t help his smirk. His and Riley’s worst fear was to be called into Hayley’s school to give a talk.
“Laugh it up,” Riley said under his breath. To Hayley, he said, “Of course I can, sweetheart. Tell her I’ll come in.” Then he appeared to have a flash of inspiration. “I know. Why don’t you suggest a school trip to the CH offices?”
Jack’s mouth fell open. Did Riley know what he was offering? Eighteen teenagers with cell phones at the place where people were trying to work?
“Really? I’m gonna go text Megan.” She left, sporting a huge grin, and Riley shrugged.
“Eighteen kids,” Jack warned.
“Eighteen children, cell phones, chaos, and questions I can’t answer—some of them yawning. I know I’ll regret suggesting it. But Hayley so excited? Priceless.”
Jack rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward to steal a kiss. “You may well have a budding geology major on your hands.”
Riley smiled. He looked very proud and ever so slightly smug.
Until, that was, Connor threw his juice and his sippy cup separated right on the side of Riley’s head.
All Riley did was smile ruefully after telling Connor no. “That’s gonna help my hair big time.”
Jack put the sippy cup back together and made sure it clicked into place before patting Riley on the head. “Not sure anything could help it at the moment.”
Jack held out his hand. They weren’t supposed to be doing the whole “walking up an aisle” thing, but Hayley insisted they walk up together after her. So the two of them were waiting in the house, and Jack couldn’t help staring at Riley. A dark blue suit and crisp white shirt, the sapphire-colored tie knotted perfectly. Eden had come in, given them their boutonnières and stood them next to each other for a selfie with her in front. She’d had to stand on tiptoes, and they’d crouched a little, but Jack had to admit they looked good together. He wore a pale gray suit, his tie a whole different shade of darker blue that complimented the theme, the flowers in his buttonhole were ivory, and he was wearing a waistcoat. That, in his opinion, had been a step too far, but Eden had insisted. At least he’d been able to wear his boots, whereas Riley was in shoes so shiny you could see your face in them.
“You ready to do this?” Riley asked.
Jack patted his head in reflex, checking for a hat that wasn’t there. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Riley smiled at him and took his outstretched hand. “Right. Mr. Campbell-Hayes, this is one for the albums, right? This time we’re doing more of that smiling and in love stuff, and we can make these photos work.”
Jack stole the quickest of kisses, but Riley gripped his arm and wouldn’t let him go. The kiss deepened, and they moved into each other’s space, the heat between them instant. When they parted, Riley still had his eyes closed.
“Now we can go,” he said as he opened them.
“Now, I have a hard-on,” Jack groused.
Riley very deliberately placed a hand on his groin. “A reminder.”
“You branding me, Riley?”
“I might be.” He smirked.
They went to the door. Riley stooped to pat Toby, who was in his crate for the ceremony. Toby gave a tiny puppy yawn and rolled over, going back to sleep immediately. With shoulders back, Jack took the first step outside, to cameras and smiles.
Jack saw family and friends, children in their Sunday best, a cameraman to one side with Sean standing next to him. There was an avenue of decorated, ornate trees in a path to the front, and they followed the petals that Hayley and the twins had clearly strewn before them. Logan was in a suit looking older than his age. Max wore a tiny version of the same suit, Lea wore the same dress as Hayley, Sarah and Emily looked like little princesses in their dresses. Luke and Annabelle were there somewhere too, with Lisa and Ed; all the children in one place. Jack spotted Anna, who had a chair right at the back. She was smiling, but at only a week away from having his niece or nephew, she was staying well in the shade with a fan on her. He didn’t envy how she must feel in this heat and carrying the baby.