“AFTER YOU, MRS. ST. JOHN,” Drae said with a bow. Tori gigglesnorted and swatted him on the arm as she chugged by. He looked positively drool-worthy tonight. There was something about this man when he was suited up that made her swoon. Hell, I must look like a grinning idiot to anyone watching, she thought with half a smirk. At some point, he’d tug on his cuffs and shoot her a wink, and before anyone knew it, she’d be giggling like a schoolgirl.
Ever the gentleman, he pulled out the ornately carved chair with the distinctive curved, Spanish style backs and offered his hand to help her get seated. “You look very pretty tonight, honey,” he whispered as she sat.
Tori lit up like the Carnegie Hall stage at his compliment. It wasn’t easy finding stylish, comfortable maternity clothes, but she’d totally lucked out with a champagne-colored dress. It had a low bodice supported by wide straps that gently gathered beneath her bust then cascaded in an abundance of swirls over her belly. She added a delicate lace bolero to give it a more dressed-up vibe and a cute pair of dress peep toe flats with silver and pearl embellishments that complimented the color of her outfit.
They sat, as they always did, at Alex’s right hand. That was where Draegyn would forever be—at the man’s side.
Everyone eventually sat down, remarking on the distinctive place settings that Carmen proudly explained were Villa heirlooms. Tori fingered the small, seating tags topped with a piece of autumn-colored ribbon that sat atop the coordinating linens on which Meghan had calligraphed each of their names. Hers read: Victoria St. John with an italicized Tori underneath. On the back of the tag was Family Justice. She couldn’t help the smile she sent Meghan’s way. Taking the place card, she inconspicuously slipped it into her miniscule bag. It was a keeper. Something for the memory book.
Draegyn and Alex were talking quietly over her head, which was normal. Her husband made sure that she always had the seat next to Alex. It was a loud and proud statement to one and all about the importance of her place in his life. But that didn’t mean her being smack dab between them slowed down their chatter one iota.
Tori glanced around the table as she absently rubbed her belly. What a wonderful gathering. Meghan was directly across from her, where she noted Big Daddy kept her hand firmly in his. She seemed a bit nervous, which was odd for the brilliant redhead. Cameron and Lacey were next to her with Brody and Betty side by side.
Alex had given his uncle a place of honor at the other end of the table signifying his role in the family. Tori nervously chewed on the inside of her cheek when she spied her mother seated next to Calder. She honestly didn’t know what to make of her mom’s behavior. First, there was the uncharacteristic fussing over putting together the perfect outfit that had gone down earlier, followed by the eye-opening smooch Calder had planted on her.
Ria was on the other side of Calder with Ben close by. Not surprisingly, Gus and Carmen were seated together, and she couldn’t help but notice the way Gus kept fiddling with his tie and smoothing his hair. He cleaned up pretty nice. Actually they all did.
Lost as she was in her thoughts, it took her a good minute to register that there was an empty place setting between Gus and Draegyn. Was somebody missing? Tori did a quick head count and paused, confused. Nope. There actually was an empty seat.
Elbowing Draegyn, she pried his attention away from Alex long enough to whisper, “Why is there an empty place next to you?”
Her husband looked surprised at the question, glancing to his side and finally noticing the empty spot.
“Hey, what’s up, Irish? We missing somebody?”
The entire table quieted at Draegyn’s question and turned expectant, curious eyes on Alex and Meghan.
Was she surprised when Dad leaned toward Irish Mom and kissed her sweetly before giving the rest of them his attention? No. Not at all.
But Tori’s curiosity was piqued. Everything he was doing had some sort of meaning behind it. She recognized the Valleja-Marquez Don hat when he figuratively put it on. His formidable presence and serious disposition kept the entire room quiet and everyone at the table set to high.
Rising at his spot at the head of the table, he clung to Meghan’s hand and looked around the table at all of them, stopping at the last for a long linger on Draegyn and her.
“Family is everything,” Alex declared in that professorial way he had that Tori got such a kick out of.
“Meghan and I were thinking,” he said with a loving glance his fiancée’s way, “that we’d make the New Year all about family. Reconnecting. Forgiving. Accepting.” He chuckled and some of the tension from his serious mood evaporated. “Hell, with this huge wedding coming up, we can’t afford any Hatfield and McCoy scenarios!”
Everyone laughed and nodded in agreement.
Meghan spoke up. “Stephanie and Calder are here now and Alex’s sister will be joining us after the holidays. The only one who wasn’t playing family was you, Drae,” she said pinning Tori’s husband with a caring look.
What the fuck? Tori wondered. Turning toward Draegyn as fast as her pregnant bulk would let her, she saw husband’s head snap up and his spine go rigid.
Then a voice came from behind them, “How’s it hanging, Ray Gun?”
Tori and Draegyn whipped around at the speed of light. There, standing in the doorway of the dining room, stood Desireé St. John-Morrison in all of her hippy-dippy, organic earth mama glory, smirking at her brother with unabashed delight.
Draegyn muttered, “Desi?” Tori had never seen him at such a loss for words. He was clearly astonished and overwhelmed.
“What?” the unexpected guest jeered with a chuckle. “No hug after all this time?”
Tori was astonished when her calm, suave, cool-headed secret agent husband stumbled over his chair, getting his feet tangled and nearly falling on his face in the process of getting to his sister. Actually, it was so damn sweet and adorably cute that she might have giggled out loud.
“Desi,” Draegyn groaned as he crushed his only sibling in a fierce hug.
“Ray Gun,” she cried. “I’ve missed your sorry butt.”
“What are you doing here?”
She grinned and shrugged both shoulders, raised her eyebrows, and tilted her head toward Alex. “It was him. That one,” she taunted with a wink at Alex. “The big guy. He sent a plane to Portland to get me. And since it is a holiday and I do have kids and a husband, he also arranged to fly John and the kids to his parents’ place for some quality family time to take the sting out of me making a cameo in Arizona.”
Tori was overcome by what Alex had done. She watched her husband look at his old friend. Something unspoken happened. There was some head nodding. She realized her jaw was practically on the floor.
Then she heard Desireé holler, “Where’s that poor girl you knocked up, Ray Gun?” as she peered around the solid wall that was her brother and glanced about until she found Tori. Her eyes lit up with joy.
“Victoria,” she cried, pushing Draegyn out of the way with a hearty shove and running with her arms outstretched in greeting. “Oh, my God! Look at you!” she laughed as she engulfed Tori in the mother of all hugs. Turning a hilarious stern frown on her brother she snapped, “Look what you did to this poor girl. Pregnant. Practically barefoot.” She turned and winked at Tori. “And why the hell isn’t she wearing the St. John tiara?”
The entire room got so quiet you could hear a pea drop.
“Aw, come on, you guys,” Desireé shrieked with laughter. “I’m just kidding about the tiara.” She looked back at Draegyn and said drily, “But not about the poor pregnant girl thing.”
Finally, her husband found his ass and he spoke. “You do know it’s never too late for me to make you a widow. Don’t like that guy who’s defiling my saintly sister.”
They laughed, hugged, laughed some more, and enfolded Tori in a memorable bear hug.
So far, dinner was nothing short of amazing, and Calder was enjoying himself immensely. He was even composing a mental email to his sister to let her know what a fine man her son had become. Pride such as he’d never known overtook him as Alex’s incredible gesture for the St. John’s was revealed. What an incredibly poignant way to make his point about family.
Stephanie, who was overcome by Alex’s support for Drae, just kept saying, “I can’t believe he did that,” over and over. He smiled, knowing she was in for even more surprises as the evening went on.
Once the hubbub and excitement over their surprise guest settled down, it was time to eat. In a nod to Carmen and Ria’s Hispanic heritage, they started with an albondigas soup that the housekeeper swore was a century-old recipe. There was lively conversation coming from all sections of the table and with a relaxed and happy cowgirl within his reach, Calder was a happy man.
After the appetizers, their wine glasses were refilled while last-minute prep went in to the main course. Desireé, who had been talking quietly to Tori and Meghan, came over to Stephanie and sat in the chair Betty vacated when she ran into the kitchen to help Ria.
“I’m so delighted to meet you at last, Ms. Bennett. I just love Victoria, you know!” She smiled broadly and whispered conspiratorially to Stephanie and Calder. “Wasn’t sure old stick-in-the-pants Ray Gun would ever settle down. Guess he finally met his match with your daughter.”
They all chuckled with good humor. Drae’s sister was an irresistible combination of a tie-dye wearing earth mother and a quick-tongued hellion—something she shared with her brother.
“May I ask why you call him Ray Gun?” Stephanie asked.
Desireé hooted with glee and nudged Stephanie playfully. “I had trouble saying his name as a kid. I mean—Draegyn. Really? Don’t know what the ‘rents were smoking before that decision! Anyway,” she continued breathlessly, “he used to have a serious hard-on for all things about outer space. Apparently, according to legend,” she joked, “he was watching some 1960’s sci-fi movie that had noisy ray guns and in my young mind…Ray Gun sounded pretty damn close to Draegyn. The name stuck, and yes, it drives him ape-shit crazy.”
“I can’t believe my nephew managed to pull off getting you here and keeping it a secret until the proper moment.”
She smiled and looked down the length of the table to where Alex was cuddling with baby Dylan. “He’s been my brother’s best friend and most steadfast supporter since I can remember.”
Turning enthusiastically to Stephanie she babbled, “I’m going to leave you with all my contact info, Mom Mom.”
Calder did a double take when he saw how wide and pleased his companion’s smile just got.
“That way, we can stay in touch, and you can keep me in the behind-the-scenes loop. After that baby comes, Alex has promised to fly the whole family in for a meet-and-greet. The kids already think their Aunt Victoria is pretty special, and they can’t wait to have a cousin.”
“I’m so glad you’re here today, Desireé,” Stephanie sniffed. “It’s hurt my heart that Draegyn doesn’t have supportive parents, but seeing you two and the bond you share, well…it helps me understand your brother better.
After a few more minutes of chit chat, Ria and Betty came bustling out of the kitchen with the main course of their feast. The enormous organic turkey that everyone had been raving about made an impressive sight. There were half dozen or more sides—clearly enough food for their large group.
Before the carving of the turkey began, Alex tapped his knife on a wine glass and asked for everyone’s attention.