All of Me by Tiffany Patterson

Chapter 4

Gabe

Organized chaos surrounded me as I stood in the middle of the church’s changing room. It was the day of Micah’s wedding, and he, myself, Ace, our father, and a few guys from Micah’s PI firm filled the room, donning our tuxes and taking a few shots.

Micah chose not to drink anything, saying he wanted to be stone cold sober when he said his vows.

I took an extra shot for him. But he’d made me promise not to take anymore until the reception, which wasn’t an issue for me.

“I look good,” I said as I moved toward the floor-length mirror behind Micah.

He grunted. “You look okay, little wolf. Not better than me, though.”

“If today weren’t your wedding day, I’d beat your ass.”

He smiled over his shoulder. “You could try, but you wouldn’t be very successful.”

“You’re too old to tussle with me, old man.” I pushed his shoulder playfully.

Glancing over, I spotted Joel straightening the bow tie of one of the guys from Micah’s PI firm.

“A man should know how to tie a damn tie,” he said in that deep voice of his that mine was often compared to. “Can’t be a man without knowing this basic shit, boy.”

“Lay off him, Joel. How’s it going, Bass?” I asked Micah's employee, who was a few years younger than my twenty-eight years.

“Everything’ll be fine once I can take this thing off.” He ran a finger around the collar of the shirt of his tuxedo.

I chuckled.

“You leave it alone for now. I won’t have you messing up my son’s photos,” Joel said.

With a shake of my head, I headed past them and moved to the corner of the room. I slapped Ace on the back of his shoulder.

“Are you ready for this?”

He turned to face me and gave me a smile. There wasn’t a sparkle in his eyes exactly, but the smile showed he was in a less somber mood than he’d been in the week before.

“Are you kidding? I’ve been waiting for this shit for months now. Our oldest brother’s getting married.” He sounded happy. If I didn’t know him as well as I did, I’d almost believe him.

But Ace was good at that sort of thing—covering up what he was feeling. Of course, except on that one day out of the year.

Hell, maybe that was a family trait. Because despite how much I wanted to be happy for Micah, I could think of fifty other places I’d rather be. At the top of the list was my office, working.

“Can hardly believe it myself.” I looked back at Micah. “The guy who said he’d never get married.”

Ace sniffed, and I turned back to see that pitiful look in his eyes before he blinked, and it was gone.

“Yeah, people say shit all the time and don’t mean it.”

On instinct, I nodded in agreement, knowing full well some could use your feelings and love to bite you in the ass.

“But family first,” I mumbled.

Ace nodded. “Family first.”

“Let’s help him get this shit over with.”

Sometime later, I stood at the front of the church, next to Ace, Joel, and a few other of Micah’s coworkers, and watched as he slipped the gold band around Jodi’s left ring finger.

I hadn’t been around the first months of Micah and Jodi’s courtship. According to Ace, they fell for one another fast. He’d called me in Thailand once, laughing about how our brother had fallen for a woman from New York.

I laughed right with Ace, thinking that relationship would never last. Yet, as I stood at the front of the church, I ate my words. And despite my misgivings on relationships and love and whatnot, I had to admit that I liked Jodi.

She often told it like it was and rarely backed down from Micah, who could be intimidating as hell when he wanted to be. That also was a family trait.

After the vows, I followed the wedding party procession down the aisle as onlookers tossed rice. I wondered what it would be like to be in Micah’s shoes.

Unfortunately, that damn question plagued me up and through to the wedding reception. When my brother and his new bride took to the floor for their first dance, I held my breath but didn’t know why.

As soon as the first chords of the song they chose to be their first dance started, I let out the breath I’d been holding. It was as if a vice grip tightened around the muscle inside of my chest, squeezing it more firmly with each beat.

It was the song “Timeless Love” by Lena Clarkson. One of the songs from her Broken Kisses album. And yeah, I knew the song well.

I watched Micah and Jodi sway to the music before my brother pulled back and murmured something to her. She laughed easily and then laid her head against his shoulder.

Unable to take much more of the scene, I tore my gaze away. At the same time, images of Lena flashed through my mind. I brushed it off as a normal reaction to unexpectedly hearing her music. That was all.

When I looked over at Ace to find him staring at Micah and Jodi, I reminded myself why becoming vulnerable with any woman was a bad idea. Ace sat slightly slumped in his seat, staring ahead at Micah and Jodi. He appeared transfixed, as if he was there but not really there.

I shook my head before turning back to the dance floor. Jodi threw her head back and laughed again. There was a glow about Jodi when she looked at Micah. It caused memories from my early childhood to float to mind.

My mother and Joel danced with one another in our backyard. I remembered watching them from my bedroom window when I was eight years old. All the while, not knowing, four short years later, she’d be dead.

That first song moved into the next song, and more couples joined in. A few of our cousins from Williamsport moved in on the dance floor with their wives or children. My father’s brother and his wife. Yeah, technically, that made him my uncle, but I was still getting used to the idea that Joel had a brother, and we had four cousins that we’d never known about.

But that’s a story for another day.

A sound from the side of the room caught my attention. The security guard stationed at the far door pulled it open, and inside walked two women.

I rose from my chair as soon as I caught sight of the second woman. Lena Clarkson.

I blinked a couple of times, making sure she wasn’t a figment of my imagination. Between her song that played only minutes ago, the memory of our first meeting running on a loop in my mind, and the whole sentimental bullshit of weddings, I guessed that I had to be making it all up.

Lena Clarkson couldn’t truly be walking into the middle of my brother’s wedding reception.

“They’re on the list,” Jodi said as she and Micah moved toward the women. “Lena,” she said, confirming that this was indeed reality.

Lena Clarkson was there.

“Who’s this?” Ace asked.

I all but shoved my brother aside and sidled up to Lena. “My future wife.” The words tumbled from my mouth without permission. Strangely, the urge to recant them never materialized.

I didn’t miss the way her eyes ballooned or her sharp inhale.

“Gabriel,” she said in that honey and milk soothing voice.

“Do you two know each other?” Jodi asked, glancing between Lena and me. Jodi dropped her gaze, and that was when I realized I still held onto Lena’s hand.

Lena must’ve realized the same thing because she pulled it free. Reluctantly, I let it go.

“We’ve met,” Lena answered. “You remember Rayven, right?” she asked Jodi, gesturing to the woman staring daggers at me.

“Of course.”

“I’m so sorry to barge in on your reception like this,” Lena said. “Our flight was delayed, and we got lost on the way here.”

“No worries at all. Please, come in. Enjoy yourself,” Jodi insisted. She introduced Lena and Rayven, who I quickly found out was Lena’s cousin and part-time security, to Micah and the rest of the family.

“I’ll take it from here,” I told my new sister-in-law as I took Lena’s hand. “Let’s have a dance,” I said to Lena.

Her lips parted, and not for the first time I wondered if they felt as soft as they looked. The light pink coloring on them paired with the gold shimmer on her high cheekbones made her captivating. In reality, I was sure she could be bare-faced and would be as appealing.

“She’s safe with me,” I assured her security, who was still giving me a skeptical look.

Lena cleared her throat. “It’s okay, Ray.” She turned back to me. “One dance couldn’t hurt.”

My lips spread into a grin, and for a heartbeat, Lena appeared flustered, as if she regretted her previous statement.

She looked at the crowd around us. “There’re a lot of people here.”

“Mostly family,” I said. “It’s cool, though. No one here’s going to sneak any pictures of you.”

When her shoulders relaxed and the slightly rigid way she’d held her body eased, I knew that was the right thing to say.

We moved to the center of the dance floor before I brought her body close to mine.

“Alicia Keys,” Lena said.

“What was that?” I asked as I started swaying our bodies to the time of the music.

“The song. It’s Alicia Keys,” she answered. “‘How it Feels To Fly’.”

“Cool song title.”

“I guess it’s appropriate for the occasion.”

I nodded in agreement and pulled her body into mine. She fit perfectly.

Lena no longer wore the engagement ring that I’d seen in Los Angeles. That, and the fact that she’d shown up to a wedding with her cousin instead of the douchebag, I assumed she was now single.

“How’ve you been?” I asked.

She twisted her head, and her eyes narrowed.

“You and your cousin look alike when you make that face.” I glanced over at her eagle-eyed cousin, who now stood off to one side of the room, surveying it.

“We used to be referred to as The Twins when we were young,” she said. “She’s a little older than me, but we look a lot alike. Even with our difference in shades, we were often mistaken for sisters.”

I could see it. Lena’s brown complexion was slightly lighter than her cousin’s, but they both had the same plump lips, high cheekbones, and pert noses. Lena was barely five foot three, while her cousin stood much taller.

“By middle school, Ray shot up in height and left me in the dust.” She let out a laugh. It was melodic, just like her voice.

“Do you like this song?” I asked after listening to the lyrics for a little while.

She nodded.

“You ever wonder how it feels to fly?”

Her mouth parted, and I almost groaned. She seemed dumbfounded by my question, so I decided to keep going.

“Obviously, you never experienced it with that douchebag back in Los Angeles.”

“You mean Nate?”

I frowned at hearing his name.

She pulled back, staring up at me.

“Your ring is gone, and you showed up here with only your security,” I said. “So you finally recognized he was dragging you down?”

“Very funny,” she commented. “You’re trying to get the story on what led up to that video?”

My eyebrows dipped. “What video?”

Her frown deepened. “Yeah, like you don’t know.”

I brought her body into mine again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. But you confirmed that you’re single. Which is everything I need to know.”

It was as if everything I’d thought about relationships, in particular, my getting involved in a relationship, fell by the wayside. When looking Lena in the face, the warnings of my past were no use.

After that, the song ended, and the DJ began playing a fast song. More guests began moving onto the dance floor.

“I’m not interested in how it feels to fly,” Lena said before stepping out of my hold.

“Why not?” I asked with a smirk.

“I’m afraid of heights,” was her answer before she walked away.

I turned, following her with my gaze, watching the sway of her hips in the knee-length, green dress she wore.

“Afraid of heights, my ass,” I mumbled, watching her walk away.