“Indy, honey, I don’t mean to alarm you but we forgot the borrowed,” Tod cal ed.

“What?” Daisy asked.

“We got old, her Mom’s earrings, new, Al y and Kitty Sue’s bracelet, blue, her garter but nothing borrowed,” Tod explained.

“Oh shit,” Al y mumbled.

Shirleen looked at Tod. “Borrowed is easy. Anyone can give her something borrowed. Shit, she could use a borrowed bobby pin.”

“Her hair isn’t up, Shirleen,” Ava told her.

Shirleen looked at Indy then muttered, “Oh yeah, right.”

“I’l get my jewelry box, see what I have,” Daisy announced and ran to her dressing room.

“A hankie’s good. Anyone got a hankie?” Roxie cal ed out.

Since I was watching everyone search for something borrowed, I almost didn’t catch Mace walking toward Indy.

His arms were around his neck and then the chain with his sister’s ring on it was off and dangling between his fingers.

He upended it on one side, the ring fal ing out into his palm.

He shoved the chain in his trouser pocket, stopped in front of Indy, took her right hand and slid the ring on her pinkie finger.

Only Jet and I caught this and, watching it, we both were breathing so heavily trying to rescue our makeup, we sounded like we were hyperventilating.

Indy looked at the ring then up at Mace. The she curled her fingers around his bicep, leaned into him until their faces were close and she smiled.

The sun from the windows highlighted the tears glistening in her eyes.

Jet and I looked at each other. She reached out, grabbed my hand and squeezed.

We looked back to Indy as she took her hand away from Mace’s arm, swiped under her eye, turned to the room and announced, “I’m good. Borrowed needs a checkmark, Tod.”

“What? Where?” Tod asked, jerking his head around looking at the floor as if he’d been told to capture an invisible rabbit in the room.

Mace came to me sitting on the bed, leaned in, grabbed my hand, pul ed me up and said, “Let’s go.” We got into the hal when he asked, “Where’s Mom and Chloe?”

“In the dining room, drinking champagne with Trish, Dolores, Nancy and Blanca.”

“Oh f**k,” he muttered.

I looked up at him. “What?”

“They’re with Trish. Roxie’s parents are nuts. They make Tex look adjusted,” Mace told me.

I laughed. “I’ve been noticing that.”

We were down the stairs and nearly to the dining room when I pul ed at his hand to stop him.

He halted and tilted his head down to look at me, body stil facing forward.

“Babe, I’m a groomsman, I gotta –” he started but I interrupted.

“Kai, what you just did for Indy –”

His face went hard and his body turned toward me.

Then he leaned in and clipped, “I told you, don’t cal me Kai.”

I blinked because I hadn’t even realized I’d done it but even so I was stunned at his reaction to it.

Then I felt my eyes narrow and my blood pressure skyrocket. “Sorry, Mace, it just slipped out and the only reason I can think of as to why is because what you just did for Indy was something a good man named Kai would do, not a badass cal ed Mace.”

I yanked my hand out of his, muttering under my breath about how moody he was and started to stomp away but he caught me and whirled me into his arms.

“Effing hel , are we gonna fight again?” I cried as I tilted my head back to look at him.

I no sooner got my eyes on him than his mouth was on mine.

He kissed me, deep, slow and sweet.

When he was done, he didn’t move his mouth from mine when he said, “You’re gonna have to be patient with me, Kitten. This isn’t f**kin’ easy.”

At his admission, my blood pressure settled, I put my hand to his face and whispered, “Okay.”

His eyes travel ed my face and down, his arms gave me a squeeze and he whispered. “Babe, you look great.” I eyed his tux. “Not as good as you.” Then I pul ed out of his arms, grabbed his hand and went on, “Now, let’s go get your Moms.”

His brows went up and he didn’t move even though I was tugging at his hand. “My Moms?”

I went back to him, lifted up on tiptoe, put a hand to his chest and touched my lips to his. “Don’t ask, just go with it.” He shook his head but he fol owed me to the dining room anyway.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Confession

Stella

I was standing in a corner with Ava and Luke listening with half an ear to Ava doing everything she could (and seriously failing) to get Luke to dance but watching the dance floor with frightened eyes.

Tom and Lana were cutting a rug. Tom was flinging Lana around while Nick (who was Indy’s DJ) played The Brian Setzer Orchestra’s “Jump, Jive an’ Wail”.

I already knew Lana could move but Tom was something else. He couldn’t just boogie, he could boogie woogie. He might be a bit older but the man was strong. He flipped Lana around like she weighed as much as a wet towel.

They’d been nearly inseparable since the dancing started (after Lee and Indy’s first dance and the father-daughter/mother-son dance and the wedding party dance, of course) and I wondered how Mace would feel about his mother hooking up with Indy’s dad.

“Stel a.” Luke’s deep voice came at me.

“Uh…” I muttered, eyes stil glued to Lana and Tom, mind stil engaged with images of Mace going berserk.

“Earth to Stel a, come in Stel a,” Ava cal ed.

My body jerked and I turned to Luke and Ava. Luke was looking at me. Ava was looking at the dance floor.

“Do you think Mace wil go bal istic if something happens between Tom and Lana?” I blurted.

Luke’s eyes moved to the dance floor. Ava’s came to me.

“Crap, I hadn’t thought of that,” Ava breathed.

Luke’s gaze came back and he asked, “They’re al adults, including Mace. Why would it be a problem?”

“Mace can be unpredictable,” I told Luke.

At my words, Luke threw his head back and let out of bark of laughter like I was being funny.

I was, by the way, not.

Ava and I stared at him.

When he was done laughing, his dark blue eyes were dancing and he informed me, “Mace is the one of the steadiest men I know.”

I stared at him a beat wondering if he knew a different Mace than I knew then I mumbled, “Obviously you’ve never pissed him off.”