Eric smirked. “Of course not.”
“That’s what I thought,” he said, but he wasn’t sure if the clouds had gotten his all-important memo.
Eric parked the van in one of the few disabled parking slots still available. The street in both directions was full of parked cars, as was the very small parking lot.
“Well, Dave,” Eric joked, “you’re good for more than mixing a live show after all. Premium parking!”
Sed reached over and slapped him for being an ass, but Dave just laughed.
“I’m keeping those plates even after I lose this chair,” he vowed.
Which Sed feared would be never. Dave had progressed in his recovery to taking a few steps when necessary, but not much farther. His physical therapy was continually disrupted by their tour schedule and while his sister, Rebekah, helped him strengthen his wasted muscles, she wasn’t a professional therapist. Maybe Sed should hire someone to handle that for him on the road. He didn’t have any issue with Dave’s inability to get around without his wheelchair and they’d had Dave’s sound equipment modified for accessibility before they’d gone on tour with Exodus End, but he knew that Dave wanted to progress, and he couldn’t do that on the road. This two-week-long break in the tour before they headed to Europe had been necessary to get all their equipment overseas. And for Sed to get married and have a decent honeymoon before getting back to work with a new wife in tow.
While he stood waiting for all the guys to get out of the van, Sed stared at the small beach house where he knew Jessica would be getting ready for the ceremony. A pang of longing set his feet in motion. He wanted to see her so bad, he couldn’t wait another moment.
“There you are!” His mother’s voice called from the beach. “I thought you were going to be late to your own wedding.”
He stopped abruptly. Part of him was glad she’d stopped him before he’d ruined everything by barging into the house and demanding to see his bride before the ceremony. Another part of him cringed at her intrusion.
“Oh my,” she said as she hugged him. “You look so handsome.”
Sed gave her a vigorous squeeze in return, lifting her onto her tiptoes.
When he released her, she dabbed at her teary eyes with her fingertips.
“I promised myself I wouldn’t cry today,” she said, “and here you come looking all handsome and grown up in that tuxedo. You’ve ruined any chance I have at keeping that promise.”
“What did you expect, ma? That I’d show up in leather and a T-shirt?”
She laughed and reached up to pat his cheek rather harder than necessary. “Maybe I did,” she said. “I wish your father could have been here to see this.” Fresh tears swam in her eyes.
Sed grabbed her in another hug so he didn’t have to see the sorrow in her tired blue eyes. She’d aged in the two months since his dad’s passing. “He’s here,” he whispered to her. “You know he wouldn’t miss it.”
She nodded and drew away, dabbing at her tears again.
“I think he’s up in those dark rain clouds causing me undue anxiety,” Sed admitted.
His mom laughed. “Exactly like something he’d do. He’d be proud of you today. He was always so proud of you.”
“Ma, if you make me cry, you’ll ruin my mascara.” He fluttered his mascara-less eyelashes at her.
She laughed again and looped her arm through his. “Come. I’ll show you where you’re supposed to stand.”
She peered over her shoulder at the tuxedoed rock stars goofing off in the parking lot. Trey was the only one not tussling. He had Ethan, one of the ushers, pressed up against the side of the van expressing his undying lust with deep passionate kisses.
“Guys,” his mom said, and they all looked at her for direction. Even Trey paused in his make-out session to see what was up. “Go into the house. They’ll give you instructions there.”
Trusting that his friends would do as they were told, Sed followed his mother onto the beach. They’d laid plywood in a strip between the white folding chairs and covered it with red carpeting that matched all the roses decorating every available spot.
“Is it normal to lay plywood?”
Mom shook her head. “We were worried Dave’s chair would get stuck in the sand.”
He smiled. “You thought of everything, didn’t you?”
She released a weary sigh and touched her fingertips to her lower lip. “I hope so. I want today to be perfect for you and Jess. If I hadn’t, I would have murdered her mother with a candelabrum and tossed her to the sharks hours ago.”
“You have more restraint than I do. And isn’t she supposed to be dealing with the reception setup? Why was bugging you?”
“Beats the hell out of me. She’s been here driving me nuts for the past two hours. Making changes when I’m not looking. Reserving seats for A-list actors you don’t even know. She had your grandmother sitting in the third row; she wouldn’t have been able to see a thing back there.”
“Memaw?” Sed craned his neck over the crowd and located his grandma’s distinctive blue-haired coif in the front row.
“I won that particular battle,” his mom said.
“I think I’m going to have to have it out with that woman today. Both Jessica and I have been beyond patient with her, but she’s overstepped her bounds one too many times.”
“Don’t start your marriage in a war, Sed. It will all be over soon, and she’ll go back to ignoring your existence.”