Hold On

“Have you heard from No?” Mike asked.

She shook her head. “I called. Reesee called. Even Fin called. He’s not answering.” Her mouth quirked. “Probably because he’s a day ahead of us on Fiji.” She paused, then added, “And he’s busy.”

“This isn’t funny,” Mike informed her.

He watched his wife’s lips continue to quirk.

“Angel,” he warned.

Her lips stopped quirking. “Addie’s been in love with No since she was thirteen.”

Mike had nothing to say to that because it was true.

“And No’s been in love with her since the second they bumped into each other again two years ago,” she continued.

“She’s not even old enough to drink,” Mike stated.

“She’s old enough to fall in love,” Dusty returned.

“She’s old enough to think she’s in love.”

“Baby,” she whispered, moving closer. “You were here at Christmas with those two. I get you’re worried. But there’s no way you could watch them and not see they’re completely, desperately, crazy in love.”

Fuck, he couldn’t say anything to that either.

Because it was true.

Mike wrapped an arm around his wife and he pulled out his phone.

He held her as he slid his thumb over the screen.

He put it to his ear.

Jonas answered on the third ring.

“Dad.”

“Got some news for me, No?”

Apparently, he didn’t because there was silence.

“Jonas,” Mike prompted.

“It’s her, Dad. She’s young, but I don’t give a fuck. It’s her. It just is.”

“Yeah, neither of you hid that from your family last time we saw you and you haven’t been hiding it from the population at large, the crazy shit you’ve both been playing out publicly.”

“You know Addie. She’s about drama.”

His son sounded like he liked that.

Then again, he married it, so he did.

“That isn’t the issue,” Mike said. “The issue is, I read about it on a goddamned tablet.”

“It was a spur-of-the-moment thing,” Jonas muttered.

“I figured that part out,” Mike told him.

“We’re gonna have another ceremony when we get back,” No assured him. “One we’ll have with our families.”

“I can do without going to another wedding, No. What I’m not a big fan of is reading something like this rather than hearing it direct from my son. You’re famous. I hear a lot about you that’s truth and a lot that’s lies. But when it’s important, when it means you’re happy, I wanna hear it from you.”

“I’m happy, Dad,” No said quietly.

Mike drew in breath.

“I’m glad, son,” Mike replied quietly.

Dusty pushed closer.

“She’s happy too,” Jonas told him.

“I’m glad about that too,” Mike replied.

“We’ve been dodging calls because we’ve been busy and because I wanted you to know first. You know now, so I gotta call Rees.”

“Yeah, your sister can bust your ass for depriving her of a celebrity wedding.”

“Last five books on the New York Times list. I’m not the only celebrity in the family.”

“Lucky for me, she’s got someone in her life who keeps her grounded, not someone who busts up hotel rooms.”

“Addie broke a vase. It was blown out of proportion by the media.”

“She broke it throwing it at you.”

“She’s excitable.”

Mike did not want to go there.

“Call your sister,” he ordered.

“I will,” No said, a smile in his voice. “And Dad?”

“Yeah, Jonas?”

“Love you.”

Mike sighed.

Then he said, “Same. Give our love to Addie. And hope to see you both soon.”

“Love back to Dusty, Mandy, and Austin.”

“Right. Later, son.”

“Later, Dad.”

They disconnected.

Mike threw his phone on the counter.

Dusty snuggled closer.

“All good?” she asked.

“He sounds happy.”

His woman smiled.

“Really happy,” he whispered.

“Then it’s all good,” she whispered back.

He looked into her eyes.

She was happy too. Happy because she was happy, and happy because his son was.