Fractured Sky (Tattered & Torn #5)(97)

“Hell,” Hadley cursed. “You’re determined to ruin my makeup.”

The door opened, and Mom stepped inside. “Shy, Ramsey and the boys are looking for you.”

“Everything okay?”

Mom gave me that gentle smile that she only had for one person. “I think Elliott wants to go over his job one more time.”

My mom and El had become best pals. He spent more than his share of afternoons learning to garden and cook with her. I think it was his innocence, unmarred by everything he’d been through, that had drawn my mother in. He reminded her of all the hope there was in the world.

“I’ll be back,” I called, heading out the door and down the hall.

“I just want to show her how I’m going to hold it one more time.” Elliott’s voice sounded from around the corner.

Aidan sighed. “You’ve practiced like a hundred times.”

I grinned at the bickering tone. Most people wouldn’t revel in that sound, but I did because it was a brotherly one. For so long, Aidan had been forced to play the role of father to Elliott, but now, a month after the boys had come to live with Ramsey and me, they were finally settling into a true brotherly dynamic.

I rounded the corner, and three heads turned in my direction. All of their jaws dropped.

“Lolo, you look like a fairy,” Elliott said in a reverent tone.

I tried not to scowl at that. The blush dresses Everly had chosen for the bridesmaids were beautiful, but so not me. The only thing that made the garment feel like it fit were the embroidered specks on the fabric that made it look as if I were clothed in a twilight sky.

Aidan coughed to hide his laugh. “He’s right. You look beautiful, Lolo.”

The use of the boys’ nickname for me had me softening. “Thanks, but I don’t think you should get used to it.”

Ramsey’s onyx eyes blazed as he moved in close. “Most beautiful sight I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

My heart skipped a beat. It didn’t matter how often those eyes met mine; I could still get lost in them. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

Ramsey wore a white dress shirt and black jeans that fit him just right. While Hayes had given Everly her every heart’s desire when it came to the wedding, he’d put his foot down when it came to the groomsmen. Black jeans, white button-downs, and boots. It somehow worked.

Ramsey leaned in close and whispered in my ear. “Your parents are taking the boys tonight, right?”

I shivered as his hand skated over my bare back. “Yup, they’re going camping this weekend.”

“There is a God in Heaven.”

I couldn’t hold in my laughter. Alone time had been a little harder to get this month.

“Lolo, look. Like this, right?”

I turned in Ramsey’s arms to take in Elliott. He held the ringbearer’s pillow with focused attention.

“I think that’s perfect. You’ve got this. You could do it backwards and in your sleep.”

He scrunched up his face. “But I don’t have to, do I?”

Ramsey patted him on the shoulder. “Just one forward-facing trip down the aisle, wide-awake.”

He relaxed. “Thank God. I’m already gonna sleep for a week after this. It’s a lot of pressure.”

None of us could hold in our laughter at that. It was the release we all needed on a day that was a lot more than any of us were used to. But come Monday, we’d be back to life as normal. Our simple existence with Kai and the horses. The one that all of us loved more than words.





“Dance with me.”

I looked over at Ramsey. “You dance?”

He frowned in my direction. “You don’t think I have rhythm?”

My cheeks heated. “Oh, I know you have that.”

Ramsey chuckled and got to his feet, holding out a hand. “Come on.”

I placed my hand in his and followed him to the dance floor. “I’ll probably step on your feet.”

“Worth it.” Ramsey pulled me into his arms and glided us back and forth to the slower tune the band played.

I couldn’t help but look around the tent at all the people I loved. Boden had Laiken’s legs in his lap as he rubbed her feet. She lifted her camera, taking a quick shot of her fiancé, and I didn’t miss how he reached out to rub her belly next.

Beckett twisted Addie in a spin, and her laughter caught in the air as she kicked up one bare foot, such joy on her face. Hadley had Birdie’s hands, while Calder had Sage’s, the four of them dancing to the beat of a song that absolutely wasn’t this.

The bride and groom were completely lost in each other. Hayes brushed the hair back from Everly’s face and leaned in for a kiss as they danced. As he pulled back, he mouthed, I love you.

Ramsey nuzzled my neck. “Happy?”

I let myself get lost in his heat. “It was a good day.”

“The best.”

“Even if I had to wear a dress.”

He chuckled. “You want one of these one day?”

I pulled back so I could take in Ramsey’s face. There was only curiosity there. A genuine question. “With you, maybe.”

Ramsey’s mouth curved. “Before or after we adopt the boys?”

“Before,” I said in a hushed whisper.