“We’ll get there,” Teague said. He didn’t wear a tie, because Alex knew which battles to pick. The sport coat and dress shirt had to be enough.
“How’d valet duty go?”
Teague grimaced. “Count your lucky stars that it’s a small wedding. We need to get that second overflow lot ready to go ASAP. Fill in the potholes, top it off with fresh gravel.”
They’d been hoping to wait another month before taking that step. “Gravel’s not free.”
“Neither will the garage bill be when we tweak someone’s chassis from those knee-deep potholes. We’re lucky a lot of the guests are locals and carpooled.”
“I hear you.” Alex knew how lucky they were to have scored more event bookings for April and May. It accelerated their timeline, though, in terms of financial outlay. Thank God for deposits. “Want to take point on that?”
“Might as well. That lot’s as bad as a minefield, which is, after all, my wheelhouse.”
Alex white-knuckled the dainty gold back of the Chiavari chair. “Don’t say anything like that in front of the guests. Please.”
“You mean that the government paid me to wreak havoc around the globe?”
Teague must’ve had a bad set of nightmares last night. He only got morbid and snarky like that about his Special Forces days when his past paid him nocturnal, subconscious visits.
They never talked about it.
Alex just heard the thrashing and moaning from the next room. Then he’d grab a bottle of water and wake his friend. Teague would look shattered, they’d make desultory conversation about the Pirates’s chances for the upcoming season, and then they’d go back to sleep.
“Yes. No flashing of underwear, and no mention of government-sanctioned violence.” Alex shot his cuffs. “I can’t believe I have to say these things out loud. What’s next? Amelia, do you plan on breaking a mirror? Adopting a stray black cat and letting it walk in front of the bride?”
A pair of hands settled on his shoulders. Soft lips pressed just above the collar of his suit coat. “Breathe, hon.”
Sydney’s touch alone probably ratcheted back his stress by half. Alex turned to give her a proper kiss. Vaguely, he heard Amelia blowing her customary raspberry of disapproval at their PDA. He didn’t care. Sydney’s kisses were worth putting up with all the sisterly razzing in the world.
“This is a surprise. What are you doing here? Are you Annie’s guest?” Then he scowled over her shoulder at Everleigh. “Or did these guys beg you to come over here and distract me?”
Ever scowled right back. “We did no such thing. Because if we had—and it would’ve been brilliant—we would’ve had her show up four hours ago when you started your day-of freak-out.”
“I’m not freaking out. We have lists, we have a schedule and everything is going according to plan.” So far. Which was a guarantee of exactly nothing.
Alex had never been this nervous. Not even on his first day as manager at the Grand Orion. He knew they’d done all that was humanly possible to prepare. He knew the parts of the inn they were opening to the public were ready.
It was what he didn’t know, what unexpected wrench might be thrown into the works, that had him on edge.
Teague rolled his eyes. “Dude, you are so far up our asses today you can see the scar from my tonsillectomy.”
“I’m just concerned. Anxious. Nothing can go wrong.”
“Which you’ve said eight hundred times already. We get it. This is a big day.”
“Which is why I’m here,” Sydney jumped in. “To support you on your big day. Whether that means being put to work, or just standing in a corner beaming with appreciation of what my talented man has wrought.”
Her thoughtfulness caught him off-guard. “That’s…that’s great. Thank you.”
Teague snorted. “You must really love this guy to put up with him in this state.”
“I do. I even love that he is this much of a wreck.”
“Huh?” She wanted him to be miserable? Was this payback for the cold pizza he’d swiped out of her fridge last week?
“It shows how much he cares. You know Alex isn’t nervous for himself, right? You know he’s worried about something happening that you can’t handle. Something that would make you feel bad, like you aren’t right for the inn, or don’t deserve to be here. He’s nervous because he wants to protect you. Because you’re his family.”
“That’s why you’re being such a pain in the neck?” Amelia stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Thanks, bro. Which reminds me, I have one more part to your