Her Wilde Bodyguards (16 page)

Home?
He and Kyle had discussed that as well. “How about now, bro?”

Kyle nodded. “I think this is the best time to do it.”

“Do what?” Gya asked.

Aaron smiled. “Hold on, baby. First things first.” He turned to Stephanie, as did Kyle. “May we call you ‘Mom?’”

“Of course you may. I would love that.”

“Mom, we’d like to ask for your blessing.”

Kyle nodded. “We would like to ask Gya to marry us.”

Stephanie grinned broadly. “You have my blessing, guys. You’re the answer to my prayers. You have made her happy. And I know you can give her the life I always wanted her to have. But it’s not up to me. It’s up to Gya.”

He leaned down and kissed Stephanie on the cheek. “Thank you, Mom.”

Kyle kissed her, too.

They both turned to Gya, each taking one of her hands.

“Sweetheart, we don’t want you to move back to Malibu. Kyle and I aren’t going back to California. Sam has already agreed to take the helm of SCSS while I’m in treatment.”

“That’s very good,” she said. “You need all your energy, Aaron.”

“We’re both tired of the road and I’m sure you are, too.”

Her beautiful eyes were wide. “I am.”

Kyle reached up and touched her on the cheek. “There’s no place like Wilde, but even as great as it is, without you, baby, it would only be another place to lay our heads down at night. You’re what will make it home again for us.”

They both got down on their knees.

He gazed at the woman of his dreams. “I’m hopeful that my treatments will add years to my life, but whether I have only a few months or many decades left, I want to spend all of my days and nights with you, my love. Will you marry me, Gya?”

Kyle added, “And me?”

A tear rolled down her cheek and a sweet smile spread across her face.

“Don’t tell me you have stage fright, Gya Gaynor,” Maude said, wiping her eyes. “The suspense is killing me. What do you say to these two boys? Are you going to marry them or not?”

Gya nodded. “Yes, I’m going to marry them. I want to be their wife.”

Everyone cheered their approval as he and Kyle kissed Gya, the woman they would spend the rest of their lives with.

Wilde was home again.

Six months later

Gya sat beside Aaron in Dr. Champion’s waiting room. Kyle was on the other side of him.

Every tick of the clock was killing her, but she was keeping on a brave face. She had to for Aaron.

“You seem nervous, baby,” Aaron said.

Keeping secrets from him is impossible, since he clearly seems to be able to read my mind.
“Just thinking about our big day next Saturday.”

He smiled. “The ceremony is going to be fine. It’s just a wedding.”

“Yes, but it’s our wedding, mister. I want it to be special.”

“With you as our bride it couldn’t be anything but special.” Aaron stroked her hair.

Kyle kissed her on the cheek. “You’re right about that, bro.”

“And with you as my grooms, I couldn’t be happier.” She leaned her head into Aaron’s shoulder and squeezed Kyle’s hand.

“I’m going to check to see how much longer.” Kyle stood and walked over to Dr. Champion’s receptionist. “Any word on when Doc will be here, Grace? We’re expecting to get the results of Aaron’s last scan today.”

“I know, Kyle. Alex just got out of surgery. He had an emergency appendectomy this morning. He’s on his way and should be here any moment. I’m sorry he’s late. I know you are all anxious to hear.”

Aaron smiled and squeezed Gya’s hand. “We should be used to waiting, baby, shouldn’t we? Especially after all we’ve been through?”

She looked into his deep blue eyes. “Trust me, it’s going to be good news, honey.”
Please God let it be good news.

He leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss. His dark hair had grown back in, and so had Kyle’s. Her mind drifted back to the only day she’d seen Aaron struggle with his treatment. It hadn’t been the constant sickness or fatigue that got to Aaron. He’d fought on like a champion, making jokes and cheering up everyone around him. So many times he’d have them all in stitches at the infusion center in Denver with his arm hooked up to the bag of poison necessary to kill the cancer cells in his body.

The only thing that seemed to trouble Aaron more than the horrible sickness he had to face after every treatment was something that had happened on the day she’d walked into the bathroom and saw him brushing his hair. It had been coming out in clumps.

He’d turned to her. “I’m losing all my hair, baby. Cancer can’t be seen but this is absolute proof that it’s inside me.” It had been expected to fall out. He seemed devastated. Even though he was putting on a big front, she saw his eyes well up, something she’d never seen before.

A simple
it will grow back
reply did not seem adequate.

She’d just put her arms around him and told him how handsome he was regardless. They held each other in silence, and it took all her strength to hold back her tears. She’d sworn not to let him see her cry during his treatments. She wanted only to encourage him that this was only temporary, that he was going to be just as strong and vital as he’d always been.

Kyle had been so intuitive. Both Aaron and she had been shocked when he’d come back home with King Cakes and his hair was completely shaved off. “I can’t take the treatments for you, bro, but I can at least look like you.”

Her guys had embraced.

When she’d told them she wanted to shave her hair in support, too, they both had been firm she couldn’t, saying that touching her silky hair was one of the things that helped them through the hard days and nights.

Dr. Champion rushed in, pulling her from the memory. “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting, Aaron.”

“Not a problem, Doc.”

“Dr. Daniels is sending over the full report but I called him on the way over here to find out the results.” Dr. Champion smiled. “It’s gone, Aaron. Every bit of cancer is gone.”

Aaron swept her up into his arms and grabbed Kyle’s arm. “Did you hear that? It’s gone. It’s over.”

“I did. I did hear.” Gya dotted little kisses on his entire face. “No more cancer.”

Kyle turned to Alex. “Group hug, Doc.”

They all embraced.

Gya had never felt such joy in her life.
Aaron is well.

* * * *

Kyle looked at Aaron, who was adjusting his tie. “Almost time.”

Aaron smiled. “I’m ready.”

“Are you?” Pete, the local preacher who officiated most weddings in town and also owned the local casino, stood to his brother’s left. The man never beat around the bush on any subject. “It’s time for my counseling, boys. We don’t have a divorce rate in Wilde. And I don’t plan on starting one now. Do I make myself clear? This marriage is forever.” Preacher Pete opened his suit coat, revealing the pistol holstered to his side. “Don’t forget, I’m packing, boys.”

“Yes, sir,” he and Aaron said in unison, smiling.

“Let’s go then.”

They walked into the wedding chapel, which was filled to standing-room-only capacity.

Aaron leaned over and whispered, “I wonder what Pete said to Gya.”

The preacher stopped. “I heard that, young man.” Then he smiled and stepped up to the podium.

Kyle smiled at Maude and her two husbands, who were sitting in the row reserved for the parents of the grooms. Maude grinned and both her men sent him and Aaron a wink of approval.

Mary Wilde, Maude’s sister, sat behind her with her three guys. She handed Maude a handkerchief.

Those two families, the Strongs and the Wildes, were the foundation the very city stood upon. Salt of the earth kind of people.

Their children sat in the rows behind them. Jessie Wilde, holding baby Carol, sat between her five husbands.

Sandwiched in between her six guys, Charly Strong held little Gregory in her arms.

They weren’t the only ones holding infants. Dr. Alex Champion held the newest member of his family, Grace Madelyn. Shelby, her mother, and Justin and Brandon, the little girl’s other dads, sat in the row with the little bundle.

Kyle glanced over at Mackenzie, who was due in a couple of months, imagining how Gya would look pregnant. The fathers-to-be, Wade and Wyatt, couldn’t have looked happier.

He couldn’t wait for him and Aaron to be dads.

In every row he saw friends and neighbors that had come to witness his and Aaron’s marriage to Gya.

The organist began playing “The Wedding March” announcing the arrival of the bride. The crowd stood and turned to the back of the chapel.

Gya came into view on the arm of Stephanie, her mom. Kyle’s heart swelled in his chest, viewing her dressed in the gown she’d refused to let him and Aaron see. She looked like a vision of beauty. Her hair was worn up, with tiny ringlets cascading around her gorgeous face. Carrying a multicolored bouquet, she smiled, filling him with such joy.

“That’s our angel, bro,” he whispered to Aaron.

“The most beautiful angel in the world and probably heaven, too.” His brother’s tone was layered with awe and devotion.

Gya walked up the aisle with Stephanie. When they were next to Maude’s row, Gya handed the dear woman a red rose. They embraced.

Stephanie and Gya stood in front of Pete.

“Who gives this woman?”

“I do,” Stephanie said. “Her mother.”

Gya kissed her on the cheek and handed her a rose just like the one she’d given Maude.

Stephanie took her seat.

Gya stepped forward and he and Aaron took their positions, one on each side of their bride.

He grabbed her hand, thrilled that she was about to be his and Aaron’s wife.

Aaron gave his vows first. “I, Aaron Strait, take you, Gya Gaynor, to be my wedded wife. In my darkest hour you came into my life and brought warmth and light that changed everything for me. You have already proven the part about ‘in sickness and in health’ of the marriage vows, sweetheart. You have seen me at my lowest and never faltered. I couldn’t have made it through my treatment without you. I love you with all my heart.” His voice shook just a bit, and he continued. “With my whole being, I vow to be the best I can for you from now until my last breath.”

Per Wilde wedding protocols, the other groom, Kyle, stepped up in front of Gya, taking her hands. “I, Kyle Strait, can’t imagine a single day without you by my side. I was adrift and you gave me purpose and meaning. You are my world, Gya. You are the most beautiful person, inside and out, I’ve ever known. I’m yours. Always.” He gazed into her eyes. “I vow to do my best to make you smile every day, to always respect your opinion, to protect you from harm, and to love you for the rest of my days.”

Gya smiled, keeping hold of one of his hands and taking one of Aaron’s. “I was alone in the world for so long, not believing in the very songs I sang. Love? I thought it was for everyone else, but not me. You, my wonderful Kyle and Aaron, showed me I not only could be loved but I could love. My heart was opened for the first time in my life. The walls were down. I let you in. That’s where I want you to stay for the rest of my life.” A sweet tear rolled down her cheek. “I trust you. I trust you completely. I promise to keep trusting you, to keep loving you, to keep walking into our future between both of you for the rest of my life.”

As Pete guided them through the rest of the vows, Kyle squeezed Gya’s hand.

Pete continued. “Just as these rings being given are circles without end, so should your love for each other be eternal. Do you so promise?”

In unison, the three of them answered, “I do.”

“Just as they are made of incorruptible substance, your commitment to each other should never fail. Do you so promise?”

Again, “I do.”

“Gentlemen, you may now give your rings to the bride and each of you say, ‘With this ring, I thee wed.’”

Aaron held her hand as he slipped on the tiny silver ring. “With this ring, I thee wed.”

Kyle took her same hand and placed the matching band on the same finger. “With this ring, I thee wed.”

Pete looked at Gya. “You have a ring for each of your grooms. You may now give the rings to them and say to each, ‘With this ring, I thee wed.’”

Gya’s voice quivered slightly as she placed the band on Aaron. “With this ring, I thee wed.”

She turned to Kyle, and he could see in her eyes something that thrilled him. She was happy. “With this ring, I thee wed.”

Then she stepped back and addressed him and Aaron together. “My loves, you are my life. I give all of myself to you, now and forever.”

Pete addressed the congregation. “The two bands on the bride’s finger have a lock that ties them together. It symbolizes what we’ve witnessed today. These three have become one.”

He and Aaron snapped the lock together, turning their rings into one.

Then Preacher Pete announced in a big, booming tone, “I now pronounce these men and this woman married. You may kiss your bride, gentlemen.”