Page 67 of Amy's Santa

“Colorado’s turning out in force. Pal, Jayden and their brood are coming of course, Ella and Faith, Beef and Steph. Demon, Violet and all the kids. I think four other members said yes. Oh, and Hellfire and Moira.”

Hellfire must be close to eighty now, but he’s still riding, or just enough so he can stay a member of the club. I suspect he’ll fly down to attend the wedding.

“Utah?”

She consults her notes. “No response yet. And none from Vegas but I don’t doubt they’ll be showing.”

“Martha wants to know numbers for catering as soon as possible. But she’s happy enough with the menu we want.”

“She is coming herself, isn’t she?”

I raise and dip my head. “She’s getting some temporary staff in.”

Both of us wanted our wedding meal to be catered for by the Wheel Inn, the restaurant the club has run for thirty or so years. Martha’s worked there for all that time, though she must be nearing seventy, she doesn’t want to retire. She was promoted to manager when Sandy, Bullet’s old lady, stepped down.

“Mind if I interrupt?” The speaker obviously takes it for granted we won’t, as he draws up a chair, turns it around and sits with his arms folded over the back.

“We were busy,” Olivia points out to him.

Lady waves his hand dismissively. “Planning your weddings. That’s what I wanted to speak to you about.”

Olivia sighs and puts down her tablet. “What do you want to say?”

He nods at her tablet. “You’ve not given yourself long to get everything sorted.”

“Like we don’t know that, Lady.” I roll my eyes. “But we’re getting there. We’ll go to City Hall, then have the reception at Satan’s Angels.” Using the strip club isn’t ideal, but all other venues are booked, or reluctant to host bikers. I’d overheard Blade wondering if Dart’s old lady Alex could still weave her way around a pole, but Wizard had clipped him around the head and told him he’d be wise not to make that suggestion to her in person.

“Why not hold it here?” Lady suggests. “There’s a lot of food to be transported, the kitchen here has recently had a makeover with all new shit. Martha can bring stuff ready-made and reheat it if necessary, or do it from scratch here.”

“That was our first idea,” I speak patiently as though to a child. “But the clubhouse couldn’t accommodate everyone we expect.” I’d been tempted to use that as an excuse to limit the numbers of attendees, but Drew had shot me down. To deny anyone who wanted to see their national prez tie the knot would be highly disrespectful.

Lady’s not perturbed. “It’s going to be mid-March.” It is. Ollie didn’t want to wait until she was more than three months pregnant, not wanting to waddle up the aisle. If she is showing, her bump will only be small, and she’ll still be able to fit into a shapely dress. The thought makes me place my hand on my stomach, wondering if I’m pregnant as yet. It certainly wouldn’t be for lack of trying.

“We’re aware of the time of year,” Ollie starts, with a look and a miniscule shake of her head in my direction.

I interpret it as we’ve got a lot to do, and Lady is being distracting.

“Weather is more likely to be sunny than not, rain extremely unlikely, and temperatures will be in the seventies at least.” Lady waves his arm in the general direction of the window. “Get some more picnic tables and have it out back.”

I bang my palm against my forehead. We’d been so focused on finding an indoor venue, the idea of holding it outside hadn’t occurred to us. Sounds stupid, but there it is. I raise my eyebrows toward Olivia who’s looking thoughtful. “That could work, if Wizard agrees.”

“But what would we do about an officiant?” I ask. “Wizard doesn’t like strangers coming onto the compound, and anyone qualified might not want to be part of a biker wedding.”

Lady’s grin splits his face. He places his chin on his arms and enlightens us. “That’s where I come in.”

“You? You know someone who’d do it?”

His grin widens. “Yeah. You could say that.”

“Who?” Ollie asks fast.

He keeps us waiting for a moment, then can’t keep quiet anymore. “Me.”

“You?” My eyes narrow.

“Been looking into it. Can get ordained and all the proper paperwork fast.”

“But you’re not religious? How the hell can you get ordained as a minister?”

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