Page 16 of The Omega's Surprise Baby
Nick gave her a grateful smile.
“Isn't he?” Griff beamed at her. “Dean hired him! He has so many crazy connections.”
“Not that many,” Dean argued.
“Please.” Griff waved him off. “Your Hollywood cousin is paying for our honeymoon.”
I had to laugh. “Tam is paying your honeymoon?”
“He really wanted to.” Dean shrugged, like it was no big deal. “I think he feels bad because he can't make it to the wedding.”
“That's a shame. Is he on set?” I asked, since I hadn't heard from Tam in a while. Parts of my family had taken to walking on eggshells around me after my mate passed away, and Tam had always been very busy to begin with. He was the most driven omega I knew.
“Yeah,” Dean confirmed. “Shooting some action flick. I forgot the name.”
“I'm sure we'll see it in theaters soon enough.”
A murmur of agreement and praise for Tam went around the table, and then things quieted down again a bit.
The fish was served with wine, and I emptied a few glasses over the course of the meal, trying to keep myself engaged with the people at the table with me, rather than the omega providing the background music. Toasts were made. First by Uncle Gregory—Dean's father. Then by Eli, who was not only Griff's brother, but also his best man. I hardly heard any of the words that were said.
I was either looking at Kade or drowning in memories of my own rehearsal dinner, and since I didn'twantto go down memory lane tonight, I focused most of my attention on Kade. To part of me, that felt like betrayal, but I chose not to linger on those thoughts. I couldn't spent every waking moment mourning what I'd lost. I'd fall apart. I'd come so close to it after the funeral. My son had been forced to call his grandmother because his baby sister was crying and his father wasn't even reacting.
Dark days I could not go back to.
Dark days Iwould notgo back to.
So I distracted myself from all the talk about weddings and marriage by feasting my eyes on the lovely omega in the back of the room.
I should have made a toast, really, after Eli was done. But I didn't rise from my chair and no one made me. I'd written a speech for the wedding, and I would deliver it, but that night at least, everyone left me alone. And I was grateful.
* * *
It wasn'tuntil the dinner was over that I learned what Nick had been so concerned about. As I loaded Mary and Conner into the car, I saw Kade emerge from the restaurant with his guitar. I wanted to go over to him to tell him how much I'd enjoyed his music, but someone else approached him before I could.
I only caught the tail end of what they were saying, but it was enough to let me know I was dealing with an asshole. “...don't need people like you in this town,” they said.
To my surprise, Kade wasn't as flabbergasted as I was. “Then it'll delight you to know that I don't plan on staying very long.” His tone was calm and he appeared absolutely composed.
He looked like he was used to dealing with asshats like this. The thought broke my battered heart a little more. Why would anyone be so rude to Kade? He'd been nothing but nice since he'd arrived here, even getting scratched up to help a bastard cat in need.
I stepped up to the asshole, puffing my chest out to be as imposing as possible. “Why don't you mind your own business?” I didn't even know the guy. He wasn't part of the wedding party. Why did some people always have to stick their noses where they didn't belong?
“No need to go all alpha on me,” he huffed. On closer look, the man was clearly in his sixties already. “I was simply telling your friend that this isn't LA and we honor certain values here.”
Like anyone was in danger of mixing up LA and Oceanport. “Leave him alone.”
“It’s fine,” Kade said, resting a hand on my arm. It was the lightest touch, but it was enough to make me want to protect him even more as my alpha instincts came through. “Let’s just go.”
“It’s not fine!” I turned to the old man again. “I can’t think of anything my friend has done tonight to offend whatever values you're holding so dear.”
The asshat looked me in the eye and that was when I remembered him. I used to run a private homecare business and his dad had been one of the seniors in my care. He'd passed away last year though, and this bastard had never bothered to show up in the weeks leading up to his father's death. The only reason I knew him was because his father had shown me pictures. He'd been so proud. It was sad.
He opened his mouth again, but Kade spoke before he could, tugging on my arm. “C'mon, Shane. Let'sgo.”He sounded in such a rush to get out of there, as if his house was burning or something.
“You know damn well what I speak of,” the grumpy old man said.
“No, I don't. And you know what? I don'twantto know. You're delusional, and if you come near Kade again, you will regret it.” All of my alpha instincts came pouring out of me; I couldn't help it. The omega next to me deserved my protection, and he had it.
