Page 71 of Ride or Dies

Evie raised her glass as everyone echoed, “To Jenna and Isabel.”

While Jenna hugged Evie, both of them wiping at their eyes, my brothers and I made our way to the table.

“To finish our toasts, I’m going to hand the mic over to my brothers, Levi, Mason, and Tucker.”

Tucker had been surprised when I told him that we needed to go in reverse order for this, but he took the microphone now without hesitation.

“I’ll keep this short,” he said with an easy smile. “You’re the best sister a guy could ask for, and I’m so happy that the two of you found each other. I wish you a bright and long future. Welcome to the family officially, Isabel.”

He handed the mic to Mason. “Leave it to Jenna to figure out a way around the promise I made her when she came home with her first crush—Timmy Sutton.”

Jenna burst out laughing.

Mason’s grin widened. “I told you then that I’d beat up any guy who wanted to marry you, because there weren’t any good enough for you.” He winked at Isabel. “But you have excellent taste in women, and I’m pretty sure she could kick my ass, so nice work.” His expression softened. “Love ya, little sis.”

Now it was my turn. I wasn’t nervous about this part, but it was gonna be hard to get out. No one knew what I was going to say, not my brothers, not my mom, and certainly not Jenna. I cleared my throat and hoped I was about to make my dad proud.

“When our dad would go on his deployments, he’d leave letters with our mom for certain milestones. The big birthdays. Graduations. Weddings. And I know Mom gave you the letter he left you for your wedding. But before he went that last time, he gave me something too.” I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out the carefully folded envelope I’d kept for twelve years. “He told me that if he didn’t come back, it’d be my job to make sure that whoever you chose would treat you right. And when you found that person who would make you smile like the sun, I was supposed to give them this.”

I could hear people sniffing behind me, and Jenna had tears streaming down her cheeks as I walked over to Isabel and held out the envelope.

“I don’t know what he wanted to say to you,” I told her, “but I do know what I want to say. Thank you.”

Isabel wiped her cheeks with her free hand as she clutched the envelope in her other.

“Thank you,” I continued, “for making my little sister happier than I’ve ever seen her.” I turned to Jenna. “Dad would be so proud of you. And I’m proud of you.”

I set down the mic and turned from the table, barely making it two steps before my mom slammed into me, her face pressed against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a tight hug.

“He’d be proud of you too,” she said, her voice muffled. “You know that, right?”

“I do.” I would’ve said the words automatically because she was my mom and needed to hear it, but I meant them too. I’d made mistakes, sure, but I liked to think that I’d grown into the sort of man he’d be proud to call his son.

“No more surprises,” Mom said as she pulled away. “I’ve cried enough today.”

I smiled and let her hug my brothers, because I couldn’t promise her that. We had one more surprise coming, and it was a big one.

“Damn, Levi.” Mason clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Warn a guy next time, will you?”

“You got one of those letters for us?” Tucker asked, glancing toward Evie, who was dabbing at Jenna’s cheeks.

“No,” I said. “But he did tell me that he had advice for me that I was supposed to pass down to you two whenever you got serious about a girl.”

“Pretty sure we’re at that point,” Tucker said.

“‘Don’t be an idiot.’”

Tucker looked insulted, and I chuckled. “No, man, seriously. He told me not to be an idiot. And then he said that we should listen to whatever Mom and Jenna told us to do.”

“Guess that means we’re on the right track,” Mason said, his gaze going back to the table where Jenna was standing up, microphone in hand.

She looked at the three of us and gave us a nod.

That was our cue. Time to put it all on the line.

“Okay, so this is about the time when the bride throws her bouquet, and I know a lot of you were thinking that since there are two brides, there are going to be two bouquet tosses, right? Well, not so much.” Jenna glanced at Evie, who just looked confused. “In a few minutes, Isabel is going to throw her bouquet for all of the single people who want to join in, but right now, I already know who I want to give my bouquet to.”

I felt everyone’s eyes on us as we walked over to stand in front of Jenna, but there was only one set I was interested in. And Evie was definitely watching. Her eyes were wide as they moved from me to Mason to Tucker and then back up the line.

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