Page 76 of Mason Wilder
MASON: I’m getting married today. Thought you should hear it from me instead of finding out through the media.
KENDALL: I’m so very happy for you. It means the world to me that you’ve made contact, Mason. I’ve checked my phone every day for the last 6 months hoping to hear from you, even just one word. Thank you. You’ve made an incredibly sad woman smile for the first time in a very long time. I’ve been in therapy and on medication. I’ve been attending AA meetings weekly. Edward, my husband, has been my rock. I don’t know what I’d do without him. I think I’m falling in love with him. I’m healing, but still filled with grief over the trouble I’ve brought into your life and guilt-ridden with regret. I don’t expect forgiveness. I’m not asking for it. I don’t deserve it. Congratulations on your wedding. I love you more than you’ll ever know.
MASON: I forgive you. Take care.
That was the extent of the exchange of text messages that he’d shared with Kendall this morning. He had gone back and forth in his head for days on whether to reach out to her or not. In the end, he decided he still needed closure. When he originally read her text, he had felt bad for her. But, now, as he re-read the words, he wasn’t sure he believed her. The hard truth was that he would never know what her intentions were. She was manipulative. He knew that now. She had a compulsive personality and might be a little psychotic. He could never trust her, not when it came to Tessa. He would never put Tessa in harm’s way. He wouldn’t see Kendall again or try to fix their relationship. He had needed finality, that’s why he texted her. And he got it. He put his phone away, exited the bathroom and stepped into the large groom’s suite at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
“There’s the man of the hour!” Mason’s dad exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Mason’s neck and delivering a hearty squeeze.
Mason slapped his dad on the back and probably smiled wider than he’d ever smiled in his life. There was no toning it down today, and the exact same thing was true about his dad.
“Do you remember the day I married your mom?” his dad asked. “It was one of the happiest days of my life.”
Mason searched his memory. Man, he’d been so young. Barely more than a toddler, but flashes of it came back to him. Not vividly. Not the physical memory, but the emotional one. The feeling that accompanied the memory is what he recalled. He remembered thinking his mom looked like an angel as she glided down the aisle. He’d been so excited on that day, bouncing on the balls of his feet, because the wedding meant they would be a family. “Yeah,” he finally answered. “It was the day I realized that I had a family, like all the other kids. I had a mom, who was with me all the time and took care of me. Most importantly, for the first time in my life, I had a dad. I real father, who was the coolest guy in the world. Thanks, Dad. You’ve really been there for me my whole life. I’m everything I am today because of you. I love you, Pop.”
His dad’s ear-to-ear grin turned into a quivering smile. “I love ya, Mase.”
They shared a long tight hug, holding onto one another longer than necessary, but neither wanted to let the other go or break the embrace. “I couldn’t ask for a better kid.”
Mason’s little brother joined the hug and wrapped his arms around their waist. The dimples returned to his dad’s cheeks as he ruffled Michael’s hair. “Except for this guy. I love ya, too, Mikey. Man, I’m so blessed to have kids like you two.” He put his arm around Mason and announced, “My kid’s getting married today.”
“So’s my daughter,” Tommy added, and then his face slowly fell. “My little girl is getting married.” He took a step back. “I can’t believe it.”
Angel placed his arm around Tommy’s shoulder and placed a kiss on his thick blond hair. “I know, mi amor. Our daughter is all grown up.”
Tommy lifted his head to look at Angel, moisture glistening his eyes.
Angel took in a deep breath and held it for a second. “Don’t you dare cry, Tommy Blade. If you do, I’ll start bawling and I won’t stop. I mean it,” he warned, his voice already cracking.
“Enough with the tears,” Lucas teased his two dads, stepped around them and approached Mason. “Look what you did. You got all of us to wear tuxedos.” He touched the bowtie at his neck. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so dressed up.”
Mason stared at his oldest and closest friend. “Man, this is surreal. I’m marrying your sister.”
Lucas let out a laugh. “I know. It’s really crazy. But good crazy.”
“Crazy good.”
The door opened, bringing in a wave of chatter from the outside. “This is one fancy ass wedding.” Damien walked through the suite with a bounce in his step. “Angel, your dad is in the kitchen critiquing the food.”
“He’s supposed to be retired. And why did they let him in the kitchen?” Angel asked.
“You kidding me? He’s Chef Ricardo Garcia. They’re honored to cook for him. And probably scared shitless about a bad review.”
Mason chuckled and shook his head. He was surprised Tessa’s grandfather didn’t insist on cooking for the entire wedding himself.
“No fair,” Michael complained, yanking on the lapel of his tuxedo and eyeing Damien’s leather jacket and jeans. “Why doesn’t Damien have to wear one of these stupid things?”
Damien grinned. “Cuz I’m not cool like you. You’re a groomsman. That means you get to walk the red, um, I mean, white carpet and stand up there with your brother and Tessa while they get married.”
Michael thought about it for a minute, then looked up at Mason and flashed the signature Wilder grin, dimples fully on display. “I’ll wear this if I get to stand next to you, Mase.”
“I wouldn’t do it without ya, Michael.”
Lucas snapped a picture of Mason with his dad and his little brother, then Mason inspected the photo. They were three Wilder men, well, two and a half, all with the same brown hair, pale blue eyes and flashy smile. It might sound crazy, but he couldn’t wait to add another generation of Wilders to a photo just like this one. But, first, he needed to make a dark-haired princess his wife. “Is it time for me to get married, yet?”
Lucas slung his arm around Mason’s neck. “Let’s go, bro. I’m as excited about this as you are.”
Mason chuckled. “Yeah, right.” No one on the face of the planet was ever as excited or as happy as Mason was right now.
