Ch 37 ~ Change Of Plans

“Jon Bon Jovi, as I live and breathe!”  Rick Gordon slapped Jon on the back with a hearty laugh and extended his hand.  The men were currently adrift in the northern California boutique wineries that was hosting all of the wedding events.  Rachel had just left Jon in the separate room that had been set aside for the rehearsal dinner while she went to see what was left to be done and, apparently, her sister Robin had shooed her husband in this direction as well, because Rick was alone.  “I didn’t know you were going to be here.”

Jon warmly grasped the hand of Rachel’s brother-in-law and radiated a genuine smile.  He’d liked Rick from the moment they met him and, despite the fact that they hadn’t spoken in months, he considered the other man a friend.  A comrade-in-arms, if you will.

“Hey, if it isn’t the father of the bride!  Last minute change of plans.  I surprised Rachel by coming out last night.” 

And, honestly, it had not been one of his better ideas. 

When he’d heard the weariness in her voice the night before, he’d been unable to resist swooping in on his friggin’ white stallion of an airplane to make it all better.  That’s what men did when they were wooing a woman, right?  Well, while it all sounded good on paper, what he had forgotten was that the “damsel in distress” in question was a card-carrying-gun-toting member of the National Rifle Association – and she’d almost blown his head off when he snuck in the bedroom door. 

“Oh my word, you dumbass!” she had scolded once he dropped his bag and threw his hands up in the air, yelling at her to put away the damn gun.  “What are you doing here?”

“At the moment, trying not to get fuckin’ shot,” he drawled, his heart beating faster than he would admit to as she stowed the firearm in the nightstand drawer. 

“Then you shouldn’t be sneaking around in the dark when I’m not expecting you!”  The fear of an intruder put to rest, she slid her arms around his waist and smiled up into his face.  “Now what are you really doing here?”

So he’d confessed that he couldn’t stand the thought of her facing her disapproving family alone at the wedding.  She, of course, told him that was ridiculous and that they were her family, not a band of Middle Eastern terrorists, but he ignored her sarcasm and dragged her to bed.  At that time of night, they were both more interested in sleep than sex, but it had still been good to have her in his arms. 

There’s always tonight.

He didn’t have to be in Fargo until tomorrow evening, which meant that they had all night to execute any dirty deeds he could think of between now and the end of a short dinner. 

A guy could hope, anyway.

He figured there was an outside chance since the rehearsal itself had been mercifully short.  In fact, with the exception of the violinist’s feeble attempt at “Can’t Help Falling In Love”, it had been pretty much painless, as far as Jon was concerned. 

Even the babysitting gig. 

As Rachel’s “significant other”, Jon had walked down the aisle behind her and her groomsmen escort and sat on the end of the first row.  When Hunter, Rachel’s eighteen-month old great-nephew acting as ring bearer, had toddled his way down the aisle, Rachel swooped him up and the two of them joined Jon.  

The kid was cute, having the same blonde hair as the rest of his family, and he happily wiggled on Rachel’s lap as the rehearsal continued around them.  Only occasionally did he whine and reach for his mother, who was also in the wedding party, and even that stopped when he spotted the black beads of Jon’s necklace.  His mama became a distant memory as the little guy fought with every breath to wrap his chubby hand around that necklace and, by the time the rehearsal was over, he was gazing at Jon with an adoration that rivaled all those women who were lucky enough to have Bon Jovi pit seats.    

The rest of her family, he couldn’t exactly say the same of. 

Her parents, sister, niece and nephew had honestly tried to put their best foot forward, they just weren’t all that successful.  Robin was the one who kept trying to cut him to ribbons with her eyes, even as she smiled appropriately. 

Jon didn’t hold it against her.  He appreciated the effort for Rachel’s sake. 

Overall, and with only the exception of a few whispers behind their hands, they’d all pretty much been as warm as ever toward him, but Rick was the only one whom he felt truly comfortable with. 

At least until he dove head-first into the cesspool of crap that Jon had no desire to swim anywhere near.

The guy’s grin was pure evil as Rick shook his head, and they both lifted wine glasses from a passing waiter.  “Dude, you must have balls of steel to voluntarily take on this crowd when you had a get out of jail free card.  I’m impressed.”    

Jon helped himself to a sip of the local wine offering before putting on a smile and pretending there was no subtext behind Rick’s comment.  “What?  You think I could pass up on the chance to see your pansy ass cryin’ like a baby when your baby girl walks away a married woman?”

“Rat bastard,” Rick swore around a swig of his own drink and then scowled.  “I’m not losing a daughter, I’m gaining a son.”

“Who is gonna knock up that daughter.  You know how that happens, right?”  He couldn’t resist grinning as the slightly older man flipped him the bird.

“You are a real dickhead, yanno?  I hope I’m around when your daughter gets married, so I can give you graphic visual images of what the groom is gonna do to her on their wedding night.”

“No and hell no!” Jon chuckled.  “Stay the hell away from my daughter’s wedding.”

“Fine, fine.  On one condition…”  Rick wiggled thick, dark eyebrows and nudged him with an elbow.  “You gotta tell me about this hot little threesome you cooked up, buddy.”

Jon cringed and surreptitiously glanced around to make sure no one else was within earshot.  “Ah, Christ, man, do you hafta ask?  I’m sure you read plenty.”

“I wish!  I’ve seen pictures of the women, but Robin slapped the magazine out of my hand when I started drooling.  I didn’t get to read the juicy details.”

That explained why Robin had been the least friendly of the bunch.  She had a tendency to look at Jon like he was a disease-infested rodent even as she was smiling. 

“I’ll smuggle you a copy, but don’t lemme get caught talkin’ about it.  I’m gonna be doin’ hard time on that one for a while.”

“Oh c’mon!  Let a guy live vicariously would you?  I mean, I did the threesome thing back in high school but I was so drunk I woke up with a couple girls in my bed and didn’t remember a thing.  Tell me what I missed!”

“Yeah, well…”  He pulled a frown and rolled his eye.  “You don’t wanna live vicariously through my ‘whoring around like a 20 yr old’, as Rachel puts it.  I’m lucky I can still get it up after the way she ripped my ass.”

Rick all but doubled over in laughter, gaining him a punch in the shoulder from Jon and a wicked glare from his wife, Robin.  He dropped his voice to a taunting whisper as he waved congenially his wife.  “Well, you don’t have to worry about getting it up tonight, because Rachel volunteered to keep Hunter.  Don’t teach the boy anything you refuse to tell me about.”

“What?  Wait.”  Jon grabbed the other man’s elbow when he would’ve gone to his assigned seat.  “When did she do that?”

Rick shrugged.  “I just know that since Hunter’s parents are in the wedding party, they’re pretty tied up this weekend and Rachel said it was no problem to watch the baby tonight and tomorrow.”

Jon bit back a growl of frustration at having his one night with Rachel stolen away.  So much for his list of dirty deeds…

Just.  Fucking.  Great.