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“You got what you need?” Luis asked him.
“We did,” Levi said. “And we couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Without Ward,” Luis said with a nod for his friend. “In the end, he gave us what we needed.”
He had. Case closed with explanations about more than one aspect of the case.
But not the most unexpected explanation of the week. That came with Farmer charging into the unit, stalking directly up to Bruiser, and slugging him with a right hook. “That’s for wrecking my boyfriend’s new place.” Then kicked him with his metal foot. “And that’s for scaring the shit out of him.”
“Something you want to tell us, Farmer?” Levi said, and Marsh could hear the grin in his voice, could see it through the body cam on Farmer’s gear.
“Yeah,” he said, not bothering to hide his own smile. “My plus one for the wedding is Press. Hope that’s not a problem.”
“Not at all,” Marsh said, Levi completing his sentence, “We’ll see you both on Saturday.”
Thirteen
Informal attire had been the right call. Levi couldn’t imagine a better sight than his husband standing before him on their second wedding day in his snow-white Stetson, red-checked shirt, shiny belt buckle, and faded jeans.
Mount Cowboy in all his glory.
“You were wearing the same outfit the day I met you,” Levi said, voice raised so their guests packed into the backyard could hear him. “I was at one of the lowest points in my life, and this mountain of a cowboy swaggered into my world and turned it upside down.” Not everyone in the group was privy to the full story, so Levi kept the details vague even as his mind rewound to that night. Replayed Marsh sliding into the chair across from him, wearing that same outfit and a too-attractive smirk, telling Levi to Marry me. “And when you proposed, you told me the only answer you needed was yes.”
Levi had said yes that night a year ago to a marriage of convenience. Today he was saying yes to so much more.
He wrapped both of Marsh’s hands in his. “Yes, Emmitt Marshall, to spending every day of the rest of my life with you. Yes to raising our son together.” Beside Levi, David groaned in true teen fashion, and Levi amended, “To the extent he lets us. Yes to all the family and friends you’ve added to our lives.” Cheers and applause rippled across the yard. “And yes to the love and laughter you fill my world with every day. Yes to everything with you.”
Marsh dipped his chin and lifted his hands in Levi’s, bringing Levi’s knuckles to his lips. He brushed a kiss over them, then righted his gaze, the shiny gleam to his eyes making Levi’s water too.
“I knew you were the one the minute I laid eyes on you, Levi Bishop, and not just because you look like a fucking pinup model.”
“Language,” David and Lily chirped together, loud enough to be heard over the rest of their guests’ laughter.
Levi chuckled too, shaking a few tears loose that Marsh wiped away. He left his hand on Levi’s cheek, cradling it in that way that made Levi feel cherished, that had obliterated the loneliness at a time when that was all he’d been able to see.
“Then I got to know you,” Marsh went on. “I learned you were a good man, a good father and son, a good brother and friend, and a damn good agent. I watched you struggle and fight for those you love and what you believe. I worked by your side as you rescued those in need and saved god only knows how many more people.” He brushed more of Levi’s tears away, then lifted and joined their hands again, over his chest. “I fell in love with the best man I’ve ever met, one I’m lucky to wake up next to and work beside each day, and I will spend the rest of our lives trying to live up to your example. I will do whatever it takes to earn each and every one of those yeses.”
There were more than a few sniffles in the crowd, one even from Levi’s side, though Levi would never call his son on it because he was losing the battle himself. Marsh’s words, his admiration and love, meant everything to him. He’d found a partner in all aspects of his life.
Sean, Charlie’s and Trevor’s husband and Marsh’s other best friend, likewise needed to clear his throat before picking back up with the ceremony. “Do we have the rings?” he asked in his officiant role.
Beside Marsh, Brax lowered Lily to the ground, and she scurried in front of Sean with the basket Camilla and Irina had helped her make. The platinum and rose gold bands Levi and Marsh had worn the past year shone bright in their bed of bougainvillea, picked fresh from their yard’s abundance that morning.
Levi plucked out the larger of the two bands and slipped it onto Marsh’s finger. “Take this ring,” Levi said, “as a promise that I will always bring my heart home to you.” Words he’d spoken, a pledge he’d made in a Salzburg hotel room a year ago. He’d kept that promise then. Would keep it for the rest of his life.
Snagging Levi’s ring from the basket, Marsh kissed the top of Lily’s head, then turned back to Levi and slid the ring onto his finger. “Take this ring as a promise that I will always bring my heart home to you.”
Cheers erupted, Lily’s and David’s the loudest. So loud Levi almost missed the words he’d been most eager to hear all ceremony. “By these promises made,” Sean said, “and by the good fortune of being your friend, I pronounce you husband and husband. Again. Now kiss, because we all know you’re dying to.”
Levi didn’t have to be told twice, claiming Marsh’s lips and tasting the promise of forever in his husband’s smile.
Fourteen
Marsh was mixing two Manhattans at the kitchen island when David and Levi came bustling in, Taco on their heels, the greyhound scouting for any dropped bits from the serving trays they carried. Too bad for him; the plates on Levi’s tray were wiped clean and David’s candy cane–striped bucket of ice was empty of its frozen delights.
“Sorry, buddy,” Marsh said, scratching behind the dog’s velvety soft ears. “You’ll have to settle for a biscuit.” He tossed one into the great room and Taco sprinted after it, Marsh closing the gate behind him. Better to keep him out of Levi’s and David’s way, the latter of whom was sweating through his Grinch tee and had his head in the freezer.
“Your ugly Christmas sweater didn’t last long,” Marsh teased.
