Page 62 of Protected from Torment

It’s not a mistake, I decide. Not at all.

Meeting his gaze, I swallow back the sudden happy tears threatening. “I’m glad I’m here, too.”

CHAPTER 12

MELISSA

“We’d talked about having a big wedding, but once the idea of eloping came up, we just knew we didn’t want to wait.”

Webb hugs Noelle closer to his side and kisses the top of her head before confiding, “Afterwards, I was worried my mom might be upset, being left out of the ceremony.”

“But she wasn’t,” Noelle chimes in. “She’s so thrilled to see her son finally married, she said we could have had the ceremony on the moon and it would have been fine.”

Stone—aka Jack, one of Webb’s Night Stalker friends from New Mexico—laughs. “She’d probably given up hope. Resigned herself to her younger son staying single forever.”

Stone’s wife, Maisy, gives him a sharp elbow to the ribs. “Jack. I’m sure all she cared about was Webb being happy.”

“True,” Webb agrees. “But every time I’d call”—he glances at Noelle with an affectionate smile—“my mom would find a way to drop the idea of dating into the conversation. Just think about it, she’d tell me. The years I spent with your father were the happiest of my life. And he gave me you...”

“Oh, boy.” Owl—aka Callum, another of Webb’s friends from New Mexico—chuckles. “Has she moved on to grandkids now?”

“Not yet,” Noelle replies. “At least, not that I’ve heard.” She gives Webb a questioning look. “She didn’t bring it up when we visited last week. Unless she said something to you?”

Webb shakes his head. “Not yet. She’ll give us a few months at least. Then I fully expect to start hearing the comments whenever I call.”

“You mean the you’re not getting any younger comments?” Indy asks. “The little offhand remarks about how it’s harder to keep up with kids the older you get?”

Bea turns to Indy in surprise. “Your mom’s been saying that?”

Indy shrugs. “A few times. But only after Amanda was born.” He glances across the deck at his little sister, who’s sitting on one of the outdoor loveseats feeding Amanda a bottle. As usual, Rafe is right beside them, his attention split between watching his wife and daughter and scanning their surroundings.

“Anyway,” Indy adds, “she’s plenty happy having one grandchild to spoil. So there’s no rush for us.”

But judging from the loaded glance Indy and Bea exchange, I get the feeling that having a baby is already on the table. And that it might be happening sooner than later.

As soon as the thought strikes me, I brace myself for the inevitable sting that comes whenever the topic of having babies comes up. But it doesn’t come like it usually does.

Tyler gives my hand a little squeeze, drawing my attention to him. His eyes search out mine, silently checking in with me, just as he’s been doing since Noelle and Webb’s post-elopement celebration began a couple of hours ago. While I’ve been staying at B and A with Tyler for the last couple of weeks, settling in and enjoying our time together, some of the other couples took advantage of their time off and spent it traveling, which led to Webb and Noelle’s impromptu wedding in the Caribbean.

I smile at Tyler and nod. A beat later, he smiles back at me. Then he releases my hand and wraps his arm around my waist, hugging me against him.

“Have you decided where you’re going to go for your honeymoon?” Owl’s wife, Lara, asks.

“Well,” Noelle replies, “we kind of had our honeymoon already, since we got married while we were in the Caribbean.”

“We’re still going to have an official honeymoon,” Webb interjects. He lifts Noelle’s hand and kisses the back of it. “It won’t be right away, since we’ve got some jobs coming up. But my wife deserves a big, fancy trip. And I’m going to make sure she gets it.”

“What about the Adirondacks?” Erik asks. “There are some really nice places to stay out there.” Erik is from the Bravo team branch, and he came out here with his wife, Tatum, to help celebrate.

“Oh, yes,” Tatum enthuses. “The resort on Saranac Lake. You came to visit us there, Webb. So you saw how nice it was.”

Webb nods. “It was really nice. And it’s something to consider. But—” His gaze slides to Noelle’s. “Someone’s been wanting to experience London theater. So that might have to be on the itinerary.”

“Oh, we went there,” Stone’s wife, Maisy, pipes up. “It was amazing. We spent a week in London, and then we headed to Ireland for a few days. I’d love to go back.”

“We can,” Stone tells her quickly. “Anytime you want. Just give me the word.”

My heart softens at his obvious eagerness to please her. Just like the other couples in attendance, Maisy and Stone are very much in love. Six months ago, it might have bothered me to be around so many happy couples. But now…