I give an appreciative nod, not trusting myself to speak without falling apart in public. I’m lucky to have the amazing support system I do, to know I can call on them any time and they’ll drop everything and come running.

But, oh, how I pray I don’t need to…

Chapter Nine

After a three-hour weather delay, we finally touch down in Nashville just before five p.m.

Nearly four hours of being lectured by Anika had me fantasizing about throwing open that emergency exit and jumping to my own death. I mean, not really, but Jesus Christ, the girl knows how to beat a dead horse.

“You ordered a limo?” I ask as we prepare to deplane onto the runway, expecting to find one of our usual black Navigators with dark-tinted windows waiting to whisk us away.

“It was all the service had available.” She shrugs as I move aside to let her down the steps first.

“Well, isn’t this just our lucky day, then?” I follow behind her to the car, gearing up for another ass chewing on the drive to the condo that she, our keyboardist Aiden, and I are sharing.

When we’re about five feet away, the doors swing open, and clusters of white, black, and gold balloons billow out into the air.

“Congratulations!” Rhett, Nick, and Aiden shout while firing confetti blasters in my direction.

“Surprise!” Anika cracks an enormous smile, a stark contrast to the grimace she’s been sporting since I saw her yesterday. “You didn’t think we’d let you get married without a bachelor party, did you?” With a snort, she throws her arms around my neck. “Congratulations, asshole! No more surprises, huh?”

“I’ll do my best,” I say, knowing full well I’m already hiding the fact that Sammi’s got a bun in her oven. But it’s important to my wife to keep that under wraps until her father passes, and my loyalty is to her first and foremost.

“You think you know a guy,” our drummer, Nick, muses on his way over to shake my hand. “She must be some girl.”

“She is.” I’m grinning like a fool. “Can’t wait for y’all to meet her.”

“You met her, right, Annie?” Rhett probes. “First impression?”

“I don’t think we really hit it off…” Cringing, she combs a hand through her long dark hair, pulling it over a shoulder and nervously fiddling with the ends.

“Gee…” I roll my eyes. “Wonder why that is?”

“Let’s not harp on the past.” Anika says, ushering us toward the limo. “Time to get this party started!”

As far as apologies go, this is the best I could hope to get from Annie. She’s a tough egg to crack, but once you’ve broken through that hard exterior, you won’t find anyone more loyal.