Page 3 of I’ll Be There (Montana Fire #4)

This was why she needed to stop talking. “I’m sorry. I do this when I’m nervous. Say stupid things.” She gathered Raina into her embrace. “I’m so happy for you. And God worked everything out.”

“Yes, He did.” Raina leaned back, caught Liza’s hands. “Just breathe. You’re going to have an amazing weekend. Perfect. And marry the man you love.”

“Except the poor man desperately wanted to elope, and I’m beginning to see why.

” She walked over to her rolltop desk and picked up her seating chart.

“Three days before the wedding, and the venue says I have too many people. I either cut the guest list or we can’t hold the reception at the community center. ”

“What happened? I thought you and Grace went over the list. You mailed out exactly the right amount of invitations.”

“Then I’d meet people in the grocery store and they’d ask when the wedding was, and I.

..I kept inviting more.” Liza made a face.

“I’ve lived in Deep Haven for nearly fifteen years.

Who am I not going to invite? My chiropractor, who lets me come in on Saturdays for emergencies?

Or maybe Eli Hueston, the ex-police chief who’s pulled me out of the ditch more than once?

Or perhaps the Dekkers? Because I can hardly not invite the mayor and his wife. ”

Raina gave her a pitying look. “Your heart is too big.”

“No, I’m a wimp. I can’t say no. And now my cake is too small, and Grace is going to strangle me when she finds out she’ll have to order more food.

And I’m going to have to set up tables down at the park on the harbor and try to keep the seagulls from eating the dinner rolls.

” Not to mention she’d hardly slept last night, every moment with her eyes closed an opportunity to smell the feral breath on her face, hear the roar, feel the claws rip—

“Sit down.” Raina took her hand, brought her over to one of her overstuffed sofas. Sat next to her. “Listen, it’s going to be fine. Once Conner gets here—”

Liza winced. “He’s going to take one look at this chaos and run.

He’s not a guy who likes...a fuss. He’s a simple man.

He lives in a fifth wheel, for cryin’ in the sink.

Carries practically the sum of his belongings around in a duffel bag.

He wanted to elope, keep it simple. Sane.

And I’m giving him...the Titanic of weddings. ”

Raina smirked. “It’s not that bad.”

“It is. The man has a contact list of eighteen people. Eighteen. I texted every single person asking them if they wanted to come to our wedding. You know how many responded, besides his smoke jumper crew?”

Raina raised a shoulder.

“Six. Jim and Lacey Micah, Mac and Andee McCloud, and Dani and Will Masterson, all from his previous SAR team. Of them, only Jim and Lacey Micah are coming. Two people from his life. He doesn’t even have any family.”

Raina was frowning, Liza’s words obviously seeping in. “Why not?”

Liza fingered her ring, centering her thumb on the beautiful diamond Conner had given her the day last fall when he’d driven her to up to some magnificent view in Glacier National Park, dropped to his knee, and proposed.

He’d suggested even then that they simply get back on his bike and find a preacher.

“His parents died when he was a teenager. Car crash. He and his brother grew up with his grandfather. He passed away a little over a year ago of cancer. And his brother, well he was murdered.”

The word registered on Raina’s face.

“Yeah, they never solved the case, and for a long time it haunted Conner. I think he’s made peace with it, but...”

“So, that’s why you planned this little party.”

“I thought that getting together with his friends from Team Hope, his old SAR team, before all the chaos started would remind him that this is his special weekend, too.”

Her phone vibrated, and she got up to retrieve the text. “Super. It’s the florist. They said the arrangements are delayed because of the storm.”

“We don’t need them until Sunday,” Raina said. “And we’ll order cupcakes from Lucy at World’s Best Donuts for the overflow of guests.” She got up. “You’re getting married. That’s all that is important here.”

Liza pressed her hand against her stomach. “You’re right. I just wish this weekend was already over, that we were back from our honeymoon...and settled in here.”

“I wondered why you weren’t packing. He’s moving to Deep Haven?”

Um. “I don’t know.”

Raina frowned and picked up Layla, who had found a sippy cup in her diaper bag. “You don’t know.”

“He wants me to move to Montana, but I have a number of orders I needed to fulfill, and I don’t exactly have a kiln or a throwing table in his fifth wheel.” She sighed. “He told me he had it figured out, so I’m hoping that means he’s planning on living here.”

“He could join the fire service here,” Raina said.

Liza’s hand went to her upper arm, traced the ugly scar that traversed it, the puncture wounds in her shoulder that still throbbed sometimes, an echo of the trauma from last summer. “Yeah, maybe.”

She sighed.

“What?” Raina said.

“I just...what if...what if we’re rushing into this. It’s only been ten months since...um...”

“Since you survived a terrible trauma? Since you and Conner saved a girl’s life? Since you became the bravest person I’ve ever met?” Raina raised an eyebrow.

“Since he panicked over nearly losing me to a grizzly attack and asked me to marry him?” Liza slipped the phone into her pocket. “He never actually said he was moving here. I just...oh, no.” She probably needed aspirin for her pounding head. “What are we doing ?”

“Hey! Catering services here.” Grace Sharpe, formerly a Christiansen, opened her door. She’d cut her blonde hair chin-short, wearing it down. She wore capris and a white T-shirt with the words “Bride’s Side” in pink.

Liza didn’t know Grace well, but the moment Raina suggested she hire her as her caterer, Grace had stepped up to save her. And with her husband, Max, away on so many week-long hockey trips for the Minnesota Blue Ox, Grace had spent way too many hours preparing.

Yes, with Grace at the helm, it would all work out.

“I come bearing freshly baked muffins. And look who I found outside.” She held the door open for Mona, as Liza’s oldest and dearest friend came in carrying four cups of freshly ground, home-roasted coffee in a tray, direct from her bookstore and coffee shop.

“Liza’s getting cold feet,” Raina said.

“What?” A headband captured Mona’s blonde hair, and she looked put together, exactly how a matron of honor should, in a pair of white jeans and a purple T-shirt.

She set the coffee container on the table and tugged out two cups.

“You just need a white chocolate mocha.” She sat next to Liza. “Snap out of it.”

Liza offered a slim smile. Took the coffee. “I’m not getting cold feet—okay, maybe a little. I just realized how little Conner and I have prepared for this. Sure, I love him and he loves me, but...I don’t know. Maybe it’s not enough. I’ve been single for a long time. And so has he.”

“So? Even better—Conner is worth the wait.” Mona winked.

For a moment Liza sank into the memory of his arms, those wide shoulders, and the thought of knowing him—okay...she took a sip of her coffee. Another.

Mona laughed. “I felt the same way about Joe on our wedding day. Terrified, overwhelmed, delighted—”

“But you two knew you’d live in Deep Haven, happily ever after. Conner is...well, he’s not Reese Clark, penning adventures. Conner actually, well—he lives them.”

Mona raised an eyebrow.

Oh, she was in rare foot-in-mouth form today. “I didn’t mean that Joe is boring. He’s amazing. A best-selling author, right here among us.”

“He’s also on the volunteer fire department,” Mona said. “Trust me, that’s adventurous enough.”

Liza looked at her coffee.

Mona touched her arm. “It’s okay. And yes, Conner is...well, he certainly lives dangerously.”

“He jumps out of airplanes into fire for a living,” Liza said. “And likes it.”

Grace had carried the bags into the kitchen and now returned to the conversation, pulling out a cup of coffee from the tray. “Max gets in fights for a living.”

“He plays hockey,” Raina said.

“There’s a lot of fighting,” Grace said. “I hate it. I can’t watch when he throws down the gloves, even if it’s part of the game. Afterwards, he’s like a caged animal, pacing, the adrenaline radiating off of him. I send him to work out, get it out of his system.”

“That accounts for the shoulders.” Raina grinned.

“And the abs,” Grace said, meeting her smile. “I don’t hate it.”

“Conner used to call me after he came in from a fire, or sometimes when he was out there camping. He was always...tired. And stressed out. And yeah, he loves it, but it’s also dangerous and.

..” Liza took another bracing sip. “I guess I thought maybe he’d give that up once we.

..oh man, we are so not ready.” She set her coffee down.

“See, I told him we should wait, but he was just so excited, and...”

“And you’ll figure it out.” Mona took Liza by the shoulders. “Take a breath. Conner Young is crazy about you. And you’re crazy about him.”

“But what if that’s not enough? I can’t ask him to give up firefighting for me. He’s already lost so much. Firefighting has given him back himself. A team. A family.”

“You’re going to be his family, Liza,” Grace said softly. “Trust me. That changes everything.”

Maybe.

“Stop it,” Mona said.

Liza glanced at her.

“You’re panicking. And dreaming up a few lies.” She raised an eyebrow. “Again.”

Ho-kay.

“Conner is dying to marry you. Nothing is going to keep him from showing up at the altar on Monday.” She paused. “A Memorial Day wedding. You’re like royalty or something. The princess of Deep Haven.”

“Hardly,” Liza said but Mona took Liza’s hand, pulled her up.

“You’ll see. This weekend is going to be perfect, and you’re going to live happily ever after.”