Page 33 of I’ll Be There (Montana Fire #4)

“Stop being so antsy. You’re acting like a seven-year-old.”

Conner glanced over at his brother, dressed to the nines in Reuben’s pressed tux. It bagged a little around the middle, but Justin filled out the shoulders, the sleeves hitting him just above his clasped hands.

Justin. Best man. Conner’s throat tightened, and he shook away the impossibility of it all. “No I’m not,” he whispered just above the current hymn playing on the organ.

He shouldn’t have come out so soon, should have waited until he spied Liza in the vestibule, but—

Justin’s fault. His brother had pressed a hand to the small of his back, practically shoving him out in front of their three-hundred-plus, standing-room-only crowd.

All waiting, unbeknownst to them, to see a guy get stood up at the altar.

“You’ve fixed your jacket, adjusted your tie, loosened your collar, pulled at your sleeves—next, you’ll retie your shoes.”

“Are they—” He looked down.

“No. Stop it.” Justin’s big hand came down on his shoulder. He leaned in, whispered above the music, “I had to come all the way back from the dead to tell you to breathe.”

Conner searched the crowd and landed on a few familiar faces—the Christiansen family, sitting mostly together on the bride’s side.

Big John, the family patriarch, his arm around Ingrid, who beamed, already crying.

Grace and Max with their daughter, Yulia.

Darek, who met his gaze and gave him a nod, a smirk, sitting with Ivy and Tiger, who bounced his little sister on his knee.

Casper Christiansen, his arm up on the pew, stretched along the empty space his daughter would occupy after her duties as flower girl, fully recovered from last night’s scare.

Romeo, slouched at the end, who waggled an eyebrow when Conner’s gaze landed on him. Yeah, the kid had hotshot potential written all over him.

He spotted Seth on his side of the aisle—although with the pews so full, maybe it didn’t matter. The big lumberjack sat alone, leaning forward onto his knees. He glanced at the closed double doors, back to Conner. Gave him a thumbs up.

Conner’s gaze ran to the clock. Two minutes past eleven, and still no...

Justin’s hand tightened on his shoulder. “Have a little faith.” He let go and assumed his position.

Conner glanced at his groomsmen, nodding as he met Justin’s eyes, then Pete’s, who stood behind Justin, similarly cleaned up, his blond hair clubbed at the nape of his neck. Pete winked at Conner.

Oh, please, Liza...

The door opened in the back and Conner drew in a breath.

A woman propped the door open. Tall, beautiful with her auburn hair pulled back, she looked up and met his gaze, grinned.

Waved. Kate Ransom, Jed’s wife, fellow smoke jumper all the way from Montana.

Then, as he watched—nearly ran down the aisle in a crazy rush of relief—Jed appeared, pushing a wheelchair.

Reuben rolled his eyes, wearing a chagrined smile as Jed angled him down the aisle.

Behind them pretty and petite Gilly Priest, Reuben’s girlfriend, walked beside Kate.

Jed rolled Reuben right up to the front row, then along the stage, and parked him at the end of the row. Kate and Gilly took the first pew. Jed walked back to Conner, met his handshake. “Family always shows up. Even if we’re a little late.”

He clamped Conner on the arm, then joined Kate in the pew.

Late.

Conner glanced at the clock. Five minutes.

The doors had closed again.

He’d thought...he blew out a breath, his throat scratchy. Maybe his promises weren’t enough. Because Justin was right. He could only give her the man he was, not the man she wanted him to be.

He closed his eyes, bent his head, not able to watch as the crowd waited through another hymn.

Please, God.

The hymn’s music curled around him, through him, and he heard the words, remembering the hymn he’d picked with Liza.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

Wand’ring from the fold of God;

He, to rescue me from danger,

Interposed His precious blood.

Oh he did have a wandering heart. Too easily he chased after his passions.

O to grace how great a debtor

Daily I’m constrained to be!

Let that grace now, like a fetter,

Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Only God’s grace kept him bound to the man he longed to be, clinging to the hope that spurred his wanderings, the hope that he’d someday be the man he promised himself he’d be.

Give her that man. The man you will be.

He heard the voice, thrumming inside him. Yes.

The man he could become by pursuing love. Protecting love. Promising love.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love:

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above.

God’s man, sealed. Committed, done.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,

Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;

Streams of mercy, never ceasing,

Call for songs of loudest praise.

Even if Liza didn’t show up.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,

Sung by flaming tongues above;

Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,

Mount of Thy unchanging love.

He lifted his head, glanced at Justin, who offered him a tug of a smile.

“Just a little longer,” Conner said.

Justin nodded, the big brother in his eyes.

The back doors opened, and a few people in the back turned their heads.

Conner looked up.

Justin’s hand again squeezed his shoulder. Steadying.

Liza stood at the threshold, flanked by Raina and Mona, both dressed in soft, powder-blue dresses against her beautiful latte-rich gown. She’d swept her hair up, but a few a dark curls fell, framing her face. Her smile.

Those eyes that latched onto his, so much love, so much grace, so much...

His chest hollowed, his jaw tightening against the terrible urge to weep.

The music changed.

A Thousand Years, a cello solo drawn out as Mona left Liza’s side, walking down the aisle, her smile for Conner, then her husband, Joe, who sat near the front, bride’s side.

Heart beats fast...promises...how to be brave.

Raina then came down, glancing back at Layla dressed in her own flowing, powder-blue dress, holding a basket. Liza stood next to her, holding her hand.

I have died every day, waiting for you...

Halfway down, Raina turned, and Layla started along the aisle, dropping white rose petals in tiny handfuls. Eventually, she joined her mother at the altar.

One step closer...

The congregation rose.

Darling, don’t be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years...

Liza smiled and his heart lit on fire.

Yes.

His breath caught, held as she glided down the aisle toward him, the music dropping away, the beauty of the moment, the pure rush of his bride coming to him, beautiful and whole, the image of grace, nearly crumbling him.

God’s immutable mercy.

And now he was crying. He didn’t even care as a tear caught on the edge of his trimmed beard.

Only then did he realize she didn’t wear the jacket. He barely even noticed the scar ribboning up her arm—but now the fact that she hadn’t chosen to hide it...

He longed for her strength.

She reached up as she came to the altar, touched his face, wiped the moisture with her thumb.

A simple gesture that told him exactly who she was. The woman who knew him.

The woman who loved him anyway. Oh.

He caught her hand, met her eyes. Nodded. “I told you I’d be here.”

She grinned. “You kept your promise.”

Just the first, babe, just the first.

The reception. Oh, the reception.

“Seriously, Conner, you did all this? In three hours?”

“You like it?”

Liza sat in the cab of his truck—not the most romantic of getaway vehicles, but when they escaped to this...

He’d transformed the park at the harbor into the recreation of their first date.

A town festival, complete with a bonfire on the beach, twinkly lights stretched around the cobblestone dance floor, a platform for the Blue Monkeys, already on sight and playing a cover of “Brown Eyed Girl.” Kyle jammed at the drums, Emma at the mic.

“How did—”

“Kyle borrowed a guitar, the speakers, and drums from some local musicians. In fact, a slew of local musicians had a jam session right here. Very fun.”

“Is that—the fish burgers wagon?”

“Courtesy of the Lions club. And cotton candy, and I think Edith Draper is popping kettle corn.”

Indeed, as he rolled down his window, the smells of celebration, of warm summer nights, and the magic of their first date stirred through the lake breeze, despite the lingering smell of creosote from the blackened pizza parlor, the half-burned bookstore down the block.

Maybe he’d deliberately driven in facing away, so she didn’t have to see it.

Gallant.

But he didn’t have to hide from her the evidence of how far they’d come, how far God had brought them. Not anymore.

Thus far, God had been with them. And she did love God enough—and He loved her enough—for her to find the courage to marry this amazing man. To live with him, pray for him, love him not despite, but because of, the man he was.

And yes, Conner’s promises helped, but really, it was the promise made after he had left this morning that embedded the truth.

The one rooted in the sunrise cascading through her yard on pearly threads of gold and rose.

The one redolent in the song of the sparrow and hidden in the beauty of the hydrangeas left on her front porch by the florist sometime in the night.

God’s love hadn’t changed in the face of her disasters. Her traumas.

Her very scars proved this—and not just the visible ones, but the ones that reached deeper. Broken family, childhood trauma, even the deep ache of loneliness waiting for Conner. These too were her Ebenezer. Thus far, God has helped me.

Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,

Mount of Thy unchanging love.

Unchanging love.

Yes, she knew what that looked like.

Most of the guests had already arrived—Layla ran with a balloon, her blue dress swinging out around her. Raina and Casper swayed in each other’s arms to the music, beside John and Ingrid.

So many people laughing—Max and Grace, who’d been freed from her duties as caterer since her hard work had gone up in yesterday’s flames. And Darek and Ivy, who danced with Tiger, teaching him a few easy dance steps.

In fact, it seemed all of Deep Haven had turned out. Eli Hueston, former police chief, and his wife, Noelle, who shared a stick of cotton candy. And Mayor Nate Dekker, holding a freshly fried fish burger, handing another to his wife, Annalise.

Even Caleb and Izzy Knight were down by the bonfire, marshmallows on their sticks.

“Kate and Gilly showed up,” Liza said, noticing Jed seated on a rock, Kate on his lap, watching the waves slip onto shore, the sunshine brilliant upon the deep blue of the lake. A few seagulls wandered the beach.

“Reuben headed back to the hospital—apparently he escaped without the permission of the docs. But he made a video to show Micah.”

“You should show up later, maybe—”

“Not on your life,” Conner said, catching her hand. “Later, I’m busy.”

Oh, she had a handsome groom— husband! He’d stood at the altar, resplendent in his black tux and tie. She’d never imagined him as rockin’ fancy duds, but he cut a breathtaking form. And the look in his eyes when he spotted her—she’d lost herself.

So, she’d acted on instinct, the one that wove through her core, that told her she belonged forever with this man.

It moved her to meet her groom at the end of the aisle, read her own promises.

And when she kissed him in front of her family—sinking into the sweetness of his kiss, so much desire reigned tight at the edge of it—she felt the rush of joy in his heartbeat.

“You like the party?” Now, Conner’s expression betrayed the look of a man who longed to please his wife.

“Mmmhmm,” she said, suddenly keenly aware of the intoxicating male fragrance of his aftershave, the way his hand curled in hers. The sudden, heady thought of this man taking her into his arms, forever, slipped away her breath.

He reached for the door latch.

“Not yet,” she said, pressing a hand to his arm.

He turned back to her, frowning.

The band switched to a cover of “Higher and Higher.” Your love keeps lifting me...

“Drive.”

“Really?”

“We have a great adventure waiting for us. And it starts right now.”

His gaze roamed her face, found a resting spot on her lips before finding her eyes. “Um...I’m all in, babe, but...shouldn’t we wait until, uh, tonight?”

“Tonight, I want to sleep .” She reached up and tugged on his tie, loosening it. “Right now—”

“Yep.” He leaned over, slipped his hand around the back of her neck, a soft caress that matched the way his lips found hers. His kiss lingered, deepened. She wound her hands into the lapels of his tux, drank it in, sinking into his touch.

Conner. Dangerous, brave, heartbreaking...and yes, safe Conner. The man who lived with his whole heart, now given to her. And would hold hers in his constant protection.

How had she ever thought she couldn’t marry this man?

He drew away, caught her eyes, and the tiniest smile hiked up one side of his mouth, the blue in his eyes deepening. Awakening.

“Let them party without us,” she said, heat flushing through her. “For now.”

“I knew I married the right woman,” Conner said and moved away. “I’m driving already.”

And she’d married the right—and perfect—man.