by Lori Ryan
“I was so stupid to make you leave the hotel last night. What was I thinking?”
“Nah. This is no big deal, Jesse. We have the snowmobiles gassed up and ready to go. So, even if they can’t clear the roads right away, Logan and I will get there. All we have to do is wait for the snow to slow down enough to see where we’re going.”
“What if it doesn’t stop in time?” Jesse asked, closing her eyes. It had to be a curse. There was some kind of wedding curse on her. She mentally reviewed her karma. She and Zach were good people. They tried to be good to those around them. What on earth could they have done to have brought this all down on their wedding weekend?
She heard a muffled voice in the background and then some shuffling before Logan came on the line. He was already like a brother to her. She knew he loved Zach and that love seemed to have extended to her with no questions asked when he’d come home.
“Hey, Jesse. Go get dolled up. I got this. Navy SEAL, remember? I’ll get him there whether the snow stops or not. We’ll see you in a few hours.”
Zach’s voice came back on the line but not before she heard him quip “arrogant much?” to his best friend.
“Logan’s right, Jesse. Relax and enjoy your spa day. I’ll see you in a bit. I’ll be wearing a penguin suit and most likely a little snow.”
“I love you, Zach,” Jesse said and smiled. She knew if anyone could get here, it would be Zach and Logan. And, she’d try to keep thinking that until she saw them walk through the door. Until then, she had a pedicure chair waiting with her name on it.
“Love you, too, angel. See you soon.”
Chapter Six
Kelly’s eyebrows were raised and Jesse knew what her sister was thinking.
“I know. I’m awfully calm for someone whose fiancé is trapped and might not get here in time for the wedding.”
“Yup,” Kelly said, rather succinctly. “Want to tell me what you did to achieve this calm? Cause, I gotta tell you, the muscle relaxers weren’t a good idea for the bride in Sixteen Candles and they’re not a good idea for you now.”
Jesse laughed. “I haven’t taken anything. Zach called and told me to stay calm and that’s what I’m doing. It’s too early to panic yet. There’s plenty of time for them to get here, plenty of time for the snow to stop, or at least slow down enough for them to use the snowmobiles to make it here. It’s all good.” She nodded her head like that settled everything and turned to enter the spa with the aid of her crutches.
Looking down at her foot and then back at Kelly, she added, “I wonder if they can do a pedicure on a swollen, injured foot.”
Kelly shook her head and held the door open for Jesse. Jill, Jennie, and Kelly and Jesse’s mom all sat in puffy chairs in the lobby of the spa waiting for them and Jesse smiled. There was another reason she was staying so calm right now. She knew she had a lot of reasons to be grateful. She had her health—mostly, provided you didn’t count her ankle, and that would heal—she had her family and her friends, and she had Zach.
When Logan had come on the phone to assure her he’d get Zach back to the hotel before the wedding, he’d actually done something else. He had reminded her of the sacrifices he and other men in uniform had made for her and the people she loved. Logan had been shot on a recent mission, and from what Zach had told her, he was lucky to have made it back to the states alive. She knew that Chad, Jennie’s husband, had served as an Army Ranger and most of his team had not made it home with him on his final mission. Who was she to bitch about screwed up wedding plans or whine like an infant because things might not go exactly as planned?
She and her loved ones were here, safe and sound. Anything else was a bonus.
Kelly and Jennie not only kept Jesse distracted during their spa day, they kept her bent over nearly doubled with laughter.
“No, I’m serious,” Kelly said, looking at Jill and Jesse. “When you say you’re not in the mood, that you feel so unattractive when you’re pregnant, the guys just assume you mean you feel fat.”
Jennie chimed in. “Ugh, I wish that was all it is.”
“It’s not? I always assumed women said that because they were as big as a house and felt like it,” Jesse said.
“That’s not the half of it. You either haven’t pooped in three days or—” Kelly said before Jennie jumped in.
“Or, you can’t stop pooping!” Jennie finished her sentence before going on. “Or you’re gassy or so nauseous all you want to do is lie still.”
“Without anyone touching you,” Kelly added and Jennie nodded enthusiastically.
Jesse turned to her mother, sitting in the pedicure chair across from her. “Was it the same for you, Mom?”
Mrs. Bradley shook her head with an indulgent smile on her face. “Girls, I’ve raised two boys and two girls. The teenage years of four children completely overwrote any memories I have of the details of pregnancy. As far as my mind is concerned, it was all rainbows and balloons and sweet baby clothes.”
“Hey! We were good teenagers. We hardly gave you any trouble at all,” Jesse said with similar sentiments coming from Kelly at the same time.
Their mother rolled her eyes at them. “Please. Two girls in the house hitting their teens only two years apart? Between the two of you routinely having PMS at the same time and your brothers trying to sneak out the windows at night to visit girls, you all kept your father and I plenty busy.”
“Ugh,“ Jesse said with her own eye roll toward Kelly. “I almost forgot how much Dad used to grill any boy who came to pick us up. It was humiliating.”
Jill was laughing as Kelly nodded. “And, then Liam and David thought they were old enough to get in on it, too. Ridiculous.”
“Your brothers used to harass your dates, too?” Jill asked as Lea and Kate laughed. They had been friends with Jesse all through high school and knew all about the harassment she and Kelly had been subject to at the hands of her brothers.
“Yup,” Jesse said. “The poor guys had to answer to Dad inside and then our brothers would be waiting outside to ambush them on the way to the car with a few threats of their own. It was crazy until Mom finally managed to rein them in a bit.”
Mrs. Bradley was laughing at the memory as well. “I didn’t rein them in. I simply began baking cookies before any of your dates. It kept the boys busy while you were being picked up and the cookies would cheer your dad up when he came into the kitchen grumbling that he hoped,” she lowered her voice to a comical imitation of her husband, “this one’s not the one. Boy couldn’t find his left hand if his right wrote out directions for him.”
“What did he say about Zach when we first began dating? Did he ever grill him or give him trouble?” Jesse asked, realizing she couldn’t ever remember her dad dragging Zach into his study to interrogate him.
The smile on her mother’s face was indulgent and filled with love. “No. Never needed to. We never once questioned Zach’s devotion to you. We knew that man would never do anything to hurt you if he could help it. He was made to care for you, protect you. It’s in his blood.”
Jesse teared up as she processed what her mom had said and knew it was true. She hugged her mom tight and said a quick prayer that Zach and Logan would arrive safely.
Chapter Seven
Okay, a little of Jesse’s Zen state was slipping. She watched anxiously out the front windows of the hotel, hoping to catch some sign of Zach and Logan. The snow had eased up considerably and she’d even seen a few plow trucks out. The guys had called well over an hour ago to say they were headed out on the snowmobiles and should make it to the resort in plenty of time to dress and get ready for the wedding.
Jesse had yet to put on her dress or even do her hair and makeup. She just wanted to see Zach. And, frankly, she’d expected him a lot sooner than this. It should have only taken about forty-five minutes for them to arrive. She tried to calm herself but she had to admit, there were a lot of scenarios racing through her mind. Everything from bears attacking them as they cut thr
ough the woods to lakes and rivers that might be invisible because of the snow but still create a deadly trap for a snowmobile. They should have just waited for the roads to clear and come through that way.
“They’ll be fine, Jesse.” Her brother Liam rested his hand on her shoulder. “They’re probably just moving slowly, making sure they don’t run into trouble or lose their way.”
“Lost. Oh God. I hadn’t even thought of that possibility.” Her heart raced as she watched the empty parking area for any sign of Zach. “How are they finding their way? It’s not like there are roads and signs and stuff.”
“Nice going, Liam,” her other brother David said as he walked up to them. “They’re fine, Jesse. They both know how to find their way out there without even a compass if they have to, and I’m pretty sure both of them would have thought to bring one along. Trust me, they’re not lost.”
Liam raised his head. “Listen.” He pointed out toward the far side of the parking lot, where the woods were blanketed in a heavy covering of snow. “That’s got to be them.”
Jesse watched as two dots appeared at the edge of the woods, becoming larger by the minute. She took the first deep breath she’d taken since she plastered the fake smile on her face a couple of hours ago. She could make out two riders headed this way. It didn’t take long to pick out Zach’s bright red hat he loved, and she laughed as they got closer and she saw that Logan had a garment bag strapped to his back. The tuxedos. They’d not only gotten here. They’d brought the tuxedos with them.
It took a few minutes for the guys to get in the door, but once they did, Jesse didn’t have to wait long. Zach scooped her up and had her in his arms instantly.
“You ready to do this thing, Miss Bradley? I’ve been waiting a long time for this, you know?”
Jesse laughed and put her hands on his cheeks. They were frozen. “We have time to get you guys warmed up and into those monkey suits. And, I have a dress to put on.”
Kelly chimed in. “Plenty of time, guys. We still have two hours.”
Jesse laughed when she saw Jack and Andrew working at removing the garment bag from Logan’s back. “Really? Duct tape, guys?”
“Had to have our hands free to ride,” Logan said, as if it was blatantly obvious that the duct tape wrapped around his torso and up over his shoulders was the solution and Jesse was the odd one for even questioning his choice in tactics. But, the truth was, Jesse didn’t care. They were here.
***
After dealing with the near-catastrophe of having her husband-to-be almost miss the wedding because of her pre-wedding superstitions, Jesse threw all of her previously held beliefs out the window and called Zach to her room to ask him to carry her downstairs for the ceremony. Screw it. The man could see her in her dress five minutes before the wedding.
As they waited, Jesse smiled at her bridesmaids. Kelly, Jill, Lea, and Kate all grinned back at her. They all wore a different version of the same colored dress; a gorgeous ruby red that matched the men’s vests and ties for the ceremony. Next to the ivory of Jesse’s gown, it did exactly what Jesse had hoped it would do. It made her think of the holidays and family and happiness.
The banquet hall downstairs should already have the ivory table clothes with ruby red napkins on them ready for the reception. Even the Christmas trees that stood on either side of the huge stone fireplace in the hall had been decorated in her ivory and red colors to draw the entire room into the wedding motif. The ceremony would be off to one side in front of the balcony with its floor to ceiling windows and French doors that provided a perfect view of the winter landscape outside.
She turned at the knock on her hotel room door and sucked in a breath as she took in the sight of Zach in his tuxedo. Zach in everyday clothes floored her. In a tux? He nearly stopped her heart.
Zach reached for her and let his hand trail down her cheek as he often did when he first saw her in the morning or when he picked her up after work for dinner.
“How did I get to be so lucky?” he asked. He’d ask that same question at each of those times as well. She usually teased him and told him he really ought to have come up with an answer to that question by now, but this time, she just melted into him and breathed in his scent. Their day was finally here.
“Okay, people,” said Kelly behind them. Jesse turned and saw Kelly lift her crutches. Jack entered the room and picked up Maddie and her basket of flowers, followed by Chad who took Ella from Jennie. Jill and Andrew each carried one of the twins as Kelly continued. “I’ll make sure your crutches make it into the reception hall. I assume Zach’s got the walk down the aisle handled?”
Zach grinned and scooped Jesse up into his arms. “Got her.”
Jesse snuggled into his arms as they all made their way to the bank of elevators down the hall. Maybe twisting her ankle a few days before her wedding wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
“You ready for this?” Zach whispered to her as the elevator doors closed and Jesse almost wished they were back in their hotel room alone. There was something about the feel of his skin as his cheek met hers that made her tingle. His skin felt…well, just so male against her soft skin. It might be an odd turn on, but it was a turn on for her whether she liked it or not.
“You bet, Mr. Harris.”
“You’ll be Mrs. Harris in less than an hour.” His smile was wide and easy and it got wider when Jesse heard her sister, Jill, and Jennie all awwwww behind him. She peeked over his shoulder and grinned at her friends and her sister.
The elevator doors slid open and Zach led the group toward the hotel’s lobby. The banquet hall where both the ceremony and reception were being held was on the opposite side of the lobby, taking up one whole side of the hotel. The hall looked out on the side grounds of the resort, which during the summer months held gardens. In the winter, the manicured shrubs of the gardens all held a blanket of snow, and the pine trees of the forest behind it created a picture-postcard-worthy landscape.
They had just stepped into the lobby when Jesse spotted the shoe salesmen and began to wave, prepared to wiggle her slippers to show Anthony how perfectly they went with her dress. It was then that the hotel doors slid open and something Jesse could have only thought she’d see play out in the movies began to unfold before her eyes. Before she could process what was happening, Zach had her pressed against the wall, his body shielding hers. She looked to her side and saw Jill, Jennie, and Kelly in similar positions behind their husbands, with Logan standing guard in front of Lea and Kate.
The elevator doors chimed and opened in seemingly slow motion as Jesse processed the shocked looks on her parents’ faces as Zach yelled at them to stay back when they tried to step out of the elevator.
Police officers—a lot of them—swarmed the lobby and surrounded the shoe salesmen, hands on their weapons at their sides while one man in the front said something about warrants and seizures of property. Jesse saw Tommy, the briefcase kid, as she now thought of him, skip into the banquet room behind them as the police began to round up Anthony and all of his cohorts. Mafia.
Jesse shook her head as it dawned on her. She’d been right. There was something about the shoe guys that hadn’t seemed right and, apparently, she’d been spot on. Well, not spot on maybe, since she still had no idea what they were being arrested for as the police officers began to put those plastic zip-tie cuffs on each of them; their wives began to scream about rights and police brutality in a showing that would have made the girls of Jersey Shore proud.
The ridiculousness of the situation began to overwhelm Jesse and she felt her anti-bridezilla defenses come falling down. Yup. She was on the verge of a momentous bridezilla moment. Although, maybe if it’s justified, it doesn’t count as a bridezilla moment. And this had to count. Because not only had she twisted her ankle and come close to a wedding that was missing a groom and only had raw food to serve, she now had a mafia arrest happening before her eyes.
But, was that enough? Apparently not.
The universe
decided to throw smoke at her also. Black smoke billowing out from under the banquet room doors followed rather quickly by Tommy pushing his way out, face buried in the arm of his coat as he tried to control his coughing. From there, things began to blur a bit. She knows Zach carried her outside, and she saw her parents, friends, and family make it outside. Maddie was excited over all of the chaos and bounced in Jack’s arms. Ella looked frightened and on the verge of tears as Jennie cooed to her. The twins simply stared with wide eyes, arms wrapped tightly around Andrew and Jill’s necks as Jesse and her wedding party watched in horror as fire trucks arrived and began to spray water on the left side of the hotel.
The left side of the hotel where her wedding should have begun not more than ten minutes ago.
And, that’s when Jesse lost it. Not in the normal way one might have thought she would. Nope. First, she just felt laughter bubbling up inside of her. Not normal laughter. This was that high-pitched laughter of the crazy person in the slasher movies right before she cut everyone to bits. And, then Jesse let loose with an impressive array of curse words that she felt sure would put any sailor to shame because, well, that’s what Jesse did when she was stressed.
She heard Maddie telling Ella to cover her ears followed by Logan’s, “Wow. That puts half my unit to shame.”
“Jesse.” Zach’s hands framed her face as he looked down at her, his eyes wide, and his expression said it all. Even he was clearly at a loss for words. Jesse felt the tears begin to fall and she swiped at her nose with the back of her hand.
“Well, that’s that. I’m pretty sure, that’s the final freaking straw,” she said as she waved her arm in the general direction of the fire and the police officers and the stupid, shoe salesmen mafia guys and their screaming wives. She nodded but her face was covered in tears. “That clinches it. No wedding for us today.”
Zach did all he could do. He pulled her into his arms as they all watched on in silence. There really was nothing anyone could say or do to fix it. Her winter wonderland wedding was in a shambles and she didn’t even know where to begin to put it back together again.