Page 27 of The Last Bachelor Dragon

“And we’re here to get Nora ready for tonight,” Felicity said. “Is she still in bed too?”

“Give me five minutes to get dressed, and then she’s all yours,” he said, opening the door to let them in. “Isn’t it a bit early to be getting ready for the wedding?”

“These things take time,” Kira said, shrugging her shoulders. “And don’t forget it’s a two-hour walk to the waterfall.”

“Two hours,” Nora said, stumbling out of the bedroom. “No one told me that. I can’t walk that far in a dress.”

“That’s why we’re going early,” Felicity said. “We don’t want you all hot and sweaty for the ceremony.”

“Kennedy picked up something on one of the bugs, I have to go,” he said, pulling Nora into his arms. “It sounds like I won’t see you until the wedding. Last chance to change your mind.”

“Not going to happen,” she said, smiling up at him. “You’re stuck with me.”

Everyone was gathered around the computer when he raced into the conference room. “They’re about to start,” Kennedy said. “The guy just walked in the door.”

There was the sound of a door slamming, then a brief silence, “Good morning, Mr. Adaloni,” a man said timidly. “I understand you wanted to speak to me. I came as fast as I could.”

“I wish I could say the same thing for the weapons you promised me, Carruthers,” Mr. Adaloni said. “I’m not accustomed to being disappointed.”

“Sir, when we made the deal for the guns I told you there might be a delay in delivery,” Carruthers said. “These things happen, bribes have to be arranged, and it can take time.”

“I don’t want to hear excuses, I want my guns,” Adaloni shouted. “I paid you good money, I want my property. You have forty-eight hours to deliver; if the guns aren’t here, I will hold you personally responsible. Do you understand?”

There was a brief silence, then the sound of Carruthers clearing his throat. “Yes, sir,” he finally said. “I’ll get right on it.”

They heard the sound of a door slamming again. “Idiot,” Adaloni said. “Whether he gets me the guns or not, I want to make an example of him. He’s got forty-eight hours to live one way or the other.”

“Yes, sir,” another man said. “What about Heart of the Ocean? Should we postpone our plans?”

“No, I want that island, and I’m tired of waiting,” Adaloni growled. “Guns or not, we’re going after the island in three days. We’ll go in at night, and they’ll never even know we’re coming. Their puny security measures won’t stand up to a full-on assault, especially if we go in on the south side of the island.”

“Yes, sir,” the man said again. “I’ll notify the men, they’ve been getting restless.”

“Send them out to harass some of the smaller islands, that always cheers them up,” Adaloni said. “Now leave me alone, I have some planning to do.”

***Nora***

Nora washot and sweaty by the time the trail ended abruptly on the top of a rise, but it only took her a second to realize why when she heard the roar of water. Stopping to catch her breath, she watched Juliet, Kira, Eden, and Wren disappear through a break in the vegetation, then looked over at Stella and Felicity, who were grinning at her.

“Come on, what are you waiting for?” Stella asked, giving her a nudge. “Are you nervous?”

“A little,” she admitted. “This place is so important to all of you, I’m afraid I’ll be disappointed.”

“Just relax, Nora,” Felicity said. “Everything is going to be perfect, you’ll see. The island wouldn’t have it any other way.”

When she stepped into the little clearing, she only made it a few steps before she had to stop and give herself a few seconds to take it all in. A green carpet of grass covered the entire space, running right up to the edge of the big pool that swirled at the bottom of a beautiful waterfall. Moss-covered rocks and boulders formed a perfect wall around most of thepool, but a grassy slope led right down to the water, and she instantly thought about how refreshing it would be to dive in.

Off to one side of the waterfall, a big white tent had been set up. Next to it was a firepit with a seating area made of cushions. On the other side of the clearing, a long banquet table rested under the cover of a white canopy, set with sparkling dinnerware and a row of tall candles marching down the center. She could just imagine what it would look like once it got dark.

Completely charmed, she just stood there, goosebumps breaking out on her skin when she realized how much work her new friends had done to make the wedding perfect. “Oh, this is amazing,” she finally said, tears in her eyes. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more perfect.”

“Hey, where did that come from?” Stella asked, looking over Nora’s shoulder at the table. “We didn’t bring that up here.”

“But I wish we would have, it’s perfect,” Eden said, walking over to them. “It looks like the island is going to provide dinner.”

She looked over at the table, then back at the group of women. “You’re kidding, right?” she asked. “The island couldn’t have…never mind, what am I saying, of course it could.”

Everyone laughed, “I think I’ll just shut up and say thank you again,” she said, looking around the clearing. “This really is amazing, I can’t thank you enough.”

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