Page 117 of The Moment He Saw Her

He let her go with a kiss and started pouring champagne.

Today Sawyer and Birdie were getting married in the Swing Through Cafe after much debate by all members of the family. Finally, Uncle Asher had been the voice of reason and told the couple that they’d likely all catch a cold on their deck, and that having it in the cafe meant all the work would be done for them, and that was that.

With the help of the family, they’d spent yesterday setting everything up and were now ready for the big day. Downstairs had more room, so they’d transformed it by moving around tables and chairs and creating an aisle with the help of Linda and Frank’s strip of blue carpet.

Flowers, greenery, bows, and candles were dotted about the place, which Libby had spent hours moving around until they were situated just right. They combined to create a nice scent for the guests who would be arriving soon.

They’d woken to a bitterly cold day in Lyntacky that had a feeling of magic in the air, which Libby had said while burrowing into his chest and trying to warm her cold nose. He’d privately thought it felt like a blizzard threat but had wisely kept that to himself.

The last few weeks had been a whirlwind for Libby and Ryder—namely, for her. Her father had continued to try to bring her home, at first demanding, then coercing. In the end, Ryder had told her that to deal with this, they needed to fly to Piedmont.

She hadn’t wanted to but eventually relented. So Ryder had met her family and stayed at Libby’s side when she’d told them she was moving to Lyntacky to make chocolates, and she wanted her father to unfreeze her bank accounts.

He’d refused. Ryder had asked to have a word in private with the man and then told him exactly what he thought about that reaction. He had also laid out how he expected him to treat his daughter going forward, and that he had no right to withhold Libby’s money from her. He didn’t doubt that Phillip Caldwell loved her, but also knew things had to go his way. They’d never be on good terms, but at least they now understood each other. They’d then left with three suitcases of Libby’s things and the rest organized to be sent to her.

Three days later her father had released her money, and she’d withdrawn every cent and opened a new account.

Ryder understood her family’s concern that their relationship happened so quickly after Libby’s failed wedding, but like Sawyer had said to him a few days ago, “You know when you know.”

“Showtime,” he called to her as the door to the cafe opened and the guests started to arrive. Meadow and Hamish McAllister were first, wearing matching caftans in rainbow colors. Behind them came their three other children dressed normally.

“You didn’t get the caftan memo?” Ryder asked Finch. He wore dress trousers and a button-down shirt.

He shuddered. “Don’t, man. Seriously, you have no idea how hard they tried.”

They handed out drinks, and then Ryder sat next to Libby and his family and watched the oldest Duke sibling stumble through his wedding vows, looking at his future wife through the eyes of a man deeply in love.

Birdie wore a pale blue dress over her large belly and a floral circlet in her hair. The baby was due to arrive in a few weeks, but Ryder’s mom said it could be any day.

Ryder felt Libby’s hand slip into his as around them guests smiled and cried. Looking down, he saw she was crying too. He squeezed her fingers gently, and she gave him a watery smile.

“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered.

“It is,” he agreed.

She’d told him repeatedly she was going to get a place of her own here in Lyntacky, but so far that hadn’t happened. They were too small or too cold or some other reason that he thought was her being picky, because she didn’t want to move out of his house that was slowly filling up with her things.

“So much simpler than the production that was planned for my wedding,” Libby said.

“And cheaper,” he whispered in her ear.

“May you know nothing but happiness from this day forward,” Tripp said to Sawyer and Birdie.

“I like those words,” Libby said.

“Okay, so maybe when our time comes, we’ll use them too?”

She looked up at him with that beautiful smile on her face. “Maybe we will.”

And this, he thought, was happiness. For years he’d taken his time to sort out what he wanted in his life, but he hadn’t done that with Libby. He may have denied it briefly, but she was always meant to be his, as he was hers.

They congratulated the happy couple and then drank champagne and ate the finger foods Birdie had ordered. Libby decorated the cake because it turned out she had a flair for that kind of thing.

“You look happy, bro,” Dan said, wandering up.

“I am.”

“I was just talking to Linda, and she’s put in a big order for chocolates with Libby. Seems like your online business is taking off, Ry.”

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