Page 30 of The Moment He Saw Her

“What did you talk to him about?”

“Being brave enough to do what I’ve always wanted to and step out from behind the protective wall of my family.” Ryder remembered that day like it was yesterday. He’d made lists of pros and cons, but he just wasn’t sure, and then after that talk with Mr. Tricker, he’d approached Larry Limpet with his oldest brother, Sawyer, who knew how to speak grumpy asshole fluently. The rest was history.

“My fiancé said that we should put off the wedding because the photos would have this in them,” she said, touching the scar again. “He knew the professional ones could be worked on to remove it, but not the private ones. The ones that would end up on social media. I knew it was his mother behind what he was saying, as she’s a dominant woman, but it still hurt.”

“Sounds like a real winner,” Ryder said, thinking he’d like to meet the man and give him a few lessons on how to treat people—namely, the woman who was meant to be his wife.

“He’s actually not a bad guy, just….” Her words fell away. “It’s complicated. My life is very different, and I come from another world than yours.”

“A rich world?”

She didn’t answer that.

“My sister Katie said that Andrew wanted to speak with me at the church. I thought it odd because he wasn’t meant to see me beforehand, or so the tradition goes.”

She was back there now, her eyes focused on Ryder but not really seeing.

“I went into the room next door and found him. Andrew took my hands in his and said that if I loved him, I’d do this small thing he was about to ask of me.” She sniffed loudly as more tears threatened to fall. “He told me his mother was worried pictures would be taken even though people had been banned from doing so, and they’d end up on the internet, and they’d show my scar.”

Ryder swore under his breath.

“I needed to promise him I would turn to my good side all day, and?—”

“Are you kidding me?” The words exploded out of Ryder. “Tell me he wasn’t serious?”

“Ryder—”

“No, Libby. You’re his princess! The one person he would live and die for, and he was worried about that.” He leaned forward and touched her scar gently. “It was wrong on so many levels,” he added when she didn’t speak. “You know that, and that’s why you ran, right?”

The tears started to fall then. “I-I don’t know why I knew then that I couldn’t go through with it. Andrew and I, we understood each other. He was the husband I’d always wanted, but right then I couldn’t do it. I tried to talk to him, but he said he had to go before someone saw us together.”

“What did you do?”

“I-I sat in that room, numb and unsure of my next move. His mother came next and told me that if I loved her son, I’d do this for him.”

Ryder blew out an angry breath.

“I mean, I knew they w-were worried about the ph-photos, as Andrew and his mother had tried to p-postpone the wedding. But to t-talk to me then, before I was to walk down the a-aisle….”

“It’s all right, Libby,” he said as her words turned to sobs. Heartbreaking sobs that made his chest burn.

Ryder reached for her then, lifting her onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her. She stiffened and tried to pull away, but he held her tighter, placing his chin on top of her head.

“You know what you did was the right thing, Libby. Even though your life isn’t going to plan now, it will again I promise. You’re strong and brave. No one could do what you did and not be.”

She cried into his shirt. Her hands curled into fists against his chest as he held her like he would Ally if she were upset.

“I know you’re going to doubt what you did, Libby, but trust me on this, there would have been other things that he would have asked of you. Things that would have broken another piece inside you.”

She looked up at him then, her eyes red rimmed and still brimming with tears, and he felt something move in his chest. He’d closed the distance between them before he thought better of it and kissed her softly. It was just for comfort and over in seconds. “Everything is going to be okay, Libby. I promise.”

She laid her cheek back on his chest and gave a deep sigh as all fight left her.

He wasn’t sure how long he lay there with her in his arms weeping, but in that moment, he knew this woman needed his strength, and he wanted to give it to her.

Ryder closed his eyes when her tears eventually eased, and then he felt her body soften against his, and seconds later, he knew only darkness.

Chapter9

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