Page 144 of Not Your Average Vixen
“It’s Rudolph!” the boy cried, waving her over.
Rudolph?
“Birdie, you’ve got to see this,” Lori said with a bewildered expression.
“What is it?”
She found Tom and Lori standing together, staring out the front window with the rest of the Abbotts. What in the world could have made the bride reveal herself to the groom and break wedding protocols? It had to be something big.
Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long for the answer.
The floor vibrated, and a low rumble grew louder as a red flashing light projected onto the snow.
“See, Birdie! It’s Rudolph! The same Rudolph that I got to ride in,” Cole said, tapping the glass as Rudolph and two other snowcats lumbered up the mountain, easily traversing the heavy drifts of snow.
“What are they doing here?” Carly chimed.
Bridget stared wide-eyed as the snowcats came to a stop in front of the mountain house. The door on the Rudolph snowcat opened, and a man climbed down from the humming vehicle.
“It’s the judge!” Cole called, giving a play-by-play to the stunned adults.
Bridget gasped, hardly able to believe her eyes. But when the door to the mountain house swung open, the judge entered.
“Now, that’s a way to make an entrance,” he said, smiling as Cole and Carly hugged him around the waist, peppering him with questions about riding in Rudolph.
The rest of the family gathered around the elderly gentleman, making quite a fuss, but he waved them off.
“I’m fine. I’m fine. Now, the snowcats are here to take us all up to the chapel, and I’ve got the rings,” the man said, holding up the velvet bag.
Bridget wrapped her arms around the judge and gave him a grateful hug.
“Thank you! You’ve saved the day,” she said as the tension melted from her body.
The man chuckled. “I didn’t save the day. None of this was my idea.”
“Then whose idea was it?” Tom asked.
The judge opened the door and waved to the snowcat, and a second man emerged from the purring vehicle.
Bridget stared in disbelief. “It’s…” she trailed off, feeling weak in the knees. She’d know those dark curls and that large, muscular frame anywhere.
Soren hadn’t left Kringle.
Not only that, he was here.
Her heart hammered in her chest.
Did she want to kiss him or throttle him? Both seemed like reasonable options.
“It’s Scooter, and I’d like you all to hear what he has to say,” the judge said, then came to her side and offered her his arm. Gratefully, she took it.
And before anyone could object, the door to the mountain house swung open again, and Soren appeared.
Red-cheeked, he scanned the room, then his eyes fell on her.
“Hi,” he said with a nervous grin.
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Hi.”
