Page 145 of Not Your Average Vixen
He held her gaze, and those cat-like eyes sparkled with an intriguing hopefulness. He looked like a new man.
“I need to talk to your sister first, but then there’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“Okay,” she replied, limited to one-word utterances.
What was he doing here?
“Don’t even think of upsetting my fiancée,” Tom said as he wrapped his arm around Lori protectively.
Soren took another tentative step into the room. “Tom, I know that I betrayed your trust and that you’re furious with me.”
The man huffed an incredulous bark of a laugh. “Furious? Furious doesn’t even come close to how I feel.”
Soren put up his hands defensively. “I understand that, Tom. I owe you and everyone in your family an apology. I’m not making any excuses for my behavior. I did come to this wedding to stop it. That’s the truth, but it’s not as simple as that.”
“Enlighten us,” Tom said, but there was more hurt than anger in his tone.
Soren looked around the room. “I thought I was on the brink of losing everything that was good in my life. I allowed my fear of losing all of you to bring out the worst in me. I convinced myself that you weren’t ready for marriage, Tom. But it wasn’t you who wasn’t ready. The minute I saw you with Lori all those months ago at the restaurant, I knew you loved her. And I could see how much she cared for you. I just couldn’t admit that to myself.”
“What did you think was going to happen?” Tom asked as pain and confusion flashed in his eyes.
Soren held the man’s gaze. “I thought that if you got married, you’d move on without me. No more Abbott family holidays, and no more Scooter. When I’m Scooter, I’m whole. I’m kind. I’m the person I want to be. But this is where I made a mistake.”
“And what’s that?” Tom asked, his voice softening.
“I used to think that I never learned how to love because of my parents. I focused so hard on that and couldn’t see that I’d spent the last sixteen years surrounded by love. From Grace and Scott, to Denise and Nancy, and then to Cole and Carly, and now, from you and Lori, I’ve seen firsthand what love is. Tom, you’ve been my best friend for most of my life. You taught me acceptance and loyalty, but fear kept me from understanding that Scooter and Soren could be the same man. And that’s why I want to make a promise to Lori,” he finished, turning to her sister.
“To me?” Lori asked, sharing a perplexed look with Tom.
“Well, to you and to your baby. Will you hear me out?” Soren pleaded.
Lori’s lips parted once, then twice, before she finally nodded.
Soren blew out a shaky breath. “I was nothing but sullen and cruel, and you met my horrendous behavior with nothing but kindness. I promise that from this day forward, I’m on your side. I promise to always be there for you, Tom, and your child. You’ve made my best friend happier than I have ever seen him, and I’m grateful to you. But you don’t have to take me up on this promise. I know my relationship with Tom, and everyone here may be beyond repair. And if none of you want to see me again, I understand. But I give you my word that, from this moment on, I’m going to live my life in a way that would make you proud,” he said, looking as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders.
Lori glanced up at Tom, who nodded with tears in his eyes.
“We accept, Scooter,” Lori replied, then embraced the man.
But Bridget wasn’t convinced. Not yet. Not after what he’d said and what he’d done.
“You don’t make promises,” she said as her voice, sharp and strong, sliced through the room.
He met her gaze head-on with conviction written all over his face. “I do now because I understand what it means.”
“What does it mean to you?” she challenged.
Her senses heightened as he walked toward her—each of his footfalls vibrating through her body.
“It means something like this,” he replied, unzipping his coat and retrieving a folded packet of papers from his breast pocket. He handed them over to her, and she stared at the first few lines.
Bridget Dasher
Owner
Cupid Bakery Corporation
She glanced at the judge and then back to Soren.
