Page 6 of I'll Be There
“Yes you are, baby,” Liza said, kissing her again before setting her down.
Raina dropped a bag of groceries on the round table. She wore her dark hair pulled back in an orange headband, a matching sun dress, a white sweater. “Okay, I picked up grapes, a melon, bananas, and a watermelon. Is Grace here yet?”
Liza peeked into the bag. “Not yet. But she assembled some sort of German pancake last night and left it in my fridge. I’m supposed to put it in to bake—oh shoot, ten minutes ago.”
“Let’s get going,” Raina said. “We have a little party to pull together.” She scooped up Layla, who was rummaging through the diaper bag she’d dropped on the floor next to the table, and parked the toddler on her hip. “Casper said he’d scoot down and pick up Layla so I could stick around and help. He’s helping Darek get the resort ready for tonight’s campfire.”
Liza ran a hand across her forehead. “This was a bad idea.” She blew out a breath, staring at the food.
“What—what do you mean?”
Liza picked up her phone. “Conner’s going to be late.”
Silence. Then, “So what? So you push the surprise back a little. Have you even heard from his friends? You never know—their flight could be late. I heard a storm is headed up the shore.”
“Yeah, exactly. In the form of this crazy wedding.” Liza walked over to the front window, staring out past her porch to the pebbled beach along the harbor, the lake lapping the shore under the arch of the cloudless sky. All blue, nothing amiss. The perfect Deep Haven day.
“It’s just pre-wedding jitters,” Raina said. She’d set Layla on the sofa and was feeding her a cracker from the diaper bag. “I understand—I had them too, right before—”
“It was just you, Casper, and his family. I’ve invited half the town.”
Raina drew in a breath and Liza turned, made a face. “I’m sorry. Of course you were freaking out. Especially after...well, you’d waited so long to finally marry Casper, and with Owen there...”
This was why she needed to stop talking. “I’m sorry. I do this when I’m nervous. Say stupid things.” She gathered Rainainto her embrace. “I’m so happy for you. And God worked everything out.”
“Yes, He did.” Raina leaned back, caught Liza’s hands. “Just breathe. You’re going to have an amazing weekend. Perfect. And marry the man you love.”
“Except the poor man desperately wanted to elope, and I’m beginning to see why.” She walked over to her rolltop desk and picked up her seating chart. “Three days before the wedding, and the venue says I have too many people. I either cut the guest list or we can’t hold the reception at the community center.”
“What happened? I thought you and Grace went over the list. You mailed out exactly the right amount of invitations.”
“Then I’d meet people in the grocery store and they’d ask when the wedding was, and I...I kept inviting more.” Liza made a face. “I’ve lived in Deep Haven for nearly fifteen years. Who am I not going to invite? My chiropractor, who lets me come in on Saturdays for emergencies? Or maybe Eli Hueston, the ex-police chief who’s pulled me out of the ditch more than once? Or perhaps the Dekkers? Because I can hardly not invite the mayor and his wife.”
Raina gave her a pitying look. “Your heart is too big.”
“No, I’m a wimp. I can’t say no. And now my cake is too small, and Grace is going to strangle me when she finds out she’ll have to order more food. And I’m going to have to set up tables down at the park on the harbor and try to keep the seagulls from eating the dinner rolls.” Not to mention she’d hardly slept last night, every moment with her eyes closed an opportunity to smell the feral breath on her face, hear the roar, feel the claws rip—
“Sit down.” Raina took her hand, brought her over to one of her overstuffed sofas. Sat next to her. “Listen, it’s going to be fine. Once Conner gets here—”
Liza winced. “He’s going to take one look at this chaos and run. He’s not a guy who likes...a fuss. He’s a simple man. He lives in a fifth wheel, for cryin’ in the sink. Carries practically the sum of his belongings around in a duffel bag. He wanted to elope, keep it simple. Sane. And I’m giving him...theTitanicof weddings.”
Raina smirked. “It’s not that bad.”
“It is. The man has a contact list of eighteen people.Eighteen.I texted every single person asking them if they wanted to come to our wedding. You know how many responded, besides his smoke jumper crew?”
Raina raised a shoulder.
“Six. Jim and Lacey Micah, Mac and Andee McCloud, and Dani and Will Masterson, all from his previous SAR team. Of them, only Jim and Lacey Micah are coming. Two people from his life. He doesn’t even have any family.”
Raina was frowning, Liza’s words obviously seeping in. “Why not?”
Liza fingered her ring, centering her thumb on the beautiful diamond Conner had given her the day last fall when he’d driven her to up to some magnificent view in Glacier National Park, dropped to his knee, and proposed.
He’d suggested even then that they simply get back on his bike and find a preacher.
“His parents died when he was a teenager. Car crash. He and his brother grew up with his grandfather. He passed away a little over a year ago of cancer. And his brother, well he was murdered.”
The word registered on Raina’s face.
