Page 95 of I'll Be There
“And if you show up, I promise, I’ll take care of the rest.”
He got up, took a breath. Glanced at Justin.
Justin raised an eyebrow at her, piquing the question, then turned. Conner followed him, disappearing around the corner.
And Liza couldn’t remember how to breathe.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Stop being so antsy. You’re acting like a seven-year-old.”
Conner glanced over at his brother, dressed to the nines in Reuben’s pressed tux. It bagged a little around the middle, but Justin filled out the shoulders, the sleeves hitting him just above his clasped hands.
Justin. Best man. Conner’s throat tightened, and he shook away the impossibility of it all. “No I’m not,” he whispered just above the current hymn playing on the organ.
He shouldn’t have come out so soon, should have waited until he spied Liza in the vestibule, but—
Justin’s fault. His brother had pressed a hand to the small of his back, practically shoving him out in front of their three-hundred-plus, standing-room-only crowd.
All waiting, unbeknownst to them, to see a guy get stood up at the altar.
“You’ve fixed your jacket, adjusted your tie, loosened your collar, pulled at your sleeves—next, you’ll retie your shoes.”
“Are they—” He looked down.
“No. Stop it.” Justin’s big hand came down on his shoulder. He leaned in, whispered above the music, “I had to come all the way back from the dead to tell you to breathe.”
Conner searched the crowd and landed on a few familiar faces—the Christiansen family, sitting mostly together on the bride’s side. Big John, the family patriarch, his arm around Ingrid, who beamed, already crying. Grace and Max with their daughter, Yulia. Darek, who met his gaze and gave him a nod, a smirk, sitting with Ivy and Tiger, who bounced his little sister on his knee. Casper Christiansen, his arm up on the pew, stretched along the empty space his daughter would occupy after her duties as flower girl, fully recovered from last night’s scare.
Romeo, slouched at the end, who waggled an eyebrow when Conner’s gaze landed on him. Yeah, the kid had hotshot potential written all over him.
He spotted Seth on his side of the aisle—although with the pews so full, maybe it didn’t matter. The big lumberjack sat alone, leaning forward onto his knees. He glanced at the closed double doors, back to Conner. Gave him a thumbs up.
Conner’s gaze ran to the clock. Two minutes past eleven, and still no...
Justin’s hand tightened on his shoulder. “Have a little faith.” He let go and assumed his position.
Conner glanced at his groomsmen, nodding as he met Justin’s eyes, then Pete’s, who stood behind Justin, similarly cleaned up, his blond hair clubbed at the nape of his neck. Pete winked at Conner.
Oh, please, Liza...
The door opened in the back and Conner drew in a breath.
A woman propped the door open. Tall, beautiful with her auburn hair pulled back, she looked up and met his gaze, grinned. Waved. Kate Ransom, Jed’s wife, fellow smoke jumper all the way from Montana. Then, as he watched—nearly ran down the aisle in a crazy rush of relief—Jed appeared, pushing a wheelchair. Reuben rolled his eyes, wearing a chagrined smile as Jed angled him down the aisle. Behind them pretty and petite Gilly Priest, Reuben’s girlfriend, walked beside Kate.
Jed rolled Reuben right up to the front row, then along the stage, and parked him at the end of the row. Kate and Gilly took the first pew. Jed walked back to Conner, met his handshake. “Family always shows up. Even if we’re a little late.”
He clamped Conner on the arm, then joined Kate in the pew.
Late.
Conner glanced at the clock. Five minutes.
The doors had closed again.
He’d thought...he blew out a breath, his throat scratchy. Maybe his promises weren’t enough. Because Justin was right. He could only give her the man he was, not the man she wanted him to be.
He closed his eyes, bent his head, not able to watch as the crowd waited through another hymn.
