Page 13 of Fall Wedding With the Mountain Man
It was my brother getting married after all.
But for some inexplicable reason, I found myself staring across at the maid of honor through the whole ceremony. I was the best man, so we were across from each other the entire time.
The look on her face when she realized her bestie was marrying my brother was priceless.
The kitten had gotten tired, and she was sleeping in the crook of my arm. We’d have to stop and get her some food and water before we went to the reception.
Bringing a brand-new foster kitten to an event as loud and boisterous as this wasn’t ideal. But Lizzie had fallen in love with the kitty, and I couldn’t help nudging her into taking it home with us.
Lizzie appeared to be paying better attention to the wedding, but her eyes wandered over to me a fair amount. I still had a sneaking suspicion that this night was going to end with her in my bed. And I hoped that wasn’t all wishful thinking.
“And now you may kiss the bride.”
The whole crowd cheered as Thatcher and Shelby smooched at the altar.
Their love story had been sweet.
When Shelby showed up in town, she’d been studious, serious, and not looking for love.
But Thatcher had picked up the trash in front of the law office one day and spotted her. That was all it took for him to declare that he was going to make her his. He said it was love at first sight.
Up until today, I hadn’t believed in that.
Then I saw Lizzie at the auto parts store, and everything changed.
But despite what I might want, the chance of Lizzie and me turning into a thing like Thatcher and Shelby seemed like a long shot.
Lizzie was even more uptight and type A than Shelby had ever been.
And the way she’d talked about Shelby ‘casting her dreams aside’ to live in a Podunk town in order to marry a trashman showed me exactly what she thought.
The woman had bigger dreams than somewhere like this.
And if she was so unimpressed with Deer Springs, what would she think of Red Oak Mountain? It was even more rural and isolated.
So it was pretty ridiculous for me to be fantasizing about anything more than a vacation fling with this woman.
But that didn’t mean I could stop myself from wanting more.
I put all those thoughts aside as I considered logistics. The wedding party would be shifting to the Fall Festival now, but that was no place for a tired kitten.
I pulled my brother away from his beautiful bride for a moment and asked, “Can I stash Leona at your place along with Frankie?”
He’d bought a place here in Deer Springs when he and Shelby got together.
“Who’s Leona?”
I gestured down to the sleeping kitten in my arms.
“Sure. What are you doing bringing a kitten to my wedding, anyway?”
I couldn’t hide the smile on my face. “Lizzie fell in love with her.”
My brother started laughing. “No shit? Shelby’s always said Lizzy’s allergic to emotions.”
That’s what we’d been told. Shelby had grown apart from her best friend after her priorities changed. According to Shelby, Lizzie was stuck in an eternal quest for validation. Which meant more work, more promotions, which led to more work, and more promotions.
But that’s not the woman I met. The woman I’d met hadn’t been a headstrong power lawyer. She’d been a little unsure of herself and out of her element.
