“You stay away from my sister,” Sam growled. The men laughed. Sam had told all of them that same thing when they were growing up around his sister.
“I’m glad you finally got over your fears, Ryder. We all knew who made you into the good man you are today,” Gabe told him.
“I know. It took me a while to accept it though. Kelsey has helped me realize a lot of things about myself but yes, Grace and Frank are my real parents, even if not by blood. I’m so glad I have them in my life. Frank actually got tears in his eyes when I asked him to be my best man. Hell, never thought I’d see something like that.”
The door opened and Frank stepped inside. The room went silent, and every man turned to look at him. He stopped in his tracks as if he’d done something he shouldn’t.
“What?”
“Nothing,” Ryder chuckled. “We were just talking about you, Dad. I was saying how glad I am to have you and Mom in my life. For making me the man, I am today and for the best thing of all…for bringing Kelsey into my life.”
Frank grinned and shrugged. “Well, I’m certainly happy you two fell in love. Your mom and I couldn’t be more pleased about it.”
“You didn’t plan it all along, did you, Frank?” Riley asked with suspicion in his tone.
“I refuse to answer that on the grounds it may incriminate me.” Frank grinned.
Ryder narrowed his eyes at him. “Are you serious? You planned this?”
“Well, let’s just say when Kels was being stalked, it was the perfect opportunity to get you two together. Your mom and I had often said it was a shame you two lived so far apart.”
Ryder stared at him, his mouth opened as if he wanted to say something, and then he suddenly burst out laughing. “Well then, Dad, I appreciate you sending her to me even more than you know.”
“Anyone want some champagne?” Frank asked and laughed when the men screwed up their faces and shook their heads. “Okay then, I’ll be right back.” He left the room.
“Where’s he going?” Brody asked.
Ryder shrugged. “No idea. Hope it’s not to get champagne.”
A few minutes later, Frank returned, pushing the door open and carrying a small cooler. He set it down on the floor and pulled the lid up and off. The men all looked inside with some hesitation and then started to laugh. Inside were nine bottles of beer.
Trick squatted down and reached inside the cooler. He handed each man a beer and took the last one for himself. They twisted off the tops, tapped the bottles together, and took a swig.
“Who needs champagne when you can have beer?” Ryder asked, smiling and happy surrounded by the best men he knew.
****
“Who wants champagne?” Grace asked the room full of chattering women.
“We all do, of course. Thank you.” Kelsey heard Olivia say.
Grace handed out the rest of the flutes. “I can’t believe Kelsey asked me to be her matron of honor.”
Kelsey smiled when she heard Grace express her excitement over being her matron of honor.
“She loves you, Grace. You and Frank were responsible for bringing Ryder into her life,” Emma said with a smile as she clinked her glass to the one Grace was holding.
Kelsey glanced in the mirror over the sink in the bathroom. It was her wedding day and she was happier than she’d been in her entire life. In the room adjacent were the women who had become as important to her as if they were her sisters. Grace was the mother who loved Ryder, and the others had fast become her best friends these past months. Life was perfect.
“Can I just say that Riley Madison is absolutely gorgeous? Those whiskey-colored eyes are so hot. I think Sam’s blue eyes are gorgeous too, but Riley’s are like the color of fine aged Scotch. I wouldn’t mind taking a sip, he’s really sexy too,” Olivia said.
“Olivia Rene Roberts Stone, can you remember even for a moment that you’re married?” Becca asked her. Kelsey chuckled hearing this. That’s Olivia.
“What do I always say? I’m married, I ain’t dead. I can still think a man is gorgeous, can’t I?”
Emma burst out laughing. “Give up, Becca. I have.”
“You know, sometimes I wonder if Frank actually planned it all. Sending Kelsey here to Montana, I mean. We’d often talked about introducing them but they never seemed to both be in Atlanta or available at the same time. We could have kept her safe back home in Georgia.”
Becca laughed. “Well, if he did, it worked out perfectly.”
“I think it’s romantic,” Madilyn said.
“Well, almost perfectly. I suppose if Ryder Wolfe hadn’t been such a stubborn thick-skinned cowboy it could’ve gone easier,” Kelsey said as she entered the room from the bathroom. She spun around and heard the women making oohing sounds. “So what do you think?”
“Oh my God, Kelsey. You are so beautiful,” Kaylee said.
“You are certainly a gorgeous bride,” Anne Llewellyn said with a big smile.
“Oh, baby. You look so beautiful,” Donna Sullivan said through tears.
Lydia reached for a flute and raised it. “Thank you for asking me to be in the wedding, Kelsey. This will probably be the only way I’ll walk down the aisle with Sam.”
Kelsey wished she could give Lydia encouragement that Sam might come around but the woman knew him far better. She twirled in her white gown with its scoop neckline and sheer sleeves that buttoned at her wrists. The skirt flared out from her hips to fall to the floor with a long train behind her, which she held high by means of a loop over her fingers.
“I feel like a princess,” Kelsey said as she blinked back tears.
“Oh no! No crying allowed,” Grace chastised her, pressing a tissue to her cheeks.
“I’m trying not to. Quick, someone give me a champagne,” she demanded.
Grace laughed as she handed her a flute. “Just don’t get drunk on us, either.”
Kelsey laughed. “No way of that happening. I want to make sure I’m coherent and this is really happening.” She nibbled on her bottom lip. “I sure hope he shows up.”
“Oh, honey, don’t you worry. With Frank as his best man, he doesn’t have a choice,” Grace told her with a big grin.
“That’s true.” Kelsey smiled and then frowned. “But I want him to have a choice. I don’t want him to marry me if he doesn’t want to.”
“Okay, you are going to drive yourself insane if you keep thinking this way. Grace meant it as a joke. Ryder will show up because he loves you,” Olivia told her as she put her arm around Kelsey and hugged her.
“You’re right. He does love me. I just can’t wait to marry him. I love him so much.”
A knock on the door startled the women, and they laughed at their foolishness. Grace opened it and allowed George Sullivan entry into the room. He smiled with a pride only a father could have for a daughter on her wedding day.
“You look beautiful, honey,” he said as he walked to stand before his daughter, taking her hands in his.
“Thank you, Daddy. I’m so ready to do this.”
He kissed her cheek. “I’m sure Ryder is too. He’s a wonderful young man. I’m glad I rented a van for the trip to the church.” He put his arm out for Kelsey to loop hers through, and together, with her favorite women following, they began their journey to the church.
The small church was packed with well-wishers and as with every other wedding that took place in Clifton, whoever couldn’t fit inside, stood outside in the warmth of a beautiful spring day in May. When the car pulled up to the church, people cheered. Kelsey, Donna, Anne, and Grace laughed in surprise.
“Welcome to Clifton, Montana, possibly the friendliest place on earth,” Becca said. “Just about everyone in town shows up for weddings. It seemed to have started with Jake’s and mine. I was so shocked to see everyone crowded inside and out on the day we got married.”
“They’ve never failed to miss one either,” Emma added. “Except mine…but then I didn’t have a big wedding.”
“But yo
u still got the man of your dreams, Emma,” Olivia said hugging her. Emma nodded with a big smile on her face.
George stepped from the van and opened the back door. “Come on, honey. Let’s get you married.”
Kelsey stepped out in the sunshine, and the crowd roared. She laughed and waved at them feeling like a celebrity. The other women stepped from the van and more cheers went up. They entered the church, settled into formation with Grace extending her train out to its full-length behind her, and then waited for the music to start signaling the moment she’d been waiting for since February. When it did, her insides fluttered with excitement and if she had to admit it, nerves as she watched each woman walked down the aisle to the altar in front of her.
When it came time, and she heard the music switch to her procession, Kelsey took a deep breath and gave her dad a nod. He winked at her and led her to the altar—and Ryder.
****
When the music started, Ryder suddenly felt the nerves he’d been denying all day rush over him. He watched as each of Kelsey’s bridesmaids walked down the aisle and took her place opposite of where the men stood. He almost laughed aloud when he heard Sam mutter something about Lydia not getting any ideas.
Then the music changed, every person in the church came to his or her feet, and his gaze settled on the entrance at the back of the church. She was there. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Kelsey. She looked more beautiful than he could ever imagine possible since she was already the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. She walked slowly down the aisle toward him, her eyes meeting his, and wearing a huge smile. She was with her dad, and George had the biggest, proudest grin on his face as he walked with his daughter.
At the altar, he kissed Kelsey on the cheek and put hand in Ryder’s open palm. “Keep her safe, son—forever.”
“Yes, sir, I most certainly will,” Ryder told him and then he turned to face Kelsey. “Ready, darlin’?”
“More than you’ll ever know.” Kelsey smiled at him and his heart hit his stomach.
“You look so beautiful. You absolutely take my breath away.” He lifted the hand resting in his and pressed a kiss to the back of it.
“You look very handsome yourself, cowboy.”
“Let’s do this, baby.”
“Are you both ready?” The reverend asked, drawing their attention. When they both nodded, he began the ceremony. What seemed like a heartbeat later, he closed the Bible and looked at them, and then smiled.
“What are you waiting for, Ryder? You may now kiss your bride.”
Ryder grinned, lifted Kelsey’s veil over her head and cupped her face in his hands. He lowered his head and kissed her. When she moaned, he pulled her closer to him, feeling her hands slide around his waist, and he deepened the kiss. He raised his head and stared down into her blue eyes, which today, only the May sky rivaled.
“I knew you were trouble the minute you walked into the bar.”
Kelsey burst out laughing and threw her arms around his neck. Ryder laughed and scooped her up, tugging her train up and over her legs. Amid cheers, some happy tears, and best wishes, he carried his bride, the woman who taught him about love, out the door into the sunshine to start their new lives together.
**THE END**
About the Author
Susan was born and raised in Cumberland, MD. She moved to Tennessee in 1996 and now lives in a small town outside of Nashville, along with her husband and their two rescued dogs. Although, writing for years, it was recently she decided to submit to publishers and signed a three-year contract with Secret Cravings Publishing. Since SCP closed their doors in August 2015, Susan is now with Blue Whiskey Publishing. She is a huge Nashville Predators hockey fan. She also enjoys fishing, taking drives down back roads, visiting Gatlinburg, TN, her family in Pennsylvania, and her hometown. Although Susan's books are a series, each book can be read as standalone books. Each book will end with a new story beginning in the next one. She would love to hear from her readers and promises to try to respond to all. You can visit her Facebook page and website by the links below.
https://www.facebook.com/skdromanceauthor
www.susanfisherdavisauthor.weebly.com
[email protected]
Other books by Susan Fisher-Davis:
JAKE Men of Clifton, Montana Book 1
GABE Men of Clifton, Montana Book 2
BRODY Men of Clifton, Montana Book 3
WYATT Men of Clifton, Montana Book 4
LUCAS Bad Boys of Dry River, Wyoming Book 1
MONTGOMERY Bad Boys of Dry River, Wyoming Book 2
COOPER Bad Boys of Dry River, Wyoming Book 3
Ryder Men of Clifton, Montana Book 5 Page 20
