Page 38 of His to Defend

She led her back to the bedroom to change out of her dress so they could finish taking care of the last-minute details. When they returned to the main room of the cabin, the other women were once again laughing and raising their glasses in toasts.

But Nina couldn’t shake the feeling that despite what Harper had said, everything was decidedly not fine. The last thing she wanted to do the night before her wedding was trouble her with something so stupid. But Nina made a mental note to ask her best friend about the women’s reactions later. Just as soon as the festivities were over and everything got back to normal.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Nina had never seen a more beautiful bride. And she didn’t just think that because Harper was her best friend. She truly was radiant.

“You look absolutely…” Tears flooded Nina’s eyes and she choked on her words. “I don’t even know what to say. I can see the happiness in your eyes. You’re glowing.”

“Thank you.” Harper smiled but a moment later, it fell. Just a little, but Nina noticed.

“What’s wrong? You aren’t having any second thoughts, are you?”

“Never! I know exactly what I want. And even without the wedding, Axel and I…we’re meant to be. He’s my soul mate. I don’t need the wedding to know that.”

“Of course.” Nina nodded and grabbed a tissue, worried that Harper might start crying and smear her makeup. In the last few days, she’d seen clearly that Axel and Harper were perfect for each other. They had a connection that couldn’t even be explained. Everyone at the ridge did.

Was it the same with Ryker?

She was pretty sure it was. The thought made her smile.

“So, what’s going on?” She forced her thoughts away from the man who’d once again spent the night making love to her—this time with a warning to keep his bruises to himself—before slipping away to leave her to her wedding duties.

“It’s my mom.” Harper’s bottom lips wavered a little. “She was supposed to be here, but there was a problem with her flight and I don’t think she’s going to make it.”

Of course.

Harper had been raised by a single mom, and although they weren’t as close as they once were, of course Shelly would be there.

“It’s bad enough that Axel’s mom isn’t here,” Harper continued. “But we couldn’t do anything about that. No one knows where she is.” She bit back a sob. “But my mom…she had a big trip to Europe planned and she was going to cancel the whole thing, but I told her to go. She didn’t want to. She wanted to come to the ridge and help and meet Lily.” A tear slipped from Harper’s eye and Nina was right there with the tissue. “She hasn’t even met her granddaughter yet because I told her to go on her trip. I should have insisted she come earlier. It’s my fault and I really want her here. I do.”

“It’s not your fault.” Nina squeezed her hand. “You were just being a good daughter, insisting that your mother live her life. Of course she wants to be here. What’s the status of her flight?”

“It was delayed and by the time she lands in Billings and gets a car…it’ll be too late.”

“It will not. I’ll make sure of it.” An idea formulated in Nina’s mind. If her best friend needed her mother to get to the wedding, she was going to make it happen. “Just wait here. I’ll take care of it.”

She hated to leave Harper in that state, but she handed her a glass of water and another tissue with orders to pull herself together. With the skirt of her dress in her hand, Nina ran down the path toward the Den, where guests were already starting to arrive. She ignored everyone and moved straight through the crowd until she found the person she was looking for.

She was amazing. And the more Ryker got to know about Nina, the more remarkable he thought she was. He stood, along with all the other wedding guests who’d gathered, to one side as the helicopter touched down in the field next to the main lodge.

Axel, already dressed in his suit, rushed to the door to greet the new arrival. The guest who never would have made it if it hadn’t been for Nina and a last-minute call.

A woman who looked like an older version of Harper with her blonde hair twisted up on the back of her head, stepped from the helicopter. Axel quickly rushed her and her suitcase past the crowd, who cheered, and straight up the path to the cabin, where Nina was waiting on the porch. She took the woman’s hand while Axel made himself scarce.

A moment later, Harper’s mom disappeared inside the cabin and Nina, her job done, made her way down the path, back to the Den to give mother and daughter a few moments together.

Ryker ran to meet her and help her with her heels down the steps. “That was an amazing thing you did for Harper,” he said after kissing her as chastely as he could. Which was a huge exercise in restraint given what he really wanted to do to her.

“It was nothing.” She shrugged. “Harper needed her mom, and I knew how to get her.”

“It was pretty incredible.” Ryker guided her through the grass to the side of the adventure center where they could have a little privacy, but stay close enough that Nina wouldn’t miss the start of the ceremony. “And tell me how you had access to a helicopter?”

She tipped her head back in a laugh. “A holdover from my magazine days. The first time Harper and I came to the ridge, I was writing a travel piece on this brand-new eco-lodge in the mountains of Montana. We flew into Billings from LA and then had a helicopter bring us right up here. I remembered the helicopter pilot. He may have had a little crush on me. And I may have had to promise him a dance at the wedding.”

“A dance?” Ryker’s bear roared, but he kept himself under control. “Is that right?”

She winked. “I do have that effect on some men, you know.”