Rocky Mountain Hitched: Contemporary Western Romance (To Love Again Book 6) (9 page)

“What’s this about?” The tall one asked, taking hold of Chet’s arm.

Barry lowered his voice. “Angry ex-husband. He wasn’t invited.”

“Yeah, why wasn’t I invited? College boy should have sent me a personal invite,” Chet roared.

“We’ll take it from here.” The guard nodded and Barry turned back to the group, closing the doors behind him. They watched as Chet was escorted out of the dining room, staggering and cursing. He bellowed Isabel’s name one last time before they passed through to the lobby.

Tray drew Isabel into his embrace. Her face was drawn and she was shaking. He stroked her hair. “Are you all right?”

She nodded. “That was unfortunate,” she said.

He laughed. “You could say that. At least we know you were right about seeing him around.”

“I don’t get it. It’s been almost four years. Why pop up now?”

Barry stepped in. “My guess is the television interview brought him out of the woodwork. Was he always jealous?”

“More possessive than anything else.” She let out a sigh and sat down. Waving her hand, she indicated their friends should do the same. Tray sat beside her, arm around her shoulder.

“That’s probably the last of him,” Barry said. “I’ll go check with the security guards in a few minutes. Make sure they have him off the premises.”

“Thanks,” Tray said. “Let’s get back to our brunch. Excitement is over for now.”

“Yes,” Isabel nodded, bottom lip quivering slightly. “Let’s put this behind us. Try the omelet bar. It’s heaven.”

Jenny and Val followed Kip and Barry out of the room and Isabel let out a big sigh. Tray tipped her chin up and stared into her eyes. “He can’t hurt you,” he said. “I think he just wanted to cause a scene. He’s done that now and that will probably be the end of it.”

“Bastard,” she whispered. “All those years - not a word - then he shows up this morning.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “A blip in an otherwise perfect weekend. Let’s make the best of it.”

She nodded and leaned into him. “Thank you.” He squeezed her tight and vowed to never let anything hurt her in any way. Once they got back to town, he’d talk to Barry and see how they could keep Chet away from her permanently.

~~~

“I love it. What do you think?” Isabel gazed out over the lake from the gazebo on the side lawn of the hotel lawn. Even with snow on the ground, she could easily imagine the cherry trees in bloom, the lawn lush and sloping down to the water.

“Very nice,” Jenny said, consulting the brochure the manager had given them. “What about weather? We need to keep that in mind, too.”

“We’ll have that small banquet room. If it rains, we could hold the ceremony in there.”

“Sure. How many are you inviting?”

Isabel glanced over at Tray. He was walking the grounds with the manager. Barry and Kip tagging along. Valerie had stayed behind in Banff for an appointment. “We’re thinking thirty to forty people. We want an intimate ceremony.”

“This should work then,” Jenny said, eyes narrowing. “I sense some hesitation though. Are you sure this is what you want?”

She looked up at the hotel and back to the lake with the glacier at the end. The perfect background for beautiful wedding photographs. “I’m not sure. I keep thinking about an outdoor ceremony somewhere less formal, maybe at the cottage where Tray and I spent our first weekend. Or one of the parks in Canmore.”

“I knew it. This is really not you.” Jenny rolled her eyes.

“It could be me,” she replied, slightly agitated. She took a deep breath. The thing with Chet had really soured her mood. “No, you’re right. I’ve been thinking about that for a few weeks.”

“Maybe you should talk with Tray before the manager presses you into any commitments. He’s already pushing for you to book a date - he only has a couple of options left. Unless you go on the wait list.”

“True.” She glanced over at Tray chatting with the manager. “I’ll do it now.” She crossed the lawn toward him, and interrupted them. “Tray, can we talk for a minute?”

The manager nodded his head and stepped away. “I’ll be in the office,” he said. “We can finalize the details there.”

“Do you like it?” She linked her arm through his and walked towards the water.

“I do. How about you?”

“I like it, I’m just not sure it’s us.” She slanted her gaze in his direction.

“Oh?” He stopped and placed his hands on her waist. She loved that he always maintained contact with her. And always paid complete attention to what she needed to say. “What would be us?”

She shrugged. How to say this without asking for something she had no right to ask for? “I think Canmore is more us. Maybe a simple ceremony in the park along the river. Or in the backyard of the cabin where we spent Thanksgiving.”

His eyes widened and he cocked his head. “I think that would be perfect.”

“You do?” She exhaled. “Oh, thank heavens. I mean this is nice, but —”

“But we’ll be surrounded by tourists? And locked into a schedule based on one or two days they have available?” He shook his head. “I want this to be perfect. Let’s tell the manager we have some decisions to make and look at our options again.”

“Oh, Tray, thank you.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Her heart swelled. “Do you think we can stop in Canmore on the way back?”

“We can stop anywhere you like,” he said, leaning forward and placing his lips next to her ear. “We can go anywhere you like, do anything you like, and get married exactly where we want.”

“Thank heavens for that.” She relaxed into his embrace, head on his shoulder, and noticed Jenny, Kip and Barry leaning against the rail of the stairs nearby. “Come on, we’ll let them know we’re all done here. They may want to get a couple of hours of skiing in before they had back to town.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Isabel linked her arm through Jenny’s as they strolled along the walkway on Prince’s Island Park. It was the most perfect of late spring days. The snow, except for lingering patches under the hedges, was all but melted. Sun beamed down on daffodils and tulips turning their faces to the sky. Along the shore, the Bow River rushed southward, all traces of ice gone from its current.

“Who else will be at Tray’s graduation?” Jenny pointed out another robin struggling to release a worm from the muddy earth.

“Pretty much his whole family,” Isabel said. “His mother, his brothers, their wives. Not the children though.”

“Are you looking forward to seeing them again?”

“I am,” she said, nodding to a runner she knew from her building. “I just hope the conversation is not dominated by plans and ideas for the wedding. I’d like tonight to be about Tray and his degree.”

“Don’t think you’ll have much control over that. Not from what you’ve told me about his mother.” Jenny laughed.

“Agreed. I think you’ll like Betty. She reminds me a little of your mom.”

“Maybe,” Jenny said. “Speaking of family …”

“You want to invite someone else to the wedding?”

Jenny glanced over at her. “Why would you ask that? Of course not.”

She shrugged. She’d been inundated with requests to bring second cousins and plus ones, iff she hadn’t put her foot down, would have easily turned into plus threes. “Everybody else has.”

“What are the current numbers?”

“We’ve said no to most, but some slipped through. We’re definitely not going over fifty.” She laughed. “Be sure you hold me to that.”

“I’ll try,” Jenny said. “Issy, what have you told Tray about your family?”

Her stomach clenched. She gazed out over the river, choosing her words. “He hasn’t asked. I just said it’s too far for them to travel.”

“Does the man have no curiosity?”

“It’s more that he trusts me. Why would he question it?”

“I just want you to be prepared.” Jenny slowed and looked into her face. “His family is bound to have questions. You know how close they are. I think they’ll find your excuse a little flimsy.”

“I know. I’ve been thinking about it, too. Tray won’t push me on it, but I need something more believable for his mom.”

“The truth always works well.”

“What is the truth? That my mother is a religious fanatic and would rather condemn me to a life of loneliness than acknowledge or bless a second marriage?”

“You could go with that. There might be a gentler way to explain it.”

“I don’t want them to think I come from crazy.”

Jenny grabbed her by the wrist and stopped. “You don’t come from crazy. You’re a respected therapist and nobody, anywhere, would think you come from crazy. Certainly your family, especially your mother, has a “special” way of looking at things, but wouldn’t you rather start this marriage, and your relationship with Tray’s family, with a clean slate?”

Of course she would. For weeks, it had been costing her sleep. “What if they don’t understand? It’s pretty harsh, don’t you think, for my own family to cut off all contact with me.”

“You chose science over religion. One day they might forgive you, or they might not. It’s not a reflection on you. In the meantime, I think you need to give Tray’s family the benefit of the doubt. I bet they’ll surprise you and be much more understanding than you might think.” Jenny looked straight into her eyes and wouldn’t let her look away. “I know it hurts you to feel cast out - and you feel ashamed even though it’s not your fault - but this is your chance to have a new family. Trust them - let them in.”

She kicked at a pebble. “It’s just … I’m almost afraid to hope that his family might accept and love me the way he has. Even the weekend we spent there… afterward it all seemed like something I dreamed up.”

“It’s real, and you deserve it. If you want, just tell Betty and ask her advice on what to say to the rest of the family. I think Betty is going to be one of your biggest allies in your marriage and I haven’t even met the woman yet.”

Isabel laughed. “You might be right. If there’s someone I’d want in my corner, it’s Betty.” She moved to the side of the pathway to let a cyclist pass. “What’s the latest news on Kip?”

“Very smooth change of topic,” Jenny said, starting to move along the path again. “He probably can’t make it. He’d love to be here, of course, but the timing is very bad for him. He asked me to say hi to you both.”

“That’s a shame. When will you see him next?”

Jenny shrugged. “I don’t know. He wants me to visit soon, but we haven’t made any solid plans.” She checked her watch. “We should start back. Have you heard anything more about Chet? Barry said he was going to look into it more.”

Isabel pursed her lips. “He did check, but there’s nothing to tell and we haven’t heard anything more from him. Not that I want to, but he could at least acknowledge he has daughters who live and breathe just a few miles away from where he lives.”

“That ship has sailed. He’s an ass and nothing is going to change that. Did you tell the girls what happened?”

“No,” she blurted. “I don’t want them feeling any of what I went through seeing him again.”

Jenny linked her arm through hers. “Don’t worry. Barry is very thorough. If he says it’s all right, then it’s all right. I wonder what he was thinking though? I mean, why now, after all this time?”

“I can’t guess,” she said, head down. “I thought I understood a little bit about human behavior, but this stumps me. All I can think is that he’s bitter than I’m moving on with my life.”

“Moving on and moving up. Next.” Jenny swiped her hand in the air, as if she was wiping a screen. “When is your next interview? Your publisher has been keeping you really busy.”

“She has. I’m even getting used to it. The media attention doesn’t phase me anymore and I even come across as knowledgeable and polished.”

“Because you are. I’m so glad everything is working out for you. Your practice is back on track —”

“My practice is thriving. I may have to bring on someone else.”

“Really? What about Tray?”

She shook her head. “Too soon. He should practice on his own first. He’s already had an offer to join one of my colleagues.”

“That’s great. Oh, I forgot - what about the honeymoon? Have you booked for Hawaii?”

“We’re not going.”

“To Hawaii? Why not?”

She shrugged, feeling foolish. “Like getting married at the tourist hotel, it just didn’t feel like us. We’re going to do something nearby in the mountains. I think he plans to turn me into an outdoorswoman. And,” she smiled, “I plan to let him.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Isabel pulled into the restaurant lot and parked beside Tray’s jeep. Grabbing her purse, she got out and waited to lock the doors, doing her best not to tap her foot.

“It went well, Mom, don’t you think?” Shelly got out of the back seat, gingerly holding her long white skirt off the ground.

“Yeah, Mom,” Karin said, rounding the rear of the car. “Except for that one little thing near the end, the rehearsal was almost perfect.”