Page 101 of Harper

I’m not saying it’ll be easy. I’m not even sure how I’ll make it happen yet. I have work to do, and she does, too. All I know for sure is that I won’t be going to that interview tomorrow. As soon as we get back to the hotel, I’m going to call Wasilla and withdraw my application. I’m staying put in Skagway. My past is there—my future is, too.

Chapter 12

Harper

“You look beautiful, McKenna.”

“Completely,” sighs Reeve, staring at the bride with stars in her eyes.

“Ken,” says Isabella, rushing into the bride’s room at the back of the church with her crimson bouquet in one hand and McKenna’s snow-white calla lilies in the other. “It’s time.”

Gran steps forward to give her almost-granddaughter-in-law a hug. “I know you wish your Mimi was here today. But she’s thinking of you, honey. She’s looking down and smiling. And she knows you’ve found a family who will love you and look after you now.”

“Thanks, Gran. That means a lot,” says McKenna, sniffling softly as she hugs my grandmother. “And thanks for loaning me your husband today.”

“He’s honored to be a part of things. Never had his own daughter to walk down the aisle, and these three haven’t given him a chance, yet.”

As Gran backs away, it’s my turn to embrace the bride.

“You’ve made my brother so happy,” I tell McKenna, squeezing her tight. “You’re everything we could have wished for him.”

I’m wearing a dark green velvet, floor-length bridesmaid dress, just like my sisters and Isabella, but out of an abundance of caution, I will be sitting with Gran, Paw-Paw, and Dad in the pews instead of walking down the aisle with my sisters and standing up throughout the service.

“Having you, Parker and Reeve for sisters is a dream come true for me,” says McKenna, her elven face alight with happiness. “And I can’t wait to be an aunt.”

“Come on, Harper,” says Gran. “Let’s get this party started.”

Gran and I take our spots at the back of the church. Hunter steps between us and offers us each an arm to walk us down the aisle.

The piano in the front of the church plays the familiar chords of Pachelbel’s “Canon in D,” and the children’s choir starts singing “The Christmas Canon.” The church is softly lit with candles, while bunches of evergreen bound in white tulle decorate the ends of pews and windowsills. Red and white poinsettias cover the front altar where Tanner stands tall and proud with Sawyer and Joe beside him.

Gran and I take our seats in the first row while Hunter, as best man, glides into place between Tanner and Sawyer. I grin at each of my brothers before sliding my gaze to Joe.

Tanner and McKenna opted for three-piece black tuxes with crisp white dress shirts under black vests. Instead of bow ties, they chose bolo ties, with silver medallions at their necks, black leather cords and silver aglets at the tips. I haven’t seen Joe in a tuxedo since our senior prom, and time has only been a friend to him since then. Strong, tall and buff, he’s godlike, bathed in the glow of candlelight. I bite my bottom lip as I stare at him. He notices this, of course, his grin spreading into a toothpaste-commercial smile as his eyes connect with mine. My cheeks flush with heat and longing, but I don’t look away, and he doesn’t either. He doesn’t hate me anymore, and after months of feeling his loathing, I’m basking in the warmth that arrived with its exodus.

You look beautiful, he mouths.

I rub my belly and wink at him.

“We’re here for Tanner and McKenna,” whispers Gran. “Not you and Joe.”

“I know that.”

“So stop making cow eyes at each other,” she says, as Reeve and Parker make their way down the aisle, fanning out on the left side of the altar.

“I’m not the only one!” I whisper back. “Look at Hunter.”

My older brother’s face changes completely as Isabella appears at the back of the church. With her long, dark hair piled into a sexy chignon, and the plunging neckline of her dress accentuating her cleavage, Hunter’s not wrong to gawk. Probably not alone either. She looks stunning.

But watching him makes me nervous, too. I don’t want to see him hurt, and I know that Isabella could hurt my brother. When Hunter and Isabella had a fling last summer, it ended when she decided that a long-distance relationship wasn’t what she wanted. It left him sullen for weeks afterward. I’m not anxious for them to start that cycle again, but one look at them—at the way they’re checking out each other—tells me it might be too late.

The children’s choir wraps up their singing, and the familiar chords of Wagner’s “Bridal Chorus” play on the piano. Everyone in the sanctuary stands up as McKenna and Paw-Paw appear at the back of the church. Dressed neck to toe in white velvet with a standing collar of white fur, petite McKenna makes her way down the aisle toward my brother, her dark eyes full of love for him and only him. I turn my gaze to Tanner, who looks like he’s just won every lottery in the universe, and my heart swells with joy…chased by a longing of my own.

Seeking out the object of my own yearning, my eyes connect with Joe’s. I’m not surprised he’s waiting for me, his gaze fixed and steady, his eyes reassuring and hot at the same time.

At some point, McKenna arrives at the altar and Tanner takes her hands in his.

At some point, my brother and his bride take their vows.

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