Chapter 12
“This is so cool!” Alaska said with a huge smile.
Reese had to agree, and not just because it was her brother’s wedding they were planning.
She was in Los Alamos having a late lunch with Isabella, Alaska, Henley, Jess, Ryan, and Luna.
They’d had to wait until after Henley’s group session with a few of the guests, and after Jess and Ryan were finished with the housekeeping tasks for the day.
They’d all met at Rose Chocolatier in Los Alamos, an amazing chocolate shop that made specialty cakes and goodies for events. They were tasting several different kinds of cakes to decide which to serve at Woody and Isabella’s ceremony.
The Refuge definitely had wedding fever.
Over the last week, everyone had gotten into the spirit of the occasion, and since it was the first wedding at the venue, they wanted to do it right.
Hudson, the landscaper, was working overtime to make a wedding arch for the ceremony, and Robert and Luna had spent hours with the happy couple deciding what food to serve at the reception.
Woody had managed to find an officiant from town willing to come out to marry them, and the paperwork had already been filed.
Their parents were ecstatic; they’d heard all about Isabella over the years, and they’d already bought their plane tickets and made reservations at a hotel in town.
Woody and Isabella being married would allow her to stay in the US legally, and Tex had taken over making sure everything was smooth on that front.
The ceremony wasn’t going to be huge. Any guests booked at The Refuge on the wedding day would be invited, as well as all the employees, along with Reese and Woody’s mom and dad. But it wasn’t the size of the event that mattered, it was the joy of the occasion that had Reese all excited.
Her brother was getting married.
It was almost too hard to believe. For years, he’d been adamant about not wanting to date. And she knew it was because he was in love with Isabella. She was so happy things had finally worked out for them both.
She grinned, and Henley asked, “What’s funny?”
“I was just thinking about my brother. It’s so hard to believe he’s getting married.”
“Why?”
“No offense,” Reese said, looking at Isabella. “But he’s a dork.”
Everyone chuckled.
“I mean, I read romance. I see the covers on the ones that feature a Navy SEAL or some other kind of badass military hero…and I just have to laugh. Because Woody doesn’t look anything like that.
He’s not all huge and muscular, he’s not almost seven feet tall, and he thinks grunting is an acceptable way of communicating. ”
The girls all giggled again.
“You want to know what I see when I look at your brother?” Isabella asked.
“Um…not if you’re going to even hint at something sexual,” Reese told her with a wrinkle of her nose.
Isabella smiled and shook her head. “No. When I first met him years ago, I was immediately drawn to him because of his observation skills. I know that doesn’t sound very romantic at all, but he was always on alert. His gaze never stopped scanning the area around him.”
“That sounds kind of paranoid,” Luna observed.
But Reese understood what Isabella meant. She’d seen it in her brother, Gus, and the rest of their Delta team when she was around them. But Woody seemed to have it in spades. She didn’t know what happened to make him so hyper-alert. Probably didn’t want to know.
“It is and it isn’t,” Isabella told Luna.
“We were walking from one building to another for a meeting, and I wasn’t watching where I was going because I was translating for a government official who was with us.
I stumbled, but before I hit the ground, Woody was there.
He’d seen the uneven walkway and was moving toward me even before I started to fall.
“That’s just one example. When we talked on the phone, he always seemed to know when I was having a bad day, I guess by the tone of my voice.
He makes me laugh, makes me feel safe, and when we video chatted, I was always the center of his attention.
I thought after a year or two he’d get tired of me. But he never did.”
“He was always talking about you,” Reese told her soon-to-be sister-in-law. “Every time we got together, he’d have some story to tell about something you did. He bragged about you all the time and is so proud of all you’ve accomplished.”
Isabella blushed and smoothed a lock of dark hair behind her ear.
“I am proud of him too. I don’t need a romance book hero.
Why would I when I have Woody? When we were in that room, I was so scared.
But Woody was calm and focused. He kept telling me that he’d get me out of there.
That no matter what, he’d keep me safe. I don’t know what would’ve happened if those men tried to hurt us, or tried to take me away from him, but I have no doubt that he would’ve done everything in his power to keep that from happening. ”
Reese’s eyes welled up with tears. She couldn’t imagine how scared Isabella must have been, but knowing that her brother had remained calm and so sure that they’d be okay made her love him all the more.
“Okay, now I’m crying,” Alaska said as she wiped her cheeks.
“Right? I need to find me someone like Woody,” Luna said.
“I love my husband, but I’m thinking if we found ourselves kidnapped by a drug cartel, Eric wouldn’t be nearly as competent,” Jess said with a chuckle.
Everyone laughed, lightening the mood.
“Well, thank goodness you won’t have to worry about that,” Henley said. “None of us will. We’re here, The Refuge is safe, and we’re going to celebrate with a wedding in less than two weeks!”
“What did you guys think of number three?” Alaska asked, pointing to the piece of cake on the right side of their plates. They were tasting three different cakes at a time, and they were all numbered to keep them straight.
As everyone discussed their favorite samples, Reese looked over at Ryan.
She didn’t know the other woman very well, but she was always friendly and willing to help with anything that needed to be done around the lodge.
She was quiet, kept to herself, but, much like the owners of The Refuge, always seemed to be very aware of everything going on around her.
“You okay?” she asked quietly as the others debated if they liked the chocolate swirl or the red velvet cake better.
Ryan looked at her and smiled. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, I can be forgiven for being mushy since it’s my brother who’s getting married.
Isabella’s enthusiasm is obvious, Alaska and Henley are insanely happy with their men, Jess is married to a man she adores, and Luna is too busy with college to seriously think about settling down. So…that leaves you.”
Ryan shrugged. “I’m good.”
“You’re single, right?”
“Oh, yeah. Totally single,” she said fervently.
“You’re pretty,” Reese told her. “I mean, really pretty. And there are a lot of good looking guys at The Refuge. You ever thought about getting together with one of them?”
“No,” Ryan said almost too quickly.
Reese managed to hide her smile. She wondered which of the guys had caught her eye. “Why not?” she asked.
Ryan shrugged. “I’m not going to be here forever. I took this job to get away from…well, let’s just say I needed a break from life. And where better to do that than in the middle of nowhere?”
Reese frowned. She didn’t like the note of…trepidation…she heard in the woman’s voice.
“Although,” Ryan went on, “it’s actually been kind of exciting so far. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but I was expecting to come here and be bored out of my mind. But it’s been anything but boring.”
Ryan turned to face Reese, and the intense look in her brown eyes pinned her in place.
“You’re lucky to have Woody,” she said. “He loves you so much, it’s easy to see.
You guys have a great relationship. Even when you’re sniping at each other, you can tell neither of you are seriously upset.
I don’t get along with my brother, like, at all, so seeing the two of you is… nice.”
Reese reached out and put her hand over Ryan’s where she was holding her fork with a grip so tight, her knuckles were white. “I know we just met, but you can talk to me, Ryan. If something’s wrong, I can help. Or I can talk to Woody or Gus and they—”
Ryan interrupted her by laughing. It was a forced sound.
Almost painfully so. “Oh, no, I’m good. Promise.
” Then she leaned forward and asked, “Do you think the others—or the owners of the chocolate shop—would rebel if I suggested that we try a vanilla or strawberry cake?” She smiled, but the emotion didn’t reach her eyes.
Reese wanted to call her bluff and encourage the woman to talk to her, but if she didn’t want to share whatever was troubling her, Reese suspected no amount of pushing would make her open up.
So she let the subject drop…but she vowed to keep her eye on Ryan.
“I was thinking maybe a pound cake,” she said.
For a moment, she saw relief in Ryan’s gaze, before she wiped all emotion from her expression except for the fake smile. She turned to the others. “Reese and I vote for trying something that isn’t chocolate.”
Everyone began to talk at once, and the owner of the bakery, who was standing nearby, stepped forward and offered to bring out a marble cake with both vanilla and chocolate mixed together.
The rest of the tasting went without a hitch, and by the time they were all ready to leave, Isabella had chosen a dark chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, and ice cream with every slice served to break up the richness.
Everyone split up at that point. Henley was going to the school to pick up Jasna, Alaska and Luna were headed back to The Refuge, Jess and Ryan were going to their own homes in town, and Reese was taking Isabella to the grocery store before they too headed back to The Refuge.