Ashley smiled at their teasing. These two got along famously.
Chase’s mom, Wren, poked her head into the bathroom. “Hi, sweet girl. You look gorgeous. You ready?”
“I can’t wait a second longer,” Ashley admitted.
Wren grinned. “Let’s do this so I can fly back to Costa Rica and get out of this cold.” She gave a fake shiver and they all laughed.
They filed out of the bathroom and to the barrier. Dax was ready, holding a velvet pillow with the rings. Chase’s brothers were lining up to take their wives down the aisle behind the little guy. Grams was going to walk with Iris and Devon, Wren with her husband Ned, and her mom between both of her brothers. Her dad waited for her, grinning. She kissed his cheek, then tucked her hand in his elbow and waited, impatiently rocking from foot to foot.
“Are you going to bolt? Are you nervous?” her dad asked.
Ashley laughed. “No. I just want to be in Chase’s arms already.”
“Oh my. Forget I asked.” Her dad’s ears turned red and she laughed harder.
Dax led the way, uncharacteristically solemn. The other couples or trios moved down the aisle and finally, finally the bride’s march started. She and her dad walked to the back of the aisle with friends and family standing and craning their necks to get a peek at her. She cleared the crowd and had a straight view of Chase. She sighed happily.
A big grin split his handsome face and his blue eyes twinkled at her. He hadn’t shaved his beard, even for Grams. Ashley loved the short, dark hair shadowing his perfectly handsome face.
She hurried her pace. Her dad laughed and kept up with her. People started laughing as she ran on her heels, holding her dress in one hand, clinging to her dad, who was panting now.
Chase hurried down to meet her, swept her off the ground and into the air. He grinned up at her. “Running to me, beautiful?”
“Yes, sir.” She laughed happily.
This was right. She would never run from Chase, only to him.
He lowered her to her feet and held her close, giving her a tender kiss.
“Come on, save it for after the ceremony,” one of his brothers called.
“After the ceremony, we’ll be running out of here to get to Tahiti,” Chase murmured, giving her a seductive wink.
“And miss the fabulous wedding party I planned?”
“Okay, we can stay for dinner … maybe.”
She couldn’t have cared less. The rest of the family could enjoy the dinner, the cake, the dancing. All she wanted was Chase.
He wrapped an arm around her waist and escorted her up to Pastor Brent. The friendly church leader was Chase’s cousin-in-law, Meredith’s dad. The man’s dark eyes sparkled at him. Her father followed them and Pastor Brent had barely asked, “Who gives this lady away?” when a ripple went through the crowd.
She and Chase turned to see what was wrong. A man marched straight toward them, dressed in an off-white button-down shirt and tan slacks. His face was weather-beaten and he looked like he’d been traveling for a while. His blue eyes were eerily familiar.
“Dad?” Cedar spoke into the silence.
Chase tensed beside her.
Grams leapt up, rushed across the space, and smacked the man upside the head as if he was a small boy in trouble. “Peter, you stinking idiot,” she cussed him.
“Hi, Mama,” he said quietly.
Grams let out a heart-wrenching cry. Then she grabbed her son in a fierce hug, tears streaming down her face. “Oh, my boy, you’ve come home.”
Nobody else moved or spoke. A tense silence filled the huge open area.
Grams pulled back, keeping a hand on his arm. “Well, start the apologizing. Make it good.”
Peter grimaced. His eyes swept over his children, taking each one of them in. He only smiled briefly as his gaze lingered on Iris. None of them smiled back. Their expressions held varying degrees of shock and anger that he was here. His gaze stopped on Chase. Ashley could feel the angst radiating from her future husband. She wished she could make sure this man wouldn’t hurt him.
“My plane got delayed. I didn’t mean to do this,” he said in a gravelly voice, gesturing around at the large wedding party. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t do right by any of you.” His gaze then traveled to Wren who simply watched him steadily, clinging to her husband Ned’s hand, before going back to his children, focusing on Iris. “Days before your mom died, I admitted to her my … indiscretion. She forgave me. Told me she knew something had been off that summer when I traveled to Missoula every weekend to research other hotels. But she had a newborn and was dealing with postpartum depression.”
He cleared his throat. “Your mom loved me and forgave me, but it didn’t make it right, didn’t take away my pain of betraying her and hurting her, Wren, and Chase, not to mention all of you. I wanted to kill myself, but I couldn’t do it. Lucy loved me too much and I knew that would hurt her. So I took off, ditched all of you the day of her funeral.
“I can’t do anything to change it now, and I wish I hadn’t messed up your wedding day.” He nodded to Ashley. “But I needed to at least apologize.” He looked at a loss for what else to say and finally muttered, “I’ll go now.” He bent and kissed Grams’s cheek. “Love you, Mama.”
Then he turned and started walking away.
Not even Grams moved. The room felt frozen.
“Stay,” Chase said in a deep, aching voice.
Ashley glanced up at him. He was so handsome, so brave. Of course he’d forgive his father and ask him to be with them.
Peter whipped back around and blinked at Chase. “You want me to stay for your wedding?”
Chase nodded. “I want you to stay and be part of our lives.”
Peter put a hand to his mouth. His weathered face crinkled as one tear escaped the corner of his eye and tracked down his cheek. “But … the rest of you …” He looked around at his children. “It’s not right that I should betray your mother and then desert you and just … come back.” He looked so hopeful that Ashley wondered how any of them wouldn’t take pity on him, but she wasn’t a child that had been ditched by their father the day of their mom’s funeral.
“Stay,” Cedar said in a thick tone.
“Please stay,” Aster inserted.
Quill and Ren both nodded, their gazes tight. They obviously weren’t thrilled with their dad, but they wouldn’t turn him away.
Iris let out a cry, pulled from her husband Devon’s arms, and ran to her dad. He caught her easily, hugging her tight and saying over and over again in a voice choked with tears, “My girl. Oh, my beauty. My girl.”
“Daddy.” Iris pulled back and framed his face with her hands. “I’ve been so mad at you.”
“I know.” He broke down and couldn’t speak. “I’m so sorry, beauty. I’m so sorry. You don’t have to ever forgive me, but please know how much I love you, how I never stopped praying for you.” He glanced around at his children. “All of you. I begged the Lord to bless and keep and prosper you while I loved you all from afar.”
Grams let out a heart-wrenching sob. Ashley felt tears spilling down her own face. As she glanced around, she saw most of the wedding crowd was crying. She cuddled into Chase. He wasn’t crying, but his blue eyes were very bright.