Getting to the Church On Time (2 page)

“He’s not going to get back here on time,” Kate said, gesturing toward the winter wonderland being created outside. “And I don’t want to wait.”

“Oh, I want to go too!” Lauren said.

“Really?” Kate asked.

She’d happily take a whole entourage to Vegas. Levi would love that.

Lauren nodded. “I would love to, but can’t.” She sighed. “I can’t get one of the Bennett boys snowed out of Sapphire Falls so close to Christmas. If we couldn’t get back, Kathy would kill me.”

Kathy Bennett, Lauren’s mother-in-law, was a wonderful, loving, sweet woman. But yeah, family was everything to her. Holidays were
almost
everything to her.

Kate smiled. “I understand.”

“Maybe we can Skype it or something,” Adrianne said. “We could set up a huge screen in here and you guys can get married with all of us watching.”

“And we can still eat the peppermint cake,” Lauren said with a grin.

Kate felt her eyes filling. “You guys are amazing.”

“So let’s go pack,” Phoebe said, taking her hand and tugging her to the door. “We gotta get out of here.”

Joe couldn’t get the plane. Or, more accurately, he couldn’t get ahold of anyone who could get the plane for him.

He usually went through Levi for family favors, but Levi was unreachable and Joe’s grandfather, who disapproved of Joe moving to tiny Sapphire Falls and giving up the family business, never returned Joe’s calls.

So three hours later, Kate, Joe and Phoebe sat in the Omaha airport waiting to see if they would be granted standby status on the next flight to Vegas. And if that flight would be taking off or not in the first place.

The weather on the other end was fine so it was just a matter of getting out of Omaha. And through Denver. The storm that had been blanketing Sapphire Falls wasn’t quite as far east as Omaha yet, but it had come through Denver, so Kate had everything crossed that they’d get them in the air before it was an issue.

Kate chewed on her thumbnail while Phoebe read a book and Joe paced.

“I’m sorry, folks. We’re going to be waiting a little longer,” the gate agent finally announced. “There are obvious weather issues. We want to get you out to Denver as soon as we can but it’s going to be a bit. Expecting about another hour delay at this point. We’ll keep you updated.”

Kate tipped her head back and took a deep breath. Damn.

“Maybe this was a bad idea,” she said to Phoebe. “If we can’t get out, we might end up stuck
here
in Omaha. Pretty soon it’s not going to be safe to drive back to Sapphire Falls.”

Phoebe gave her a sympathetic smile. “Let’s just give it a little more time. If we go back, you’ll be wondering what if we had stayed.”

Kate slumped back into her chair. She would. Phoebe was right. She was already nearly going crazy with the things she was wondering about. She wondered how crumpled her wedding dress was since she’d had to fold into her suitcase. She wondered if she’d remembered her veil. She wondered if she could buy some candy canes someplace before she saw Levi.

But the one thing she didn’t wonder about was whether she was going to tell him she was on her way to Vegas. No way. Levi Spencer was almost impossible to surprise so she was going to just show up at his condo that he kept in Vegas, in her dress, and drag his butt to the nearest wedding chapel before he could convince her that they should wait and do it in Sapphire Falls.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve just been informed that flight number forty-three twenty-seven to Denver has been delayed another two hours due to weather. I’m sorry for any inconvenience. You can see us up here at the gate if you need to check on connecting flights. We will keep you informed.”

Kate tipped her head back again and let out a soft growl.

“How about we find someplace else to sit since we’ve got a while to wait?” Phoebe asked, rising.

“How about a place with liquor?” Kate asked.

“Excellent plan,” Joe agreed. He grabbed their carry-on bags, turned on his heel and headed for the airport bar.

Levi (& Travis, Tucker, TJ & Ty)

Levi jogged into the York Municipal Airport. It was tiny, but thankfully the guy who ran the place had known Levi and his pilot were coming and had cleared the runway.

Levi was feeling damned proud of himself. He’d checked the weather, seen the storm heading for Nebraska, and called his meetings short. It looked like he’d gotten in just ahead of the worst of it. He’d seen that flights were now being cancelled left and right out of both Omaha and Lincoln.

He headed straight for his truck and was soon on the road to Sapphire Falls. It was near five p.m., which meant it was getting dark and he was taking the snow-covered road slowly. Even if he got home late, he was going to get home. He was getting married tomorrow.

He grinned at that thought. He was getting
married
tomorrow. Kate would be his wife tomorrow. Kate Spencer. Mrs. Levi Spencer—well, she wouldn’t let him get away with calling her that probably, but he did like how it sounded in his head. In a very primitive, caveman, she’s-mine kind of way.

It still made him grin.

In spite of the fact that the normally twenty-five minute drive to Sapphire Falls took him over an hour.

By the time he rolled into town, his neck was stiff and his hands cramped from gripping the wheel. He pulled into the first parking lot past the city limit sign, the Come Again bar. He wanted to confirm that Kate was safely at home before he made the trip over the snow-covered six miles to their house.

Kate was a homebody. She loved the eighty-year-old farmhouse they’d renovated and sitting in front of the fireplace was her favorite thing. But with him out of town and the wedding tomorrow and the storm coming through, he wouldn’t have been surprised to find out she’d stayed in town. In fact, he would have been happy to find that out. The old house had a lot of character and their friend Delaney had done a lot of great work on it, but the pipes weren’t completely dependable and the lane to the road and the gravel road itself could easily snow her in for a couple of days.

If the heat went out when he was home, they could cuddle up and stay warm and toasty just fine. But if she was alone…well, he didn’t want any of his favorite parts of her getting frostbite. And he had a lot of favorite parts of her.

Of course, tomorrow night, their wedding night, he’d carry her across the six miles on snowshoes if necessary to get her home, in their bed, for their first night as man and wife.

Grinning, he dialed her number.

It went straight to voice mail.

Well, damn.

He dialed his brother next. Joe’s phone also went to voice mail. So did Phoebe’s.

Where was everyone?

The storm might be messing with the cell towers or something, he supposed.

He turned the car off and decided to head into the Come Again. There were a lot of cars—as usual—and he recognized the trucks that belonged to the Bennett boys. The guys might know where Kate was.

A gust of wind and a swirl of snow followed him through the front door.

The place was packed. And warm. Levi hadn’t taken a heavy coat with him to Vegas. It had been nice, at least for December, in Nebraska when he’d left. But everyone knew that you only had to blink and the weather in the Midwest could be completely different.

“Levi!”

He grinned at and greeted people as he made his way to the table where the Bennetts—Travis, TJ, Tucker and Ty—were gathered.

Levi loved this town where, after living for almost a year, he knew everyone. It had been a great year. He’d been able to help them build the dirt bike racetrack that had brought some impressive crowds in at the end of the summer and early fall. He was backing Ty Bennett’s plan to start up a training program for triathletes right here in Sapphire Falls—as soon as the youngest Bennett went and won the Olympic gold medal. Levi had also been able to back several smaller projects in town, working closely with Hailey Conner, the mayor up until about three months ago. Now TJ Bennett was the new mayor, and he and Levi had already had several meetings about plans and projects.

Levi had never been happier to be rich. Oh sure, he’d enjoyed the private plane and the penthouse suites and the luxury cars and…everything else. But he hadn’t even realized how much more the money, and the work to get the money, mattered when he had a purpose for it.

Sapphire Falls had given him a direction for his work, friends, a true sense of belonging for the first time in his life. And Kate. Without Sapphire Falls, he might not have ever met the woman who had changed him. And his heart. Without Kate, he’d be…well, he wasn’t sure where he’d be. He didn’t want to know, frankly. He’d come to Sapphire Falls after putting his sports car into a ditch and nearly killing himself. He’d been looking to change his life, his behavior, his habits. But if his heart hadn’t been changed by the sweet blond who had a naughty streak he was addicted to, Sapphire Falls might not have been enough.

“Anyone know where Kate is?” he asked, dropping into the one vacant chair at the table.

The guys all looked at one another. Travis was the one to answer. “She’s not with you?”

Levi raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been in Vegas.”

“Right.”

He frowned. “Why would you think Kate was with me?”

“Because she left a while ago to go to Vegas. To be with you,” Travis said. “She and Phoebe and Joe took off for Omaha after Joe couldn’t get the private plane to pick them up.”

“They couldn’t get the plane because
I
was using it to come back early,” Levi said, springing up from his chair. “Why the hell was she going to Vegas?”

“Because
you
were there,” Tucker said, as if it should be obvious.

“We’re getting married tomorrow,” Levi pointed out. Needlessly.

“And she didn’t think you’d make it back because of the storm,” Travis told him. “She told Lauren she wanted to be with you and go ahead with the wedding even if it wasn’t here.”

Levi started for the door, his heart full. He should have known better than to try to surprise her. Of course her mind would have been working and she would have been watching and worrying about the weather. He should have told her he was on his way back.

He felt a big hand wrap around his biceps. “Where do you think you’re going?”

He looked up at TJ. “To Kate.”

“You can’t.” The other man was definitely bigger than Levi. And he had a deep voice that made people pay attention. Especially since he wasn’t a big talker. When he did have something to say, people found themselves curious, if nothing else.

“I have to,” Levi said. “She went to find me, to get married.”

“There’s no way you’re flying out of here, even if you do happen to make it over the roads to the airport. It’s not safe.”

Levi yanked his arm from TJ’s grasp. “I can’t be here while she’s there. Tomorrow is—”

“Not going to happen,” TJ said. His eyes were sympathetic though. “Sorry man. It sucks. But it’s not safe to try to get to Vegas tonight. Maybe it will clear up and you can go in the morning.”

Levi sighed. Fuck. TJ was right. He couldn’t ask his pilot to try to get to Vegas. The pilot’s answer would be no anyway.

“I can’t believe this,” Levi muttered.

TJ led him back to the table and signaled the waitress. “You’re probably going to need a few of these.”

He noticed the shot glasses covering the table as TJ pushed him into his seat.

“What are you drinking?”

“They’re called the Ball and Chain,” Tucker said, lifting a shot glass and then tipping it back. “With that name, and the fact it has peppermint schnapps in it, we knew we had to drink them to you tonight.”

It was well known that Levi and Kate had a special place in their hearts for all things peppermint. It reminded them of their first Christmas together, when they’d met in Sapphire Falls.

“You invented a shot for me?” Levi asked as the waitress set down five more shots.

“Nah, it was already a thing,” Tucker said. “Peppermint schnapps, cinnamon schnapps and Jägermeister.”

Levi’s eyes widened. “Um…”

Ty pushed a glass to him. “Just do it.”

They all lifted their tiny glasses, clinked them together and shot the mixture back.

Levi breathed out hard afterward, but yeah, it was good.

“I better take it easy on those if I’m driving home though,” he said. He eyed the men around the table. Travis, Tucker and TJ all lived on farms as well. “How about you guys?”

“You’re staying in town with us,” Ty said. “The girls gave us specific instructions earlier to move everyone into town for the night so we were all here for the wedding.” He grimaced. “That was before Kate took off and you showed up, of course.”

Of course. Levi sighed and was the one to raise his hand for the next round. “So we’re having a big slumber party, huh?”

Ty grinned. “We’ve got my house all set up and extra room at Hailey’s.”

When Ty had moved back to Sapphire Falls to convince Hailey they should be together forever, he’d bought the big old two-story right next door to
her
big old two-story. He was converting it into a dormitory for the triathletes who would be coming to town to train with him, but because the program wasn’t up and running yet, so to speak, it really was like they had double the house.