“Thank you! You’ve saved the day,” she said as the tension melted from her body.
The man chuckled. “I didn’t save the day. None of this was my idea.”
“Then whose idea was it?” Tom asked.
The judge opened the door and waved to the snowcat, and a second man emerged from the purring vehicle.
Bridget stared in disbelief. “It’s…” she trailed off, feeling weak in the knees. She’d know those dark curls and that large, muscular frame anywhere.
Soren hadn’t left Kringle.
Not only that, he was here.
Her heart hammered in her chest.
Did she want to kiss him or throttle him? Both seemed like reasonable options.
“It’s Scooter, and I’d like you all to hear what he has to say,” the judge said, then came to her side and offered her his arm. Gratefully, she took it.
And before anyone could object, the door to the mountain house swung open again, and Soren appeared.
Red-cheeked, he scanned the room, then his eyes fell on her.
“Hi,” he said with a nervous grin.
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Hi.”
He held her gaze, and those cat-like eyes sparkled with an intriguing hopefulness. He looked like a new man.
“I need to talk to your sister first, but then there’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“Okay,” she replied, limited to one-word utterances.
What was he doing here?
“Don’t even think of upsetting my fiancée,” Tom said as he wrapped his arm around Lori protectively.
Soren took another tentative step into the room. “Tom, I know that I betrayed your trust and that you’re furious with me.”
The man huffed an incredulous bark of a laugh. “Furious? Furious doesn’t even come close to how I feel.”
Soren put up his hands defensively. “I understand that, Tom. I owe you and everyone in your family an apology. I’m not making any excuses for my behavior. I did come to this wedding to stop it. That’s the truth, but it’s not as simple as that.”
“Enlighten us,” Tom said, but there was more hurt than anger in his tone.
Soren looked around the room. “I thought I was on the brink of losing everything that was good in my life. I allowed my fear of losing all of you to bring out the worst in me. I convinced myself that you weren’t ready for marriage, Tom. But it wasn’t you who wasn’t ready. The minute I saw you with Lori all those months ago at the restaurant, I knew you loved her. And I could see how much she cared for you. I just couldn’t admit that to myself.”
“What did you think was going to happen?” Tom asked as pain and confusion flashed in his eyes.
Soren held the man’s gaze. “I thought that if you got married, you’d move on without me. No more Abbott family holidays, and no more Scooter. When I’m Scooter, I’m whole. I’m kind. I’m the person I want to be. But this is where I made a mistake.”
“And what’s that?” Tom asked, his voice softening.
“I used to think that I never learned how to love because of my parents. I focused so hard on that and couldn’t see that I’d spent the last sixteen years surrounded by love. From Grace and Scott, to Denise and Nancy, and then to Cole and Carly, and now, from you and Lori, I’ve seen firsthand what love is. Tom, you’ve been my best friend for most of my life. You taught me acceptance and loyalty, but fear kept me from understanding that Scooter and Soren could be the same man. And that’s why I want to make a promise to Lori,” he finished, turning to her sister.
“To me?” Lori asked, sharing a perplexed look with Tom.
“Well, to you and to your baby. Will you hear me out?” Soren pleaded.
Lori’s lips parted once, then twice, before she finally nodded.
Soren blew out a shaky breath. “I was nothing but sullen and cruel, and you met my horrendous behavior with nothing but kindness. I promise that from this day forward, I’m on your side. I promise to always be there for you, Tom, and your child. You’ve made my best friend happier than I have ever seen him, and I’m grateful to you. But you don’t have to take me up on this promise. I know my relationship with Tom, and everyone here may be beyond repair. And if none of you want to see me again, I understand. But I give you my word that, from this moment on, I’m going to live my life in a way that would make