The Rancher's Second Chance by Victoria James Read Free Book Online Page B

The flower arrangements were white roses with sprigs of evergreen placed in silver buckets. She would have three on the table and then three in front, along with a larger, taller bucket at each pew.
    Her friend Piper was providing silvered seashell tea-light holders; Melanie was planning on scattering a few of them along the altar amidst the three silver candelabra as well as at the reception. She took a deep breath and turned around to face the chapel from the view at the altar. It would no doubt be the smallest wedding she planned this year, but the most stunning. She glanced over at the window to where Cole was standing. The windows would each have a wreath made out of white roses and a pink satin bow at the bottom of each one.
    Melanie walked over to her bag and pulled out the silver lantern, a thrill of excitement coursing over her at seeing how perfect this went with the space. Cori was going to be so excited when she filled her in on all these details. She placed a lantern on the altar and then stepped back, trying to decide if she should use a chunky white candle or pink inside.
    Cole’s deep voice startled her and she turned around to look at him, still standing next to the window. She couldn’t see his eyes, shadowed by his hat. “You’re going to have to hurry up. I don’t like the look of the sky. And the wind is picking up.”
    Melanie glanced out the window, soft flakes of snow falling. “I’m sure it’s fine. But I’ll be fast.” She spent the next few minutes measuring the distance between the pews to make sure there would be enough room for the buckets of flowers as well as Cori and Cole when he walked her down the aisle. Then she measured the width of the windows to double-check that the custom-made rose wreaths would hang nicely.
    “Okay, we’re done,” Cole said, his deep voice in the silent room jarring.
    Melanie looked up, and he’d already started collecting her lanterns. “Wait, just one more—”
    “No. We’re never going to make it back if we don’t go now,” he said, shoving a lantern into her bag.
    “Be careful ,” Melanie said rushing over to grab it from him. “These silver lanterns were special order. If one breaks, there won’t be enough time to order another one.” She proceeded to gather her belongings. The wind was whistling and every now and then one of the windows would rattle. Cole was busy closing up the shutters on the windows and Melanie was very aware at how dark it was getting. “It looks pretty gloomy out there,” she said.
    His mouth was pulled into a grim line. “I think we’re in for a major storm. Blizzard maybe.”
    “What?”
    He nodded. “I should have trusted my instincts. We never should have walked up here. Pull up your collar; bundle up as best you can. When we get out there, stay close to me because visibility might get bad. If we can walk fast, we’ll make it down to the main house in time. I hope.”
    “You hope?”
    “Stop talking; let’s move,” he said and whipped open the door.
    A blast of wind tore through the chapel and they both looked at each other before stepping out. “We’ll be lucky if we don’t get caught in a damn storm. Time to haul ass, sweetheart.”
    …
    Cole cursed softly under his breath as they stood on the top steps of the porch. He glanced over at Melanie, who already looked as though she was going to blow away. There was definitely a blizzard coming. He’d lived here too many winters to not know the signs. The sky had darkened prematurely for this hour of the day, the winds were almost violent, and the snow was coming down harder. He had about five seconds to make the call of whether or not they were going to make it back to the ranch. He looked Melanie up and down. There was no way she’d make it back.
    “I thought you said we needed to hurry. Standing here isn’t going to get us home faster,” she said, hopping from one foot to the other in those useless boots.
    He sighed roughly. “We’re not