The venue for the rehearsal dinner is a converted barn on the outskirts of town, all exposed beams and twinkling lights and rustic elegance. The parking lot is already half full when we arrive, and I spot several familiar vehicles.
"Ready?"
Nadia takes a deep breath. "No. Let's go anyway."
We walk in together, my hand at the small of her back. The contact is possessive and deliberate, a clear statement to everyone in the room about who she belongs to tonight.
The reaction is immediate.
Heads turn. Conversations pause. I see Silas across the room, grinning like he's won some kind of bet. Helena Chen's mother actually drops her wine glass.
And then a woman who looks like an older version of Nadia descends on us with the force of a natural disaster.
"Nadia Michelle Smith." She pulls Nadia into a hug that's half embrace, half interrogation. "You didn't tell me your date was Callum Ridge."
"You know him?"
"Everyone knows him. He's the most eligible bachelor in the Kootenay Rockies." She releases Nadia and turns that assessing gaze on me. "I'm Gloria. Nadia's mother. And you must be the man who's been keeping my daughter trapped on a mountain for two days."
"The storm was keeping her trapped. I was just providing shelter."
"Mmhmm." Gloria looks between us with obvious suspicion. "Shelter. Is that what we're calling it?"
"Mom." Nadia's voice carries a warning. "Please don't."
"Don't what? I'm just making conversation. Getting to know the man who's apparently swept my daughter off her feet in less than forty-eight hours." She loops her arm through mine and starts walking. "Come on, Callum. You can sit next to me and tell me all about yourself while Nadia goes to find her sister."
I glance back at Nadia, who mouths sorry with an expression of genuine horror.
But I meant what I said this morning. Her family doesn't scare me.
Gloria spends the next twenty minutes grilling me about my business, my brothers, my romantic history, and my five-year plan. I answer honestly and watch her suspicion slowly transform into something like grudging approval.
"You're not what I expected," she admits halfway through her second glass of wine.
"What did you expect?"
"I don't know. Someone slicker. Nadia usually goes for men in suits who can quote stock prices and don't know how to change a tire." She studies me. "You're different."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It is one." She glances across the room to where Nadia is talking with her sister, both of them gesturing animatedly. "She looks happy. Relaxed. I haven't seen her like that in years."
"She's been under a lot of pressure."
"She's been under pressure her whole life. Most of it self-imposed." Gloria's expression softens. "Her father and I, we made a lot of mistakes when she was young. Divorce is hard on kids, and we didn't handle it well. She learned early that the only person she could count on was herself."
"That's a heavy lesson for a child."
"It is. And it made her strong, but it also made her closed off. Afraid to depend on anyone." Gloria meets my eyes. "If you're going to be in her life, you need to understand that. She pushes because she's scared. She tests because she's been disappointed. But underneath all that armor, she's just a girl who wants someone to fight for her."
"I'm not afraid of a fight."
"Good." Gloria pats my arm. "Because that daughter of mine is worth fighting for."
The rest of the evening passes in a blur of introductions and small talk and carefully navigated family dynamics. I meet Nadia's father, who's awkward and clearly uncomfortable withthe whole situation. I meet her sister Yasmine, who's stressed but grateful that the seating chart crisis has been resolved. I meet Tyler, the groom, who seems genuinely decent and obviously adores his bride.
Through it all, I keep finding Nadia across the room. Our eyes meet over wine glasses and around conversations with relatives and through the chaos of a family gathering that's equal parts love and dysfunction.
