"Settling for less will never be better," Arielle advised Ellie with a sigh. "My mother settled for a man she thought safe... and it destroyed her."

The strong scent of antiseptics in the corridor stung Ellie's nose, and it wasn't something she'd forget for as long as she lived.

She'd never been a fan of hospitals, doctors, or needles.

Of all the conversations she thought she might have with Arielle, this wasn't one of them.

"She was miserable for ten years," Arielle said, "before he chased a bottle of pills with tequila, releasing them both from their misery."

A thoughtful frown tugged at her perfectly shaped brows.

"It took my father five years to convince her he wasn't like Morty," she said with a fond smile. "They got married and had me. Three years later, they discovered she had cancer, and she died."

The vulnerable set of Arielle's thin lips revealed that the mother she'd never known had left a gaping hole in her life.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Ellie said automatically as her heart wrenched for the little girl who'd lost her mother—because she knew what it felt like not to have one.

But God blessed their family with Lissa at the most vulnerable time of her life.

Although Ellie hadn't been impressed with her father when he came home from a conference with a fiancé who already had a kid.

The happiness that glowed inside him like a bright sun had broken down her defenses.

Within days, Lissa had started working for the McPhersons and moved into the cottage about a mile from the main house.

Six months later, Junior had married the woman of his dreams on their back lawn.

Ellie's life had changed when Lissa and Jaden moved in.

Arielle sipped her coffee and sighed gratefully, pulling Ellie's thoughts to the present.

"Life is short," Arielle said, a thoughtful expression on her face. "We don't know how much time we really have meted out to us."

It was a truth the loss of Senior had introduced Ellie to, and her father's heart-attack had reinforced it.

They spotted Ranger and Hunter at the end of the corridor.

"Father always told me stories of Mother and their lives together. As I grew up, she was a real person to me—not just a vague memory. It helped having my grandmother around, we were very close."

A fond but sad smile touched her lips.

"Father never remarried. It was always the kind of love I secretly wanted..." she mused. "Yet I feared it, since I saw how broken it had left him. But I wouldn't exchange what I have with Hunter for anything in the world."

"Hunter loves you back," Ellie pointed out, touched that Arielle would share such deep feelings. "Loving someone who doesn't love you can break a person. Like my mother broke Father."

"Ranger is fond of you," Arielle said. "That is a better start than Hunter and I had. He'll be good to you in ways that feel like love—and maybe one day, it will be. Maybe that'll be the closest you'll ever come to the real thing. If that's not good enough, stop this now."

Ellie missed a stride, righted herself, and spilled some hot liquid despite the spillproof cap.

She shifted the cup to her other hand, shook it off and wiped her hand on her jeans.

"Then you'll lose our home, and so will my father," she said firmly. "As you said, family honor is a powerful thing."

The words sounded hollow.

"I'm sorry," Arielle said, catching her eye briefly.

"For what?" Ellie asked as they slowed their steps.

"For not letting you into our lives the way we did with Junior," Arielle admitted. "But maybe it was because of how you always looked at Ranger—whether you knew it or not. I didn't want you to end up getting hurt. More importantly, I didn't want Ranger to get stuck in a situation without options."

"You thought I'd sleep with him and get myself knocked up?" Ellie asked. Her back straightened and her chin lifted as her nails cut into her palms. "And he'd be forced to marry the help?"

Heat flooded her face. She wanted to snap at Arielle, but a lifetime of holding her tongue kept her from speaking the words rushing through her mind.

It was one thing to think these things—another to confront the divide between them. After getting to know this woman over the last few days, it wasn't just anger burning through her veins.

The thought shattered the burgeoning trust between them, putting her back in her place. Even as Ranger's wife, she would still be the hired help.

Why does it suddenly bother me so much?

What changed?

"Everything," her mind reminded her.

Before, having Ranger in her life had been a daydream. Now, it could be a reality, leaving her to experience the things she'd never allowed herself to even consider.

She and Ranger came from different backgrounds though, and there would always be those who'd look down on her.

She still remembered how much it hurt her as a girl.

Will I be better armored against it as a woman?

"Yes," Arielle admitted in that straightforward way Ellie was beginning to appreciate. "But you have too much of Junior in you for that, which is why I'm apologizing now."

The candid admission deflated Ellie's anger like a balloon popped at a party, yet didn't change the facts.

Instead, it left her hollow.

Wrestling with her insecurities in the privacy of her mind was one thing. But seeing her fears etched into the unshakeable certainty of Arielle's expression—that was something entirely else.

"As much as I have of my father in me, he was right to keep us apart," Ellie murmured, her innate honesty forcing itself to the surface.

She watched Ranger approach in his tight jeans and muscle shirt.

"He was way too much of a 'man' to have been allowed anywhere near a hormonal teenager," she said, lowering her voice as if he could hear her. "Not that he would've looked at me twice—I was too young for him to truly see me."

Heat scorched her cheeks.

Arielle chuckled. "But you grew up. And you would've been just the type of girl who would have caught his attention. To tell you the truth, the thought of a near-teenage grandchild is more palatable than Victoria as part of my life."

Ellie stared at Arielle, not knowing what to say.

She didn't agree with her future mother-in-law that Ranger would have noticed her—even if she'd not been so firmly off the menu.

She'd learned from the tabloids that he had a type—sophisticated, rich, beautiful, smart, and cultured. Knowing Arielle would have rather had her in the family than someone like Vicky... removed the sting from the moment.

"Why so serious?" Hunter asked as they arrived, stealing Arielle's coffee but the cup was empty.

He tossed it in the bin with a disappointed sigh, and Ellie disposed of hers with a grin.

"Woman stuff," Arielle said without explanation, taking Ellie's hand. "Come on. This day has been long enough, and I have a pile of paperwork waiting to be ignored... while I figure out seating arrangements."

Arielle's phone rang, and, as she answered, Ellie digested what they had discussed.

Arielle stepped away out of habit. "What do you mean you're refunding our deposit?" she asked, her voice rising with disbelief. "No, my secretary did not cancel the venue—I don't have one."

Silence followed as she listened to the frantic person on the other side.

"This is a misunderstanding," Arielle said. "Please, we need the venue. There's no time for alternative arrangements."

The silence stretched, and Ellie struggled to make sense of what was happening.

Unease filled her.

"What do you mean you're fully booked?!" Arielle's hand tightened around the phone, her knuckles turning white.

Ellie needed no further explanation; judging from their expressions, neither did Hunter and Ranger.

Her stomach hollowed out, and anger fired her blood.

"I understand." Arielle shut down the screen and shoved the phone in her pocket.

"That bitch canceled the venue," she muttered, even though it wasn't news to any of them.

Nor did anyone need to ask what bitch.

Arielle's phone rang again. She fished the device out of her pocket and stared at it.

Ellie recognized the number on the large screen—it was the caterer.

"Answer it," Hunter told Arielle. His controlled anger wasn't directed at his wife.

Ellie glanced at Ranger. His hands had stiffened into fists and his expression would've scared her—if she'd seen it on another man's face.

"I guess the other shoe has dropped," she said quietly between clenched teeth.

Ranger claimed her hand as if he needed solace.

"I guess we're going to Vegas?" he suggested.

It was a joke to lighten the atmosphere and push past the darkness in him. Just then, it seemed like a solution. But Hunter and Arielle would never allow their son to marry "the help" in Vegas.

The papers would have a field day, since they were already wondering if she was a gold-digger or the real deal.

"Yes, let's see how she cancels that." To her surprise, Hunter latched onto the idea, and she waited for Arielle to counter him.

"What about Lissa and Junior?" Arielle asked, looking conflicted but not averse to the proposed change in plans.

"We can use the company plane." Hunter pulled his phone from his pocket to organize everything.

It took Ellie a moment to realize they were serious—if she said yes... this was happening.

Although she had had trouble picturing herself wearing that beautiful white dress they had ordered—at this wedding Arielle had had her heart set on—the idea of Vegas left her slightly off-kilter.

"We can have a proper wedding later," Ranger said as if in apology to her. "They don't even have to know."

She imagined her parents' faces when they realized there would be no wedding. The idea made her feel short of breath. Then, another thought occurred to her.

Might this feel less like a farce if we tie the knot in some cheap Vegas chapel?

The beginnings of a headache pulsed in her temples.

Perhaps it'll build up people's expectations less if we just elope and hold a reception later.

"Junior will never forgive you if he reads about his daughter's wedding in some tabloid," Arielle warned, just as Ellie said, "My father will never forgive us."

"And if we tell him there's a time limit on this, he'll smell a rat," Hunter pointed out.

"Are you in or out?" Ranger asked Ellie.

He brought her to a standstill with their locked hands so he could look into her eyes.

Does he realize what he's doing to me?

She almost touched his slightly scruffy cheek.

This is about more than me, she reminded herself.

"In," she said, feeling as if she stood at the edge of a precipice. But she just couldn't help falling into those bottomless eyes.

And we're out of time. If we marry at the court offices, the whole world would know within hours. It would be worse than going to Vegas—and it might take days before we get permission.

If Vicky didn't interfere once more.

But then again, her parents were still in hospital. Although they were out of danger, she couldn't imagine getting married without them.

They're also not going to be released in the next few days, she realized with reluctant practicality.

The wedding had been scheduled a week from now, but there wasn't enough time to plan another.

Waiting would give Vicky too much leeway to sabotage us. She could picture her, fiery red hair, calculating emerald eyes shining fiercely as she celebrated this victory.

I won't allow her to destroy everyone I love.

"Give her space to think," Arielle said.

"She has until the plane is fueled," Hunter decided.

Ellie glanced at Ranger, wishing she could lean on Jaden, Lissa, or even her dad for guidance.

But she couldn't.

This decision belongs to me alone, because no one else can carry the weight of it.

She rubbed her temple with her forefinger as her jaw set and her chin lifted.

It was maybe the first truly grownup choice of her life—one that would have permanent, irrevocable consequences.

It wasn't like wondering what color to paint her room as a teenager.

Or deciding to work under her dad instead of going to college, and even though that decision had derailed her life, it had been a safe choice that had ensured her future.

No matter how much it had hurt.

She'd taken it, knowing she could always change her mind.

This was real—messy, complicated, and permanent.

"I'll marry you in Vegas," she said, and the words halted the others.

Her heart beat in her throat as she watched their expressions range from pity to pride.