A Bride for the Bear (Bear Creek Clan 6) by Harmony Raines

Chapter One - Alli
    Alli smiled at Drew. “I am so glad you came over from Bear Bluff to shop with me for your wedding dress.”
    Drew twirled around, the fabric of her white silk dress swirling around her feet. Sliding her hands down the fitted skirt, she grinned. “So am I. Freyja told Eirik you had the best dresses in the county.” She took one last look at herself in the mirror and then said, “She was right.”
    “It fits perfectly. You must be so excited. This Saturday. Wow, only two days to go,” Alli said, putting the pins away. Luckily, the dress needed no last-minute adjustments.
    “Don’t remind me,” Drew said, placing her hand on her stomach. “I feel sick every time I think about it.”
    “You should be so happy. Eirik is wonderful; you are both so well suited.”
    Drew smiled at her knowingly. “It’s just the way it works out sometimes. I’ve known him most of my life, but sometimes the very person you are meant to be with is under your nose, and you just don’t see it.”
    “True.” Alli smiled wistfully. She had been running Bear Brides for so long now, having inherited the bridal boutique from a distant aunt. At first, she hadn’t been sure about being involved with so many people’s special day. However, as the brides arrived on her doorstep, she grew to enjoy their sense of excitement and expectation of a happy future with their man.
    It was so romantic how the men and women of Bear Creek and Bear Bluff fell in love and then stayed together, forever, it seemed. Since moving to Bear Creek, she had only known of a handful of marriages breaking down. The town must have the lowest divorce rate in the world. And it wasn’t, as far as she could tell, because divorce was frowned upon; it was something deeper than that. As if the couples belonged together. She frowned, never having quite been able to pinpoint exactly what it was that gave her that feeling. But she wished she could feel that way with a man. Then she tried to be sensible: all these weddings made her feel like a hopeless romantic. That wasn’t how real life worked; it was a façade she witnessed through the eyes of so many brides.
    However, her work had given Alli a sense of how important marriage still was. For a woman who had been born out of wedlock and who never really knew her father, it gave her a different perspective on marriage. As the years had drifted by, she had developed her own need to be a bride, to find her happily ever after. Yet the right man never came along. Until now.
    Alli had been dating Graham for three months now. He was a high-powered property developer who had swept her off her feet; she still wasn’t sure why. Alli considered herself to be well groomed and dressed in the most flattering clothes for her curvy figure; she was the face of her boutique after all. Yet it was that same curvy figure that she always considered her downfall. She believed that was what put men off taking her seriously. Or maybe it was the long hours she worked. Alli would be the first to admit that Bear Brides took up most of her time and energy, leaving little room for anything else. It was why she got on so well with Graham; they understood each other.
    Or at least she understood him. When he called at the last minute to cancel a date because “something had come up,” she never gave him a hard time. Although Graham was not always good at returning that understanding. Once she had cancelled their date because of an emergency dress repair, the day before the unfortunate bride’s big day. Graham had ranted on about how he was supposed to be the most important thing in her world. Not some stranger who bought a dress from her.
    Romance wasn’t exactly Graham’s strong point. However, he had a head for business and loved her. She knew he did. Therefore, she had stuck with him in the hope that he would one day propose. Yet the longer they were together, the more she was wondering if that was ever going to happen. And if it