“Barbara wants a church wedding. We both do.”
“And you’ll have one in January or February. Before Lent in any case. No weddings during Lent.”
All three of the others started to speak, but he held his hands up. “Hush. Listen to me. A civil ceremony is perfectly valid. You will be legally married. That will give us time to jump through all the churchly hoops, like counseling sessions, at our leisure. That is, if you still want me to marry you.”
“Of course we do,” Barbara said. “But can you do that?”
“Yes. It’s actually more of a blessing of your union, but it counts, I promise you. Stephen, you better move if you are going to make it to your courthouse before it closes.”
“Don’t tell him that! We’ll end up in jail on reckless driving and speeding charges.”
“If it’s in Williamston County, the judge can marry you in jail.”
“Come on, Barbara.”
“Here’s a thermos of coffee and all the rest of the cookies,” Martha said, handing them a package wrapped in foil. “You don’t have time to stop even at a fast-food place.”
As they got in the truck and pulled away, Stephen said, “One short stop.”
“Where?”
“We need gas, I need a bathroom and I have to call Seth.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“HOW MUCH PULL do you have with city hall?” Stephen asked when he got Seth on his cell phone. He turned up the speaker so Barbara could listen as well.
“A fair amount. Depends on who you talk to. What’s this about? Where are you?”
In the background Stephen heard the gaspy cries of a newborn. “Sorry if I woke Kicks up, Seth. When are you going to name her?”
“You didn’t wake her up. She’s hungry. She lets you know it.” Silence. “There. Emma has her. The feeding frenzy has begun. We’re still discussing names. Emma wanted her to have a personality before we named her. That’s too New Agey for me. Emma wanted Artemis. I nixed that. She’d go through hell in school with a name like that. So we’ve pretty much agreed on the Roman version. She’s going to be Diana, the goddess of the hunt.”
“Good choice.”
“Barbara, you there, too? What’s this about? Are you two in trouble?”
“Sort of,” Barbara said. “It’s a long story.”
“I need you to organize this situation, Seth,” Stephen said. “Call Sonny Prather...”
“The mayor?”
“Beg him to keep the county clerk’s office open until Barbara and I get there. Shouldn’t be much later than they normally close. Tell him I’ll pay for someone to stay late. Ask him to get a marriage certificate signed and sealed in the names of Stephen Magnus MacDonald—”
“Magnus?” Barbara guffawed.
“And Barbara—”
“I know her full name,” Emma said in the background.
“We’re on our way back to Williamston. We should be there in an hour and a half, maybe two. We’ll sign everything when we get there. If they want money, please pay them. I’ll reimburse you. Ask Mayor Prather to stay until we get there, then marry us in his office tonight. I’ll pay him whatever he wants. Think you can manage that?”
“Who knows? I’ll call you back and let you know.”
“One final favor. Will you and Emma be our witnesses?”
“Stephen,” Emma said from the background, “I love you both, but I just had a baby.”
“Of course. Stupid of me.”
“Laila’s staying here to look after Diana for a couple of days. She’s dying to get Diana all to herself. I don’t promise, but depending on how I feel, we’ll be there.” She hesitated. “Have you told your kids?”
“No, and don’t you, either,” Barbara said. “We’ll tell them when it’s a fait accompli. This is nerve-wracking enough without having to battle our way into the mayor’s office.”
“Okay. Get off the phone and let me get to organizing,” Seth said and broke the connection.
“Stephen, darling. This could work.”
“It will work. Tonight, I intend to be a married man with a beautiful wife.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“WE CAN’T LET them do this.” Elaine stomped around her overdecorated living room with her hands fisted at her sides. “Where is Roger? He was supposed to be home an hour ago.”
“Daddy and Barbara aren’t committing bank robbery or murder,” Anne said. “They’re eloping. They are both past the age of consent. It’s none of our business.” She curled her long legs under her.
Elaine didn’t yell at her about it but gave her a dirty look instead.
“They are committing scandal!” Elaine snapped. “It’s not enough that Daddy goes off into the back of beyond and rents a shack when he has a perfectly good house in town.”
“I kind of like having our place to myself. Not that I’m there much, what with the horses.”
“Those stupid horses. Anne, when will you grow up, take up a decent career and find a man who can support you?”
“If adulthood makes me like you, I’ll stay immature. I have some happiness in my life. What do you have except a desperate need to make everyone around you miserable?”
“I have a husband who is trying to make partner in his law firm. Those people scrutinize everything we do. I try to keep everything perfect for him. I volunteer, I sit on boards, I spend hours at the gym. A man likes a woman who is well-groomed, well made-up—”
“Stop right there. My boots cost more than a dozen pairs of those fancy shoes of yours. And my britches cost more than your designer jeans and fit better, too.”
“We are not discussing clothing choices. We are discussing my father’s marrying this country woman who needs a professional haircut and a makeover.”
“This country woman is a successful doctor.”
“Animal doctor. Not a neurosurgeon. I’d accept a neurosurgeon. Why didn’t he marry one of those women who have been after him since Mother’s funeral? Why not Dahlia Leroy? She’s beautiful, has more money than the president—”
“She’s had more husbands than she’s had plastic surgery.”
“I’m on the symphony board with her. She’s smart. She wouldn’t bore him. What do he and that woman talk about? Having puppies? Big whoop.”
Anne burst out laughing. “You haven’t said that since high school. I wasn’t so sure at first this would be a good thing. I’ve changed my mind. I like her.”
“You would. Free vet care for your horses. Don’t count on it. We’ll never see him. He’ll retire from the college so he can spend all his time with her. He’ll sell the house out from under you, sister dear. You’ll be living in a studio apartment in a bad neighborhood and getting your car stolen every other weekend. It’s bad enough you tend bar.”
“It’s a very chic bar. I make enough money to afford a decent apartment in an excellent neighborhood, if I have to move.”
“At least the horsey set is chic even if you aren’t. Polo is fashionable.”
“I don’t play polo.”
“But you go to parties with the polo crowd.”
“Why are you such a snob? Mother was never a snob.”
“She didn’t have to be. She was perfect. Her position in society was assured. Everyone adored her. Against all odds I keep trying to live up to her standards. Every time Daddy looks at me, he sees what she was and I’ll never be.”
“Now that is just silly! He does nothing of the sort.”
“I try to be special, and I’m not.”
“Of course you are. Here’s Roger.
“Finally. Come on. Let’s go stop this nonsense.”
“Where, exactly, are we going?” Roger asked as he followed the two women back through the kitchen to the garage, where his Lexus was s
till warm after the drive from his law offices.
“I’ll tell you on the way.”
* * *
“I CALLED THE clinic this morning when I couldn’t get hold of Dad,” Elaine said. “The secretary person let slip that he and that woman are on their way to Holly Springs to get married. So I called Caitlyn and told her we had to do something to stop them.”
“You what?” Roger turned to stare at her. A driver next to him honked at him to get back in his lane. “This is why you dragged me out of a meeting with a client?”
Elaine shrugged. “Caitlyn is no happier about this than we are. She said she was going to call her brother, Mark, then she planned to drive down and meet us at that little church in Holly Springs, where Daddy’s friend officiates. Mark is in Nashville and can’t get there in time. Just as well. He’ll be no help. He’s all for this—this misalliance.”
“Elaine,” Roger said reasonably, “I am not going to stop this wedding. If it actually takes place, I’m going to be a part of it.”
“What?”
“If not a part, then at least a willing witness. I’m starting to think I should toss you into the nearest psychiatric facility, load you up with tranquilizers and go on a cruise until you’re sane again. You have gone way overboard on this thing.”
“Caitlyn agrees with me.”
“Two out of five. You lose.”
“He’s right,” Anne said from the back seat. “Roger, I’m proud of you.”
“They have a right to get married when and how they like, whatever we think,” Roger said. “Although they should probably have a well-planned wedding in the spring. In the meantime, we need to mend fences, not blow this thing up into a family feud.”
“But—”
“You are so uptight about scandal,” Anne said to Elaine. “Chasing after Daddy and Barbara is a much bigger story than their going off quietly to have an old friend marry them. Guess who the villain is in this one? You.”
Elaine burst into tears. “I’m only trying to do the right thing. That’s all I ever try to do. The way things look matters. People will laugh at us. Roger’s partners will laugh at us. We won’t be able to hush it up that they ran away like a pair of randy teenagers.”
“Stop it,” Anne said. She reached over the seat and patted Elaine’s shoulder. “Don’t take it so hard, sis. It could be worse. We mostly don’t listen to you in the first place.”
* * *
STEPHEN SLID HIS truck into a parking space right outside the main entrance at the Williamston County Courthouse and climbed out. Barbara met him on the sidewalk.
“We have ten minutes until they are scheduled to close,” he said. “I can’t believe we made it.” He took her hand as they climbed the stairs and entered what Williamston considered a grand foyer. Stephen had never been inside before and found it a remarkably ugly amalgamation of fake Georgian and even faker Victorian architecture spruced up with Georgia marble. By the double staircase hung a poster advising caution because of the slippery stairs.
“I can’t believe we avoided getting locked up for speeding,” Barbara said.
“The gods were with us and the highway patrol wasn’t. Let’s go.”
The door to the county clerk’s office was open, but no clients leaned on the counter. From behind an aged rolltop desk, an aged lady came to greet them. “May I help you?” Her tone was austere, but she burst into a grin when she recognized her customers. “Sonny said to wait for you, but you got here before we’re supposed to close. Hey, Barbara. You finally getting married again? Took you long enough. Who is this cute thing you’re marrying?” She simpered at Stephen.
Barbara introduced them. “Thank you for waiting, Janey. We just drove from Holly Springs at warp speed. Did you know they have a three-day waiting period for marriage licenses in Mississippi now?”
“Sure. Should have called me. I’d a saved you a trip. Come on around here and take a seat so we can get all this filled out and checked. Y’all got identification?”
Both handed over their passports.
“Y’all been married before? I know you have, Barbara, but you weren’t married before John, were you? Never been divorced?”
They shook their heads.
“I need the names of your previous spouses for the record.” She lifted her eyebrows at Stephen. “Who on earth named you Magnus?”
“My mother had Viking blood, or said she did. I keep it quiet.”
“I think it’s sort of cute. Now, let’s get the rest of this stuff finished. Ever been convicted of a felony?” She continued with her questions.
When Barbara checked the clock on the wall, she saw they had been answering bureaucratic questions for what seemed like hours, but had been less than ten minutes.
“Sonny said for y’all to go on up to his office when you’re ready,” Janey said. “His office is right in front of you as you get to the top of the stairs. And watch the stairs. They’re killers.”
“Miss, uh, Janey, does Williamston have a jeweler?” Stephen asked.
“Two, actually.”
“We need rings.”
Janey’s eyebrows lifted. “Put it off a little late, didn’t you? I’d try Gold and Son, right across the street. For a small-town jeweler, he has nice things, including some antiques.”
“Will he be open?”
“Should be until six. I’ll get this all typed up and stamped. You go buy your rings. You can pay me after the ceremony.”
“Do you mind staying the extra time?” Barbara asked.
“Not if you let me come to your wedding.”
Stephen thanked her. “We may actually need a witness, if Emma and Seth can’t come.”
“Now, y’all go get you a couple of rings. I’ll be right here when you get back.”
The jeweler’s small shop was located in one of the narrow old brick buildings that faced the courthouse. Its old rose brick had recently been tuck pointed and its woodwork freshly painted robin’s-egg blue. When Barbara and Stephen came in, a bell over the door tinkled to announce them.
From the back came a young man, no more than thirty, with a well-groomed black beard.
“Mr. Gold?” asked Stephen.
“My dad’s Mr. Gold. I’m ‘Son.’ Janey just called and said you were coming over for wedding rings.” He glanced down at Barbara’s hand. “Uh...”
“I’m not sure I can remove it,” Barbara said.
“Here, let me give it a shot.” He twisted her ring. It moved but refused to slide over Barbara’s knuckle. “We can soak it in ice water for twenty minutes and use Vaseline to make it slippery. It’ll probably slide off eventually. Can’t guarantee it, though.”
“Is there some faster way?” Barbara caught Stephen’s eye. For a moment, she felt a wrench around her heart. This was the final tangible link to her marriage to John. If he could see her hesitate, he’d no doubt make a wisecrack about fat fingers. “Can you cut it off?”
“Sure. Give me a sec.” He went to the back and returned with a minuscule pair of what looked to Barbara like ordinary tin snips. “Let me have your hand. I promise I won’t carve you along with the ring.”
His hand felt cool and smooth and very steady. Barbara closed her eyes at the sound the snip made, and felt the sudden release of the pressure that had been a part of her life for so long.
“We’ll need a gold chain for it, and can it be welded on so that it doesn’t slip off?” Stephen asked. He took Barbara’s hand and held it hard. She returned the pressure.
I refuse to cry.
“Sure, pick out a chain. I’ve some nice thick gold ones. I suggest you add a chain slide so that the chain doesn’t actually slide through the ring itself. If you do that, it’ll never lie flat. Leave it with me, I’ll polish it up, add a chain slide and have it ready tomorrow. Now let’s check out the rings.”
; They picked out simple matching gold bands.
“Want me to engrave the date on the back?”
“Right now?”
“Sorry, no time tonight. You can pick them up with the chain.”
“Unfortunately—no, make that fortunately—we need them right this minute.”
“Okay. Say, y’all put this ring business off kinda late, didn’t you?”
Stephen handed over his credit card. “Mr. Gold, you have no idea.”
* * *
BARBARA WENT INTO the courthouse’s unisex restroom, locked the door and changed to her wedding finery. Her stomach was doing such flips she couldn’t concentrate on anything but zipping up the back of her dress and combing her windblown hair. She’d forgotten her hair spray. Nuts.
She’d eaten nothing but a bunch of homemade shortbread cookies and drunk far too much coffee. She felt certain that her stomach would give a massive rumble right in the middle of the vows.
She’d brought enough makeup to renew her eyeliner and her lipstick and to powder her nose. As a final touch, she threaded a pair of ruby earrings she’d inherited from her mother through her earlobes.
She looked at herself in the mirror. Not bad for a rush job. She wondered again that a man like Stephen loved her. Because he did. She knew that with her whole heart, her whole soul. As she loved him.
With any luck, they would have years and years together. They’d get their children back, have grandchildren, manage all the logistical nightmares they’d already gotten themselves into. Through it all they would manage to love one another and be happy together.
She longed to sleep in his arms, see him across the breakfast table, do all the ordinary things that married people took for granted. She vowed she would never, ever take Stephen for granted.
She patted herself down, took a deep breath, picked up her small bag and unlocked the door to the restroom. “Last chance,” she said to the mirror. “I can still run. From this moment I am not a me any longer, I’m an us. Can I handle that?” She smiled at herself and nodded. “Damned straight I can.”
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