by Teri Wilson
Avery bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from crying again. Meanwhile, the father of her child was sleeping like a baby. Ugh, it was infuriating.
How could he rest so soundly while her whole world was falling apart? Probably because she was officially stuck in Montana.
He let out a soft snore, and she jabbed him with her elbow. The sharp poke managed to quiet Finn down, but he still didn’t crack an eyelid. Avery briefly considered filling the ice bucket with cold water and dousing him with it, but honestly, a wide-awake Finn would be even worse than a snoring Finn at the moment.
She needed time to think. Time to figure out what to do now that she had nothing to return to in Dallas. In the span of one phone call, her entire life had gone up in smoke.
After she’d told Finn her parents had cut her off, they’d agreed to postpone any more baby talk until tomorrow morning. They’d eaten dinner in silence at a charming little bistro in Great Gulch and then returned to their gorgeous room in the B&B, where they’d been forced to deal with the awkwardness of sleeping in the same bed.
This isn’t the way tonight was supposed to turn out.
Avery pulled the lacy comforter up to her neck and sneaked another glance at Finn. Was it possible to be thoroughly angry with a man and yet still want to curl up beside him and burrow against his shoulder? Because she sort of did.
She couldn’t help it. It was ridiculous, she knew. But she’d spent the past week and a half wanting him like she’d never wanted another man, and those feelings were impossible to just turn off in an instant. She wished she could. Standing her ground on the whole marriage thing would be so much easier if her heart didn’t give a little tug every time he mentioned it.
If she wasn’t careful, she might make the critical mistake of falling for the father of her baby. That couldn’t happen. She’d lost enough already—losing her heart to Rust Creek Falls’ biggest playboy wasn’t an option.
She took a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling. The twinkle lights draped from the bedposts bathed the pretty room in glittering starlight. Even in her despair, Avery got a lump in her throat at the beauty of it all.
Finn had chosen well. This would have been the perfect place to rekindle their physical relationship. It was like something out of a fairy tale, except instead of a happily-ever-after ending, she’d just been stripped of everything she’d always known and loved.
Disinherited.
She couldn’t wrap her head around the concept. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought her family would turn its back on her under any circumstances, least of all these. She knew her father might be upset to find out she’d been intimate with a Crawford, but cutting her out of his life seemed especially cruel. And the fact that her mother was going along with it was wholly inconceivable.
Avery wasn’t technically a mother yet, but she felt like one. In five short months, she’d be able to hold her baby in her arms. Right now, she didn’t even know if she was having a boy or a girl, but that didn’t matter. She loved her baby, sight unseen. She couldn’t imagine ever shunning her child, no matter what. Wasn’t that what love was all about—accepting someone unconditionally?
Maybe Avery had it coming, though. She’d been keeping such a big secret for far too long. Finn deserved to feel like a father every bit as much as she felt like a mother. Maybe getting disinherited was some cosmic form of punishment for failing to tell him the truth right away. It was probably a miracle that he wanted to have anything to do with her, much less marry her.
She swallowed around the lump in her throat. Finn wasn’t such a terrible person. She knew that. He was a good man, just not exactly marriage material. He went through women like water, and his crazy explanation about why he’d been dating so much was no comfort whatsoever. It made him seem more like a contestant on The Bachelor than ever.
And yet...
He was still there, right beside her, when everyone else she knew and loved had disappeared.
Which was why when the sun came up the following morning, casting soft pink light over the lacy white bedding and bathing the room with all the hope of a new day, Finn turned his face toward hers and Avery whispered the precious words he’d been waiting to hear.
“I’ll marry you.”
* * *
They were getting married.
After months of running away from the altar as fast as he could, Finn was elated. He, Avery and their child were going to be a family. His baby would grow up with a real father, one who was there for him or her, every step of the way.
His relief was so palpable that it felt almost like something else. Joy. Maybe even...love.
He swept a lock of hair from Avery’s face and pressed his mouth to hers. It was a tender kiss. Gentle and reverent, full of all the things he didn’t know how to say. But while his eyes were still closed and his lips still sweet with Avery’s warmth and softness, she laid a palm on his chest, covering his heart.
She didn’t push him away, though. She didn’t have to. He got the message all the same.
“I have a few conditions,” she said.
Conditions?
His gut churned, and the sick feeling that had come over him last night as he’d watched Avery’s agonizing phone calls with her parents made a rapid return.
He sat up. “Such as?”
Avery propped herself against the headboard next to him and crossed her arms. “For starters, I’d like to keep the pregnancy quiet for a while. Just between us, as long as I can continue getting away with baggy clothes.”
He could live with that.
Finn nodded. “Fine. We can tell my family after the wedding. I’m not sure how quickly we can get the church, but once my dad hears we’re engaged, I’m sure he’ll be more than willing to pull a few strings and—”
She shook her head. Hard. “No.”
“I’m not talking about an out-and-out bribe.” Although Maximilian wasn’t exactly a stranger to that type of behavior. “But we know people in town, and—”
She cut him off again. “I mean no church wedding. I’d like to keep things as simple as possible. A ceremony at the justice of the peace, maybe.”
How romantic.
Finn suppressed the urge to sigh. After all, they were getting married for the baby. Why did he keep forgetting that?
He reached for her hand and wove his fingers through hers. “Are you sure that’s what you really want?”
“Yes, which brings me to my second condition.” She glanced at their intertwined hands and then promptly looked away, taking a deep inhale. “Given the circumstances, I think a marriage of convenience is the best idea.”
She let go of his hand and scrambled out of the bed, darting around the room as if she could somehow escape the remainder of the conversation.
No such luck, sweetheart.
“Avery,” he said as calmly as he could manage. “What are you talking about?”
She began pulling things out of her suitcase, refusing to make eye contact with him. “I’m just saying that since this marriage is about the baby, we shouldn’t muddy the waters by making it personal.”
What could possibly be more personal than having a child together?
He arched a brow. “And by personal, I’m guessing you mean sex.”
Avery’s face went as red as a candy apple. “Exactly. I’m glad you agree.”
He did not agree. In fact, he disagreed quite vehemently, but he wasn’t about to push the matter.
She was scared.
Scratch that—she was terrified. And Finn couldn’t really blame her. He’d always thought Maximilian Crawford was as tough a nut as they came, but clearly he’d been wrong. Avery’s father made Maximilian look like a teddy bear.
“I want you to feel safe and secure,” he said quietly. “I want that for our baby, too. And if that means no sex for the time
being, that’s fine.”
“Actually, I—”
He held up a hand. “Let’s take things one day at a time, okay?”
Surely she didn’t think they were going to remain married for the rest of their lives and never make love. They were good together. So good. Once everything calmed down and they were living together as husband and wife, she’d realize he was in this for the long haul. She had to.
“One day at a time.” She nodded and shoved her refolded items back into her suitcase. The poor thing was a nervous wreck.
Finn stood, raking a hand through his hair. “Why don’t I go get us some coffee? Then we can get ready and head on down to the courthouse.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Today?”
“Today.” His voice was firm. “You have your conditions. This one’s mine. There’s no waiting period to get married in Montana. We just have to stop by a county office for a license and then we can go straight to the justice of the peace.”
Thanks to his father’s hobby as matchmaker extraordinaire, Finn knew more about getting married than he’d ever wanted to. For once, all the knowledge he’d picked up in Viv Dalton’s wedding boutique was finally coming in handy.
Avery sighed. “Fine.”
He crossed the room, intent on getting the coffee he’d mentioned. This conversation was really stretching the limits of his uncaffeinated early-morning state.
But as his hand twisted the doorknob, he paused. “Of course if you’d rather wait and have a church wedding in Rust Creek Falls, we can do that instead.”
He could already see it—the little chapel at the corner of Cedar and Main all decked out in tulle and roses. A big fancy dress for Avery and all five of his brothers standing up for him at the altar. Maximilian with a triumphant smile on his face. Funny how the thought of such a spectacle would have made him ill a month ago. Now, it actually sounded nice.
Maybe Avery was right. Maybe he didn’t really know what he wanted.
“Nice try, but no.” She let out a nervous little laugh and shook her head.
“All right, then. It’s settled.” He shoved his Stetson on his head and went out in search of coffee, bypassing the free stuff in the lobby in favor of something better.
He thought he remembered seeing a fancy coffeehouse a few blocks away as they’d driven into town. From the looks of the exterior, it had been the sort of place that served frothy, creamy drinks—lattes and cappuccinos with hearts swirled into the foam. Not his usual preference, but this morning it sounded about right.
After all, this was their wedding day.
Chapter Nine
It was all happening so fast.
Just a few hours ago, Avery had been sipping the cinnamon maple latte Finn had brought back for her—decaf, obviously—and now she was sitting in Great Gulch’s justice of the peace court, waiting to officially become a Crawford.
The district clerk’s office was situated just below them, in the building’s basement. They’d been able to get their marriage license and then headed straight upstairs—one-stop shopping, so to speak. With its rough-hewn wooden posts and quaint clock tower, the small-town Montana courthouse looked like something out of an old Western movie. The judge wore Wranglers and a cowboy hat, while the bailiff’s boots jangled with actual spurs, as if he’d arrived at work on his horse and tied the animal to a hitching post right outside.
It was surreal and unique in a way that Avery was sure to remember, even though there was no wedding photographer to capture the moment. No maid of honor or best man. No proud papa walking her down the aisle.
She glanced at Finn sitting beside her in the same hat and snakeskin boots he’d worn on the drive from Rust Creek Falls the day before. He’d changed into a fresh shirt, and she’d found a lovely white eyelet dress with ruffled sleeves in one of the boutiques in Great Gulch’s recently revitalized downtown district. Paired with turquoise boots—her “something blue”—she looked more like a Miss Texas contestant than how she’d ever pictured herself on her wedding day, but the wildflower bouquet that trembled in her hands was a colorful reminder that she was indeed about to pledge herself to Finn Crawford for as long as they both should live.
What am I doing?
Her father had disowned her less than twenty-four hours ago. Shouldn’t she give him a chance to change his mind?
Then again, why should she? She’d never heard her daddy say a single nice thing about the Crawfords, so he wasn’t likely to start anytime soon. And now that she was pregnant with Finn’s baby, she’d crossed over to the dark side. There was no going back.
Still, was this really the answer?
“Avery Ellington and Finn Crawford.” The judge looked down at the papers in front of him and then peered out at everyone seated in the smooth wooden benches of the courtroom’s gallery. “Please step forward.”
Finn glanced at her and smiled as he took her hand and led her toward the bench at the front of the tiny space.
Avery took a deep breath as she walked beside him, inhaling the rich scent of polished wood and the tiny fragrant blooms beyond the opened windows. Finn had told her the flowers were clematis, but most people called them sweet autumn. They climbed the courthouse facade in a shower of snowy white, giving the old building a dreamy, enchanted air, despite its dusty wood floor and the buffalo head mounted above the judge’s bench.
Is this really happening?
Avery swallowed. This wasn’t the way she’d always pictured her wedding.
Not that she’d been dreaming of getting married anytime soon. But didn’t all little girls dream of their wedding day when they were young? Avery always thought she’d be married in a church, surrounded by friends and family. She’d wanted a white princess dress with a train, just like Kate Middleton. Like every other starry-eyed teen, she’d been glued to the television for the royal wedding back then. It seemed so perfect, a real-life fairy tale. Never once had she imagined herself tying the knot already pregnant and dressed like a cowgirl.
“Mr. Crawford and Miss Ellington.” The judge’s gaze flitted back and forth between them. “You’re here to get married?”
Avery tried to answer him, but she couldn’t seem to form any words.
Beside her, Finn nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“I see you’ve got your license.” Again, the judge sifted through his papers. Satisfied everything was in order, he removed his reading glasses and smiled. “Okay, then. Let’s get to it.”
Avery gripped her modest little bouquet with both hands as if it was some kind of life preserver. She felt like she might faint.
“We are gathered here in the presence of these witnesses to celebrate the joining of this man and this woman in the unity of marriage,” the judge said.
Avery glanced at Finn, but he was staring straight ahead, so she couldn’t get a read on his expression. Her pulse raced so fast that her knees were in danger of giving out on her.
It’s not too late to change your mind.
No vows had been exchanged yet. She could apologize, turn around and walk right out of the courthouse. It wasn’t as if anyone would stop her.
And then what?
She couldn’t go home, but she wasn’t completely helpless. She had an MBA, for crying out loud. Plus the Stricklands had become true friends. Maybe she could work out some kind of special arrangement to stay at the boarding house indefinitely. Surely she could pay them back eventually.
The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea of staying with Old Gene and Melba. But if she walked away now, she and Finn would be over for good. There’d be no going back if she left him at the altar...even if the altar was technically a country courthouse with a shaggy buffalo head on the wall.
The judge droned on as her mind reeled, until finally he said, “Please face each other and hold hands.”
The bailiff’s spurs jangle
d as he stepped forward to take Avery’s bouquet, prompting Finn to bite back a smile. At least he, too, seemed to appreciate the absurdity of the situation.
Once her hands were interlocked with his, though, fleeing seemed like an exceedingly difficult prospect. Could she really bring herself to be a runaway bride when he was holding her hands and looking at her as if she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen?
Beneath the amusement dancing in his gaze, there was something else—something that stole the breath from her lungs. Something that made her wonder if the vows they were about to exchange were indeed just words.
She bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling as the judge said something about marriage being one of life’s greatest commitments and a celebration of unconditional love.
Her heart drummed. Love. Did she love Finn Crawford? Did he love her?
Of course not. This wasn’t about love. It was about the baby. But a small part of herself wanted it to be real, and that realization scared the life out of her.
“Finn, do you take Avery to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor and cherish until death do you part?” The judge looked expectantly at Finn, and the moment before he answered seemed to last an eternity.
“I do,” he said, and there was a sincerity to his tone that made Avery’s fear multiply tenfold.
It’s not real, she reminded herself. It’s all just pretend.
She could do this.
But should she?
She placed her free hand on her growing belly to anchor her to the here and now. But when the judge turned his tender gaze on her and began to recite the same question, her throat grew dry and what she suddenly wanted more than anything—more than the wedding she’d dreamed about as a little girl, more than knowing that her father would eventually come around—was a sign. Nothing huge, just a small indication that she was doing the right thing. Everything within her longed for it.
