Travis looked at her. “No. It’s not.” He turned back to Noah. “Don’t you have something to say, son?”
“Sorry, Caroline.”
Caroline pulled Noah to her for a stiff hug. His arms hung like paralyzed limbs at his side during the embrace. She understood better than anyone how he was feeling. The only real parent he’d ever known was going to die. Their biological parents were far away, and while it was possible he could go to live with them, he hardly knew them. And if she were in his shoes, she wouldn’t want to go live in a third-world country.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she said, but in reality, she was more surprised than happy to see him.
“Caroline. Darling. You look wonderful.” A pair of female arms surrounded her.
Caroline twisted to face her aunt. “Hi, Aunt Leslie.” The two women embraced. “What a surprise. I hadn’t expected you and Uncle Patrick to be here.”
“Of course we’re here,” her uncle boomed. “Do you think I’d let my only niece get married without her family around her? No way.”
Her uncle enfolded her in his arms. “I’m so happy for you, Caro,” he whispered quietly enough for only her to hear. “I spoke with your mother yesterday. She was so sorry they couldn’t be here. But the expense to get back to the US plus the amount of time they’d be away from their work was just too much. She didn’t feel they could leave right now.”
“No sweat,” she replied. “I know how important their work is to them.” They were dedicated to their work. Every dime they earned or inherited would go into their ministry.
In her carefully constructed plan, only Travis, her grandmother and she would be here for this wedding ceremony. Arkansas law didn’t require witnesses to legalize a marriage. So with her grandmother’s inevitable demise, only she and Travis would have remained with the knowledge of the wedding. She hadn’t planned on Mamie spreading the word. However, this late in the game, she had no choice but to go forward with her plans, extra witnesses or not. She could always stage an annulment later if necessary, sure that her family would understand her commitment to her work. She sighed.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.
Chapter Six
After proper introductions with her uncle and aunt, Caroline took Travis’s hand and led him to Mamie’s bedside. Her gut whirled at the feel of the work calluses and tough skin of his fingers on hers. As if acting independently of her brain, her thumb stroked the rough flesh along the side of his. His fingers squeezed hers and her gut whirl became an F-5 tornado.
“Mamie, this is Travis Montgomery. Travis, my grandmother, Mamie Bridges.” Her voice quaked with nervous energy.
Caroline could see her grandmother’s stamina was beginning to sag. The blush on her cheeks provided the only hint of color. The years of cigarette smoking had taken their toll. Her lungs labored to draw in air. She rested heavily against the pillows behind her. Mamie really should be on oxygen, but knowing her grandmother, Caroline suspected Mamie had taken it off so she’d look better. No telling how long Mamie had been putting on her aren’t-I-doing-great routine for Patrick and Leslie. It was time to get this show on the road and more oxygen back in Mamie’s system.
Travis grasped Mamie’s limp hand. “Nice to meet you, Judge Bridges.”
Mamie gave him a gentle pull. He leaned in closer. “That’s no way to greet your grandmother-in-law to be,” she said, her voice now distinctly weaker than when they’d first entered the room. “Family hugs, not shakes.”
Travis chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.” He hugged Mamie then stood. “I see where Caroline gets her good looks.”
Mamie pressed a hand against the curls at the side of her head and pshawed. “You’ve already won the girl. You don’t have to flatter me.”
Caroline grinned, entertained by Mamie’s obvious delight with Travis’s compliment. “Okay then, we’re all here. Ready to get going?”
Mamie’s face crinkled into a frown. “In just a minute. I thought—”
“I’m here. I’m here. So sorry I’m late, Mamie.” A thin, eighty-something-year-old man pushed his way in the door. “Caroline, my dear. Aren’t you lovely?”
Caroline’s heart leapt with joy at seeing her old friend. “Judge Hodges.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“Are you kidding? Miss my goddaughter’s wedding?” As he enfolded her in a loving embrace, he whispered, “Mamie was afraid she would forget the words or be too weak to do the whole ceremony. She asked me to come by as a backup.”
Backup, my eye.
Patrick and Leslie greeted the long-time family friend with hugs and smiles. Neither appeared to be surprised to see him. The room now held two former judges and her Uncle Patrick, known by his congregation as Pastor Pat. Mamie was doing everything in her power to make this marriage stick.
She rolled her eyes upward. Okay God. You’re not helping, she silently prayed.
After an introduction to Travis, she forced a cheery smile. “Well, seems like the gang’s all here. I think we should get this show on the road.”
Leslie and Patrick stepped to the left side of Mamie’s bed. Leslie adjusted the head of the hospital bed to upright and helped Mamie scoot up into a sitting position. Judge Hodges moved to the head of the bed and stood next to Mamie. Travis took Caroline’s hand and they moved to the right side of the bed. In her left hand, Caroline held a nosegay of white roses and baby’s breath passed to her by Leslie. The bouquet shook in time with her hammering heart.
This was it. Showtime.
A wave of sadness swept through Caroline. Sadness that she had to go through with this ruse to appease her grandmother. Sadness that this might be the only time in her life she actually said these vows. But the deepest sadness was at the realization that very soon she would be losing the most important person in her life.
Part of her wished this was real. Not because she was in love with Travis, because she didn’t know him well enough to have that degree of attachment. But she wished she loved a man that much, loved a man like Travis enough to pledge spending her life with him. She believed in these vows. Were they making a mockery of marriage by staging this fake one? Had she made a mistake?
Travis glanced at the people surrounding the bed. “Wait a minute.”
Caroline startled. Her head snapped toward Travis. Her heart slammed painfully against her ribs. Was he having the same thoughts as she? Was he backing out at the last minute? “What’s wrong?”
“I need a best man. Noah, would you come stand with us?”
Her heart swelled with unspeakable emotion. She was so touched that Travis thought to include her brother. Poor Noah’s life was getting ready to undergo another drastic change. She hadn’t considered how he might feel seeing his sister getting married and moving on with her life. Even if the marriage wasn’t real, the impact on him could be the same.
Caroline rapidly blinked her eyes to prevent her tears from leaking out. She and Noah had never been close. There’d always been too much of an age difference and too many miles between them to develop much of a sibling relationship. At least she was doing the right thing by leaving him with Patrick and Leslie, allowing him to remain with school friends, even if Mamie hadn’t been crazy about some of his friends.
“I guess so,” Noah answered in a petulant voice. He rose from his chair and took a position beside Travis.
Considering the worn jeans, dirty sneakers and a T-shirt sporting the name of a hard-core metal band, then add in his shoulder-length hair, her brother wasn’t exactly dressed for a wedding. Still, it was wonderfully nice of Travis to include him.
Travis handed the wedding bands to Noah. “Hold these for me, okay? I’ll need them in a minute.”
Noah shrugged and nodded before closing his fingers around the rings resting in his palm.
“Ready, my dear?” Mamie asked.
Caroline nodded.
“We are gathered here today to witness t
he wedding of my beloved Caroline to Travis Montgomery. Over my lifetime I have performed hundreds of wedding ceremonies, but none more important than today’s.” She paused to cough. Patrick handed his mother a glass of water. After a couple of sips, she continued. “I’ve prayed to live to see the day Caroline joins her life with the man she loves. Thank you, God, for allowing me to be here today.” She coughed again. Her breathing became a little more labored. Caroline moved to help, but her grandmother waved her off. “I’ll be all right. Just give me a minute.”
“Mother, do I need to call a nurse?” Patrick asked.
She shook her head. “No. I can go on.” She smiled at the bridal couple. “I’d give you the short vows, but I have some I use only for the special people I marry.”
Travis leaned toward her. “I’m sure whatever vows you use will be perfect, Judge Bridges.”
“Travis, take both of Caroline’s hands and face her.”
Caroline passed the roses back to Leslie and took both of Travis’s hands. The shake of her hands had made its way up her arms. Muscles twitched and jerked with nervousness. Travis stood as straight and still as a post. He smiled and gave her fingers a light squeeze. Then he winked and Caroline’s heart sighed.
Travis was a good man. She said a quick prayer that he find love again and live the remainder of his life in happiness.
“Repeat after me,” Mamie said. “I, Travis Montgomery, take you, Caroline Bradley Graham, to be my lawfully wedded wife, my trusted friend, my faithful partner and my everlasting love from this day forward.”
“I, Travis Lane Montgomery, take you, Caroline Bradley Graham, to be my lawfully wedded wife, my trusted friend, my faithful partner and my everlasting love from this day forward.”
“In the presence of God, our family and friends.”
Guilt about what she was doing tickled Caroline’s nose. She nervously swiped her tongue across her dry lips since she couldn’t possibly scratch her nose right now. She forced her eyes to focus on his face. His somber expression melted her fear. As the deep bass of his voice repeated each sentence of the wedding vows, shards of lust vibrated through her veins.
“I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health. In good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow.”
Her heart jumped. Surely her ears were playing tricks on her. She could have sworn Travis had just said in bed instead of in bad.
Damn Texan accent.
“I promise to love you unconditionally. To support you in your goals. To honor and respect you.”
If anyone ever found out about her staging this phony wedding and basically blackmailing Travis into it, Travis could be embarrassed socially and professionally, something she’d never want. She might become the laughing stock of Whispering Springs, but that didn’t matter as much to her as protecting Travis’s name and reputation. She vowed to do whatever necessary to protect his good name.
“To laugh with you and cry with you–” Travis flashed her a smile as he voiced her grandmother special vows. Her already trembling legs threatened to collapse under her, “—and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.”
Mamie pressed a tissue to her mouth for a long coughing spell. Caroline noticed the tissue had a small spattering of blood due to broken blood vessels from the violence of the cough. She leaned forward. “Mamie. We can stop if this is too much for you.”
Mamie shook her head. “No. I’ve lived for this day. I want to go on.”
Caroline stood and faced Travis. She still wasn’t sure that she’d made the right decision to do this. Doing the wedding vows were using up every ounce of energy her grandmother had. But to stop now? “I’ve lived for this day,” kept reverberating through her mind. She wouldn’t take this away from her grandmother. She stiffened her back…and her resolve to continue.
“Caroline,” her grandmother rasped. “Repeat after me.”
Caroline went through the same vows Travis had just recited. The sound of her voice repeating those words sounded foreign and dreamlike, as though she were in an amateur community production of a wedding play. But as she repeated after her grandmother, she felt every word in her heart, in her soul, deep in the nucleus of every cell in her body.
And she feared that could be a problem in the future.
“Can I have the rings?” Mamie’s request jarred Caroline back to the hospital room. Noah placed the two gold bands on the Bible his grandmother held. “Patrick, would you bless these rings for me?” Mamie’s voice was barely audible. Exhaustion pulled at the lines in her face.
“Of course, Mother.”
After the blessing, Mamie said, “Travis. Take Caroline’s ring and put it on her finger while repeating these words. With this ring, I thee wed.”
Travis slid the cool metal down Caroline’s overheated finger. “With this ring, I thee wed.”
“Caroline, I need you to do the same.”
She took the heavy gold band and pushed it onto Travis’s ring finger. “With this ring, I thee wed.”
Mamie coughed and blood tinged the tissue again. “With the power vested in me by the State of Arkansas, I pronounce you are husband and wife. What God has brought together, let no man divide. You can kiss your wife now, Travis.”
Kiss her? Caroline had not given this part of the ceremony any thought. Bad planning on her part. What if he was a bad kisser? Worse yet, what if he wasn’t?
Travis placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned forward. His hands were big, and hot and heavy. Erotic heat seared through her light jacket and silk blouse, burned right into her flesh. He lowered his face toward hers. Her nervous system was already over stimulated, but at the first brush of his soft lips against hers, her lungs seized. Her knees softened and threatened to fail altogether. She grabbed his waist for support, to hold her upright when her legs wanted to melt into the floor.
He angled his head to extend the kiss while he slid his arms around her shoulders, pulling her against his hardness. It was like a light was flipped on in every atom in her body. Jolts of energy rattled through her. Atomic fusion in action.
When he broke the kiss, she gasped in a breath. Her eyelids fluttered as though awaking from a deep sleep.
Okay, now she knew. This man could kiss. If she could bottle her reaction, the world energy crisis would be solved.
A harsh, ragged cough broke through Caroline’s lust fog. She snapped her attention back to her grandmother. Leslie was holding Mamie’s shoulders as she struggled to get her breath. Her face, already pale, seemed to have lost all trace of color except for the bluish tint to her lips.
Caroline stepped out of Travis’s embrace. “Leslie, ring for a nurse. Patrick, hand me the oxygen mask on the wall next to you.”
After securing the mask around Mamie’s mouth and nose, she reached over and turned the oxygen flow up to six liters. The door pushed open as she was pushing pillows behind Mamie’s back.
“What do you need?” a nurse in blue scrubs asked.
“Get her doctor on the phone. I need a nasal cannula for her oxygen. Let’s get an IV going too.”
The nurse hesitated.
“Now,” Caroline snapped.
The nurse left in a hurry.
With those few actions and words, Travis’s pseudo-wife transformed from blushing bride to in-control doctor. Stepping back and out of the way, he bumped into Noah standing as still as a tombstone. His face bore a mask of despair and fear. His gaze was glued to the action around the bed. Travis put his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “Your sister’s got everything under control.”
Noah’s shoulders began to tremble. Travis put his arm around him. “Let’s step outside until they get your grandmother settled. Okay?”
“No. I have to stay here. She might need me.”
“Noah—”
“No. I’m not leaving.” He jerked away from Travis and moved to the bottom of the bed.
Poor kid. There was no worse feeling than helplessness. Travis
knew that feeling. He’d lived it. Pulling him away from Susan’s side at the end had been almost impossible. Two-minute showers. Dinners eaten sitting at her side. Naps in uncomfortable chairs. His rational mind understood there was nothing he could do…not then and not now. Emotionally, he wanted to help…to do something, anything, to improve the situation. But like Noah, he had been unable to do much more than hold his late wife’s hand.
The door swung open with a crash, admitting a heavy-set man with white hair. “I was doing my noon rounds when the nurse paged. Mamie, Mamie, Mamie. You causing trouble again today?” He kept a light, joking tone to his voice but his gaze moved rapidly to the oxygen mask then to the people at the side of the bed. “Dr. Graham. Good to see you. Care to fill me in?”
Caroline gave the man a tight smile. “Dr. Stewart. Mamie’s having a little trouble catching her breath. I started oh-two at six liters. Her color’s a little better but her coughing was quite explosive and harsh. I’ve asked that her IV be put back in and to get a nasal cannula to replace the mask.”
“I agree.” He looked at the nurse who’d followed him into the room. “Let’s get this moving now.”
“I’ll be right back,” she said and left.
“Probably be better if I got out of this fancy get-up before y’all begin sticking me with needles,” Mamie said in a rough whisper. “And hand me that license, Travis. I need to sign it.
Caroline smiled. “Right you are. Out of your fancy clothes and into something more comfortable.” She turned toward Travis. “Okay, guys, everybody out. Go to the cafeteria or outside or something. Don’t come back for thirty minutes.”
Travis placed his hand on Noah’s shoulder. “You heard the lady. Let’s split.”
“But—”
“No buts,” Patrick said. “We’ll see you ladies in thirty.”
Dr. Stewart followed the men into the hall.
“Shouldn’t you be in there?” Noah asked. “You’re her doctor. You should be doing something.”
A sad smile creased the old man’s face. A knowing sympathy reflected in the look he gave Noah. “Dr. Graham has it under control. They’ll get your grandmother comfortable and you can see her later.” Being almost the same height as Noah, he looked him straight in the eye. “But, Noah, we’ve had this discussion. Your grandmother’s not going to get well this time. I’ve done everything I can for her, but sometimes things are out of a doctor’s power.”
Texas Tango: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 2 Page 8
