Marrying William

by Trisha David

  'But...'

  'But until we're married we're vulnerable.' William's smile was now a million miles away. His grim voice told Jenni he was in deadly earnest. 'Jenni, I spent a lot of last night thinking things through. Yesterday Ronald showed us a taste of what he's capable of. The police say he's capable of more.'

  'He won't hurt us.'

  'He already has.' William paused and his mouth tightened into an unyielding line. 'If we hadn't been awake last night then someone may well have died in the fire. And, Jenni, if something happened to Beth... If there was a blackmail attempt, with Ronald threatening things like...well, if you marry then Beth will die—something like that—then would you marry?'

  'Of course not,' Jenni said. 'But...'

  'You're not only vulnerable through you,' William told her. 'You're vulnerable through Beth and Rachel and Sam and your farm. Anything could happen and Harbertson has a month to plan that "anything". The police chief thinks he will. The farm could be sold to developers for a tidy sum and the man's desperate. The police say he's up to his ears in debt and some heavyweight criminals are after him. Deservedly. But he's not getting the farm to pay for his criminal activities. This way...'

  'Yeah, this way...' Jenni took a deep breath. 'This way, I don't understand even more. How can we marry today? We need a month's notice.'

  'A Clerk of Courts can give us special dispensation,' William told her. 'Henry Clarins told me this morning. He'd been thinking things through, and when he heard about fee fire he made a special trip out to the farm to tell me. If we can prove we've known each other for ever and the intention to marry is solid and sensible, then we can get a dispensation. They don't like doing it, but in special cases they'll grant it. Henry Clarins' friend is the local Clerk of Courts. Henry's already talked to him and told him to expect us for an interview.'

  'But...'

  William glanced at his watch. 'Jenni, he's expecting us at five. So we go there straight after finding you something decent to wear. We'll get our dispensation, and then the marriage celebrant's meeting us at the farm at seven. To marry us.'

  'That's the party!' Jenni felt as if all the breath had been knocked out of her lungs. Things were becoming clear. Not sane, but clear. 'William, that's what you meant when you said about the party!'

  'That's the one.' William's engaging grin lit his face again, humour flooding back. 'You should have seen Florence Haynes's face when I suggested she organise a wedding. She was aching to help, but she didn't expect a request like this. But I talked it through with Beth and Rachel. Also with the police chief and the vet and the fencing blokes and the telephone technicians and everyone else who was at our farm this morning. They all thought it was a wonderful idea. They're organising things from their end now. The local caterers are moving in fast. There's a jazz band on its way. The marriage celebrant is booked. All we need to do is get our dispensation and buy one wedding dress. And two rings.'

  'William...'

  'Jenni?'

  He was still smiling, that dangerous, endearing, calculating smile that could have won him the world. That had Jenni's heart standing still in her chest.

  His smile made her so fearful that she wanted to run a mile—and for the life of her she didn't know what she was fearful of.

  'William, this is crazy. I—I don't even know whether I want to be married,' she stammered.

  'Of course you do. We talked it over.'

  'Yeah, and I was going to have a month to think it through properly before we committed ourselves to the idea,' Jenni wailed. 'A month.'

  'And now you have about four hours.' William turned then within the cramped confines of the little car, and he took her hands in his. Two strong, capable hands. Two hands to still the panic.

  'Jenni, we can do this,' he said softly. 'We must. I won't have Harbertson hurting you, or hurting Rachel or Beth or Sam. I want us legally married, Jenni, before any more damage is done.'

  'But you don't want to be married.'

  William's mouth tightened again then, and he sighed. He looked down at Jenni for a very long time and when he spoke again there was grimness in his voice.

  'No, Jenni, I don't,' he admitted. 'I used to think the last thing I ever wanted was to be married. But then I thought the last thing I wanted was for Harbertson to inherit my father's farm. And now I think the last thing I want is for Harbertson to hurt you or Beth or Rachel.

  'So we'll marry, Jenni,' he said softly. 'We'll marry now. It's the only way I can keep you safe. We'll marry properly, with all the town to witness it. And if Harbertson arrives to witness the ceremony as well, then we'll even welcome him. We'll marry now, Jenni, and we'll think of everything else later.'

  CHAPTER SIX

  There was nothing more to be said. There were no more arguments to be mounted. The decision had been made. Now all they had to do was carry it through.

  First, buy the clothes.

  Buying clothes was more weird than being married, Jenni decided. Beth's friend's parents owned one of the most exclusive boutiques on the coast. Whatever Beth had said to prepare them, it had certainly worked. Sally and Harry Parkes were waiting for them in the shop, with tea and sandwiches and smiles of welcome—and a whole shop full of clothes to choose from.

  One of their daughters was blind. Beth had been a real friend to Lisa, and Lisa's parents were now eager to do anything they could to help.

  But Jenni hadn't been out of a pair of jeans since she was sixteen.

  'Do I really need a wedding dress?' she demanded, but William wasn't in the mood to brook arguments.

  'Of course you need a wedding dress. This has to be a proper wedding, Jenni. It's a declaration to the entire district that we're married. How about this?' He held up one of the gowns Sally had produced—a magnificent confection of diamante tulle and lace.

  'I'd feel silly,' Jenni retorted, fighting to get her breath back. 'Like the doll on the top of the wedding cake.'

  'Hey, I hope Florence and the caterers have thought of a wedding cake,' William said, and frowned. 'Sally, make her try it on while I phone.'

  'You really are getting married tonight?' Sally demanded and William nodded, already dialling.

  'Yep. Would you like to come?' he asked. 'You're very welcome. All the district is welcome. Bring your daughters so Beth has some company.'

  'Goodness!' Sally sighed in delight, romantic stars lighting in her maternal eyes. 'Oh, if it's really tonight...' She took a deep breath and looked Jenni over from head to toe. Then she looked at her husband-cum-business-partner, and she came to a decision. 'Harry, I don't think these gowns are right for Jenni.'

  'What's wrong with these gowns?' Harry demanded, dollar signs in his eyes, but his wife wasn't to be distracted.

  'If Jenni agrees, then she's borrowing mine,' Sally pronounced. 'The dress I wore thirty years ago. Oh, Jenni, both my daughters are too tall, but it's just the most beautiful gown, and it'd fit you to perfection. Wait until you see it.'

  'But—'

  'Not a word,' Sally declared. 'Just try it.'

  It certainly did fit.

  While Harry and William waited outside the changing rooms, Sally worked her magic.

  . Sally's bridal gown was made with aged silk. The silk had mellowed to a rich, deep cream over the years. There were hand-embroidered, tiny, deep gold roses all over the wondrous, billowing skirt. The bodice was soft and clinging and simple—a low bodice with off-the-shoulder slivers of silk just holding it up.

  Not that it needed to be held up. The dress fitted Jenni as if it were made for her. As Sally fastened the last silk-covered button, Jenni stared at her reflection in open-mouthed astonishment.

  'And now the hair,' Sally said in satisfaction, and before Jenni could stop her she'd undone Jenni's braid and let it fall free. Jenni's rich black curls tumbled free in a riotous mass around her shoulders.

  Good grief! It was as if there were two Jennis. The Jenni before and the Jenni after.

  The jean-clad work-horse Jenni. A
nd this... This vision of ethereal beauty.

  In this dress, Jenni could forget she had calloused fingers, work-worn hands and a damaged hip. This was a Jenni she'd never met before. Her green eyes were huge, and her dark hair formed a halo effect around her pale face.

  'So come out and show us,' William demanded, but Sally was whisking herself between Jenni and the door.

  'You'll do no such thing, Jenni Hartley,' she declared. 'It's enough that William's already seen you on your wedding day, but as for seeing you in your dress... No way! So what do you think, Jenni? Will you wear my dress?'

  Sally's eyes were suddenly anxious, and Jenni knew that wearing this exquisite dress would give this lady real pleasure.

  And Jenni really was going to get married! This wasn't some crazy dream. She felt like pinching herself to make herself wake, but, no matter how hard she pinched, the dream was still there. It was real, and she must make an effort.

  'Sally, I'd love to wear this.' Jenni smoothed the rich silk fabric with reverence. 'I've never dreamed of wearing such a dress. Please. But... I' 11 only wear it if you come to... come to our wedding.'

  There. She'd said it.

  Our wedding.

  She was marrying William. She was marrying William in about three hours' time!

  'Wild horses wouldn't keep me away,' Sally declared. 'I've just decided that I'm doing your hair and make-up. Oh, and I'll bet you don't have any cosmetics. What a good thing I have two teenage daughters. Between them they have every cosmetic known to womankind and, if they're invited too, they'll be only too delighted to let you use them.'

  'Hey, what about the wedding dress?' Harry demanded from outside the cubicle. 'I can't believe you're doing this, Sally. Lending the girl yours when we could be selling her a new one from stock.'

  'You'll be doing heaps more selling,' William growled. He was starting to feel just a bit miffed, standing outside the changing rooms. He really wanted to see. 'Sally, there's no way Jenni's walking out the door in the clothes she wore in. They're destined for another fire. So I want you to buy a wardrobe of clothes, Jenni. A wardrobe that befits my bride.'

  'A wardrobe!' Jenni gasped and turned to face the door, but Sally was still holding it firmly shut between them. 'Look, William, maybe I'll buy a new pair of jeans, but that's all.'

  'We don't stock jeans,' Harry told her, sticking in his oar. 'And don't you dare lend the girl yours, Sally.' Then he brightened. 'But we have lovely trousers. And the most beautiful day dresses.'

  'You hear that, Jenni? Harry doesn't stock jeans and Sally isn't allowed to lend you any. But they have all sorts of other clothes.' Jenni could hear laughter resurfacing in William's voice and she gritted her teeth.

  'Then I'll go someplace else.'

  'You'll have to hike there in your wedding dress, because I'm serious, Jenni. You're not wearing those awful clothes out of here. Not if I have to tie you down and carry you stark naked. So choose some new ones.'

  'But I don't want new clothes,' Jenni wailed.

  'Yes, you do,' William said kindly. 'Jenni, until yesterday you didn't even know you wanted to be married. And now...here you are, all togged up with bridal finery and getting married in three hours' time. Which reminds me, we still have to meet the Clerk of Courts. So hurry up, there's a love. Choose something great!'

  'I can't afford...'

  'Jenni, I am not marrying a grub,' William said direfully. 'So choose. Do you want to be married or not? The clothes are on me. You know I can afford them and I'll enjoy paying for 'em. So shut up, Jenni, and choose. Sally, Harry, let's get this girl dressed as befits her future status. Wife to me.'

  And Jenni was left with nothing more to say. There were no arguments left.

  It was a subdued Jenni who walked out of the shop nearly an hour later. She was wearing a simple pastel dress in soft lime-green, and matching sandals. It was smart but not exceptional. It wasn't the sort of dress that would normally turn heads in Bateman's Bay, but it showed Jenni's lovely figure to advantage, and she was pretty enough to draw attention.

  Jenni was unaware of heads turning to watch her pass. She had enough to think about. She felt so... So strange. Weird. She hadn't worn a dress in ten years. She felt...

  'It's like I'm wearing another skin,' she said, feeling the sensation of the soft cotton against her bare legs. They'd left the rest of her chosen clothes to be packed and delivered by Harry and Sally. Sally was bringing the bridal gown out to Betangera in time for the wedding, and Jenni's new wardrobe would be delivered then.

  'You look great.' William caught her hands and pulled her around to face him. Passers-by detoured around them but William seemed unconcerned that they were blocking the pavement. His eyes rested on Jenni. 'Great,' he repeated softly. 'Now, if you'd let your hair free...'

  'No way.' Jenni had rebraided it. With her hair free, she felt so strange she was practically not Jenni.

  'You'll let it out this evening, though? When we marry?'

  'I don't see the point,' Jenni said, but her voice was suddenly breathless. William's eyes, resting on hers, made her feel even weirder than her new clothes did.

  'Will you do it because I'm asking you too?'

  Another deep breath. The world was shifting from side to side, so fast she must surely fall off. 'I don't... I don't understand.'

  'Just do it, Jenni,' William said gently, and he didn't understand what he was doing himself. It should make no difference at all—what she wore to their wedding. This was a business arrangement. Nothing more.

  Wasn't it?

  The Clerk of Courts didn't think this was a business arrangement—nor could he be allowed to think it.

  'He has to believe this marriage has been intended between us for years,' William told Jenni as they waited in his outer office. 'Henry's told him we've been fond of each other since we were kids.'

  'Do you remember me as a kid?' Jenni demanded, and William nodded definitely.

  'Absolutely. I remember you at the final Christmas I spent at home. You ate the last lamington and I didn't get any.'

  'Now that's a great basis for a marriage!' Jenni chuckled, and it was a smiling pair holding hands and looking almost in love that the elderly Clerk of Courts found when he opened the door to usher them in.

  His questions were probing and Jenni found them very uncomfortable. She didn't do the talking. She left that to William. He was in charge here.

  That in itself was unsettling. She wasn't accustomed to anyone else being in charge, and she wasn't sure that she liked it one bit—but William was sweeping all before him.

  'Jenni and I have always known we'd marry.' He smiled down at Jenni and the look he gave her almost had her believing in his unswerving devotion. 'But... I guess you've heard of what my stepbrother is trying to do? Henry Clarins has told you? That's pushed things forward. We need to marry at once. Once Jenni's my wife, then she's safe.' And he pulled her in close to him, protectively, and Jenni was forced to let her body mould into his.

  She had to play the game too. Now, if she could manage an adoring smile up at her betrothed...

  She tried: William looked down into her eyes in matching devotion, and Jenni felt like choking in laughter. This was so soppy...

  'But if it wasn't for Mrs Brand's will... If it wasn't for Harbertson's threats...would you still marry?' the Clerk probed, and William held Jenni closer.

  'Maybe it would have taken a bit longer for us to get around to it,' he admitted, still smiling down at his bride. 'I've been overseas, sir, making my fortune, and I've put my emotional life on the back boiler. Jenni's always known that I'm here for her but...well, one gets caught up with business. But now...I love her, and it's time I settled down. I'll stay at Betangera and I'll take care of my wife and that's a promise. I'm not going into this lightly, sir. Jenni's the most amazing woman I've ever met. She's wonderful. It will be an honour to call her my wife.'

  And the glint of humour had slipped from William's eyes. His voice was deathly serious. Jenni sta
red up at him and she felt her own laughter slipping away.

  This wasn't crazy. This was...

  Real?

  No. Impossible.

  But now the Clerk was turning to her. 'And you, Miss Hartley? Do you love this man?'

  'I...I guess I do.' They were impossible words to say, but it was impossible to say anything else. Not when William's eyes were resting on hers. She'd wondered if she could lie, but now... 'Yes, sir.'

  It slipped out like the most natural thing in the world. It didn't seem a lie at all.

  'And can you see yourself married to him fifty years from now?'

  That was an unexpected question. But William's eyes were still on hers, warm and caring, and his arm was holding her against him. She could feel the steady beating of his heart against hers.

  Fifty years...

  'If you're still around...' she told the Clerk steadily, and her own arms came around William. And held. 'If you're still around, sir, we'll invite you to the party we'll hold. For our golden wedding.'

  'And if I'm still up to dancing when I'm a hundred and sixteen then it would give me great pleasure to come.' The Clerk of Courts beamed and reached over his desk for the necessary documents. 'You make a lovely couple, if I may say so, and I'm not the man to stand in the way of such a determined young pair. I wish you all the very best.'

  After that, all they had to do was to get married.

  They returned to the farm, and both were silent as they drove. It was as if both needed some time out to let things settle.

  Or...it was as if they were afraid to speak. The vows they'd made had been false—hadn't they?