AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I laugh in spite of myself. “I remember that about him,” I say. “He’s always prepared for any situation.”
“That’s my man,” Lucy agrees, her eyes turning dreamy. My man. Those two words immediately bring an image of Jack to my mind. Strong, steady, not-in-love-with-me Jack.
“Here.” Lucy waves a granola bar in front of my face. “Orange Sorbet Larabar. So delicious.”
She reaches back in her trunk to retrieve the garment bag containing the veil, and I take a half-hearted bite of the Larabar she handed me wanting to corroborate my own story, despite not being the least bit hungry. Because of course I ate something this morning. Just like he always used to, Jack made sure all of my needs were met before we left the house, preparing me a plate of scrambled eggs.
Gosh, he is such a good man. I was right about what I said to him earlier. I don’t deserve him. I never have. So why am I letting him tie himself down to me and my problems? I wasn’t willing to do so three years ago, but now that my problems are even bigger I’m going all in?
“Em,” Lucy says as she passes her the veil, “can you do the honors? Nora is too tall for me to put it on.”
“Of course!” Emily removes the veil from the garment bag and stands on her tip-toes to ease the clip of it into my hair. There’s a slight digging into my scalp and then she steps back, having secured it in place. “Ta-da!” she says with a clap of her hands. “It looks perfect!”
“It’s a magical veil,” Lucy agrees. “Looks perfect on everyone. And,” she adds, fluffing the ends of it as they settle against my back, “I’m pretty sure it also guarantees the wearer a lifetime of happiness with their chosen groom.” She gives me a wink.
I force a smile onto my face, lifting a hand to finger the sheer material of the veil. Funny how putting on a veil makes this whole thing seem even more real than being handed the marriage license.
“Okay,” Emily says with another clap of her hands, “your groom is waiting. Shall we go to him?” She eyes me with concern again. “Assuming you’re better after some food?”
I nod wordlessly. The chaos of our circumstances has my thoughts and emotions too jumbled up to make sense of them; how can I ever completely separate my fear of going to prison from my desire to do right by Jack?
He deserves to have that life he’s always dreamed of—the one with the wife and the kids and the chaotic joy that comes with all of that.
Maybe I should talk to him about this again. I won’t ask him straight out if he realizes what he’s giving up, because he’s too principled to back out on his word. I’ll just try and suss him out a bit. You know, like a lawyer wheedling the truth out of a hostile witness.
Yes, that’s it. I’m going to go into the courthouse and ask for a quick sidebar with my betrothed. We will figure this out.
I pick up my pace a little bit, throwing open the courthouse doors with a dramatic flare that’s usually reserved for making a grand entrance. (Think Legally Blonde when Elle enters the courtroom as Brooke’s lawyer or Miss Congeniality when Gracie comes out after her makeover.) Except, since the judge’s chambers are down the hall, my grand entrance is ruined by the complete lack of audience. Well, unless you count the bored-looking guy working the front desk. But he barely looks up from his phone when I walk in. Whatever, this is a big moment for me even if he doesn’t recognize it.
Lucy and Emily follow behind me. One of them starts humming Here Comes the Bride, and the other quickly joins in. We reach the judge’s chamber where we left Jack, but Lucy pulls me to a stop before I can go in.
“Slow down, eager beaver,” she whispers with a laugh. “Let me look you over before you go charging in there.” She gives me a once over, fluffing my veil and brushing a stray hair off my shoulder.
As she does her perusal, Jack’s voice drifts out to the hall. “Absolutely get it. The hustle and bustle of the city can be too much. Living in the country is a nice reprieve from all of that. Plus there would be plenty of room for your daughter’s horse. I used to have two horses myself.”
Wait—used to have two horses? Jack got rid of his horses? And what’s he talking about with this there would be plenty of room for your daughter’s horse?
Is Jack selling his house? Are Joy’s bills that out-of-control?
Something he said in the car on the way back to my office to fix my tire comes to mind. What if I move—is that something I should disclose to the buyer, or should I just wait for them to find the body on their own?
He is selling his house! That’s why he didn’t want to bury the body in his backyard. I can’t believe it. Blindly I move forward, brushing past Lucy and into the room.
“Jack,” I say without preamble, “can we please talk for a second?”
His gaze swings my way, catching on the veil perched atop my head then moving down over my face. I look away from him, self-consciously tugging at the ends of the veil and feeling very much like a little girl playing dress-up to pretend marry the little boy next door. If I didn’t know that doing so would hurt Emily and Lucy’s feelings, I’d rip the thing right off.
But then I look back up to find him still staring at me, his usually guarded expression softened into something tender and sweet. His hand flexes at his side and he clears his throat.
“Uh,” the word comes out hoarsely forcing him to clear his throat again before continuing, “What about?” He rips his gaze off my face to eye his watch pointedly.
I shake my head, dispelling any crazy notions about Jack getting emotional over seeing me in a veil, then step forward and take his hand, tugging him out of the room. Thankfully he lets me, since if he resisted I wouldn’t be able to move the man.
“Excuse us for just one second,” I say to Emily and Lucy as we breeze past them down the hall.
“Nora, what is this about?” Jack asks as he follows behind me. “Because we really need to get things moving.”
I whirl around to face him, poking him hard in the chest. “Are you selling your ranch to the judge?” I demand in a whisper.
