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He didn't say anything, just towered over her with a smug grin. He slipped a hand into the pocket of his slate gray slacks and pinned her with those piercing whiskey eyes.
His voice deepened and added a smooth Southern drawl as he called herdarling. I couldn't hear everything, but it sounded like he was explaining how much the wedding meant to me and how he knew she'd understand that he wanted to give that to his future wife.
The woman visually melted before my eyes. She blinked quickly and her mouth dropped into a pout, eyebrows up. The cold stiff lip she'd given me was gone, and she looked like she'd spent a day at the spa after talking to Magnum for thirty seconds.
"Just sign right here." She handed Magnum a pen and paper.
He signed itGavin Beaumontand didn't blink or flinch. He was totally lying, pretending to be his brother, and getting away with it.
"Go on in now and congratulations." She shooed us away with a sentimental smile.
"Oh my gosh. Thank you," I said to her.
"Girl, enjoy the honeymoon. That boy is hot as fire and sweet as sugar." She licked her teeth and checked out his backside as she watched Magnum turn around.
Really? Magnum? The big jerk who hated birds?
Magnum smirked as he swept up my hand and guided us into the makeshift wedding chapel in the back of the courthouse.
I didn't have time to tell her that he despised me until about five minutes ago. She didn't know how he'd accused me of being pregnant and that he insulted his brother all night. She didn't know that he'd sneered at my grandmother's pearl necklace like it was a sign of the Devil when I first met him.
It was too late now because she was behind me and in front of me stood a petite Black woman with gray hair. She was wearing a neatly pressed robe and holding a three-ring binder in her hands as she smiled at us.
"Wen Li Song? Is that how you say it?" She pronounced my legal name incorrectly like most people did.
I took a deep breath and focused on her instead of my racing heart. "Wren Song, please."
She nodded. "Gavin Beaumont?"
He dipped his head slightly to indicate she had it correct which she didn't because he wasn't Gavin. Gah!
"Rings?"
Magnum pulled a ring off his middle finger and handed it to the officiant. I removed the engagement ring and gave it to her in a daze.
Was this really happening? Was I marrying Gavin's brother in his place?
"Join both your hands."
It appeared that, yes, I was marrying Gavin's brother as a proxy for Gavin who didn't show up to our emergency wedding ceremony that was going to save my life. My heart thumped so loudly I was sure everyone could hear it in the tiny room.
I didn't move, but Magnum reached out and took my small hands in his. He had calluses and rough skin, but he was strong and confident, which I needed right now. I clung to him like a lifeline in the midst of my panic.
"We're here today to join Gavin Beaumont and Wren Song in a union based on true love and blessed laughter. Today is the first day of their journey together as a couple."
I gulped down the huge lump in my throat.
"A marriage is not just a ceremony but a promise to put the other's well being before your own, to think of them in all your choices, and to willingly receive their deepest thoughts and intimate experiences."
My hands shook and he squeezed them gently. I looked up at him and his eyes had softened. He was smiling a little bit and whoa boy, was he handsome. He was like Gavin in a lot of ways, same dark skin and light eyes.
Magnum had longer, curly hair tinged with lighter streaks that hung down over his eyes and thick lashes. His frame was much larger than Gavin and his features were bigger, more dramatic. He had a large flat mole on his cheek and a rough edge to everything, like he'd cleaned up for today, but a suit was not his normal attire. The cargo pants and dirty Henley I'd seen him in the first night seemed more his everyday attire.
Magnum had a wild aura around him like he might run off at any second. He was always moving, tapping his foot, his eyes always scanning the room. But at this moment, he was still and totally focused on me.
"Do you, Gavin, take Wren to be your eternal partner, a witness to your life, your anchor in the storm, and the home of your heart for this lifetime and beyond?" The justice of the peace had said the words tons of times, but to me, they struck right through my heart. A wedding was supposed to be loving and hopeful, not full of fear and panic.
"I do." He swallowed and his Adam's apple bobbed.
