Because we were trying to be stealthy, it looked more like a glistening holiday dress than a wedding gown. I was going to swap the white ribbon for a red one for the ballet. I had a white faux-fur trimmed wool coat and white winter gloves. White boots with a good tread to handle the snow.
I wore the advent charm bracelet Jus had given me. Maybe I'd been wrong about him giving me a Christmas tree bead today. I wondered if he would give me a bridal bead instead? I looked in the mirror and took a deep breath. Showtime!
Jus and Dex were waiting for me in the main cabin, sprawled in the deep leather chairs in front of a roaring fake fireplace complete with electronic crackling. So cozy. As long as we've no place to go…
Wait! We had a very important place to go.
When I saw Jus, dressed in his tux, my eyes filled with tears of joy. He was so hot. So handsome. So about to be mine!
When he looked up and saw me, his eyes lit up. "You look beautiful." His voice had that quality of awe that took my breath away. He adored me and wasn't afraid to show it. That kind of emotion was hard to resist it.
Dex got out of his chair and grinned. He shook his head as he gave me a quick up-and-down. "Eh." He shrugged. "She looks all right." He winked.
I sighed, too happy to let Dex's teasing bother me. "You both look hot. Even you, Dex."
"What do you mean, even me?" Dex tapped his chest, pretending to be insulted.
A large red velvet jewelry box wrapped with a satin ribbon sat on the coffee table next to where Jus had been sitting. Next to it lay a large floral box.
Jus picked up the jewelry box and handed it to me. "Merry Christmas, babe."
I looked at him. At it. At him.
"Go ahead. Open it. It's…a present for both occasions." He watched me eagerly, still guarding his words.
We were still in secrecy mode. The pilot might hear.
I untied the ribbon, opened the box, and gasped. A sparkling diamond tiara glistened on the satin lining of the box.
"Real diamonds," Jus said, not in a bragging way at all. He was preempting the question I always asked. "As real as my love for you."
I couldn't speak.
"Don't you like it?" His brow furrowed. He was always so eager to please me. "If it's too gaudy—"
"It's beautiful. Perfect and intricate. Delicate." I blinked back tears of happiness. "I love it!"
He took the tiara out of the box. "May I? I'd like you to wear it for the ceremony. I mean, if you want to." He was so adorably hesitant and considerate.
I nodded. "Of course I do! It's just so beautiful. I don't know what to say. Thank you seems inadequate."
Jus sat it on my head, gently working the combs into my hair like a pro. Knowing Jus, he'd practiced this move so he could get it just right. He stood back and admired me wearing it.
Dex had been standing quietly to the side. Totally unlike him. He grunted his approval. "Nice."
I wiped away a tear of joy.
"I bought it before I knew. For the ballet. I couldn't have the Sugar Plum Fairy upstaging my girl."
"No one upstages the Sugar Plum Fairy. But her tiara won’t be as nice as mine." I kissed him.
"Guys!" Dex cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt. But we'd better go before we get snowed in. On the plane and on the tarmac. As much as I'd love a good airport Christmas—"
"We get it." Jus nodded. "One more thing first."
He grabbed the large floral box, opened it, and handed me the most beautiful Christmas wedding bouquet I could have imagined. Red and white roses. Poinsettias. Mistletoe.
I had a bouquet waiting at the chapel. But I wouldn't tell him that. This one was better. Mostly because it came from him.
Jus leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Traditionally, the groom buys the bride's bouquet, right?"
"You've been studying your wedding etiquette," I whispered back. "It's beautiful. Your boutonnieres should be waiting for us at the chapel."
"I wanted our day to be perfect." He grabbed my hand.
"As I long as we say our vows, it will be perfect." I took a deep breath.
"Guys?" Dex said again, rolling his eyes. But he was grinning. All this affection no doubt embarrassed him.
I pulled my cell phone out of my purse. "One more thing first—a quick picture. Dex? Take just one?" I handed him the camera before he could deny my request.
He shrugged. "I got this." He leaned toward us and mouthed, "I'm the best man."
Dex snapped a few pictures while we posed, then took a selfie with the three of us. "Never a selfie stick around when you need one."
Dex hated selfie sticks. He handed the phone back to me with the pictures up.
Jus squeezed my hand before I could look at them. "Ready?"
I took his hand, hoping he saw how much I loved him. "As ever."
"Good." He grinned ear to ear. "The car's waiting. Do we have everything? All the paperwork?"
I patted my purse. "It's all right here."
"I called Parson Brown," Jus said with a twinkle in his eye. "He's going to meet us at the venue early. I'm supposed to text him when we leave town hall."
I bit my lip and nodded, grateful to Jus for taking care of that important detail. I'd been worried our celebrant would cancel due to inclement weather. This wasn't a case of we had no place to go. We had the most important place to go.
"And town hall?" I whispered to Jus. "The news is reporting some government offices have decided to shut down for the day. The governor is on the verge of declaring a state of emergency and closing everything."
"Still open." Jus squeezed my hand. "But we need to hurry."
I let out a breath, relieved, and looked heavenward, hoping for a little help warding off the storm. Just long enough for us to get married.
13
Kayla
The pilot came out of the cockpit just as Jus helped me with my coat. "You look like you're going to a wedding! Your own wedding."
I froze.
Jus laughed, nervous as a groom.
Dex shook his head and laughed, too, as he made an exaggerated point of studying Jus, me, and himself. "Ha! Funny! I hadn't noticed. I guess we do."
He gestured to his tux, running his hands in the air past his body with a flourish. "This old thing? This is just our Christmas finery. We always dress up to impress Auntie Agatha when we make our holiday duty call." He lowered his voice. "She's eccentric, but rich. We humor her."
"Mrs. Green is holding a bridal bouquet." The pilot clearly wasn't buying Dex's crazy story.
I was enjoying it, wondering how far he'd take it. I liked the sound of this imaginary Auntie Agatha.
Dex nodded. "Astute of you to notice. A Christmas bouquet for our great auntie. She was married on Christmas Eve to her late husband, Uncle Herman, about what? Seventy years ago now?" He turned to me for confirmation.
I nodded. "About that."
"Before he died, Uncle Herman gave her a bridal bouquet every year for their anniversary. We're keeping the tradition alive, even though Uncle Herman isn't." He glanced at my bouquet. "Auntie loves red roses."
He leaned forward and put a hand to the side of his mouth. "She's ninety-three and a little woo-hoo!" He circled his finger around the side of his head. "We let her believe they're really from Uncle Herman."
Dex handed his phone to the pilot. "Will you snap a picture of the three of us?"
We posed. The pilot took our picture.
Dex thanked him and took his phone back. "Okay, we need to run before we're snowed in. The things we do for family!" He cast a quick glance in my direction, before smiling at the pilot and pointing at the door. "Could you?"
Minutes later, we were out on the snow-covered tarmac in the midst of a raging snowstorm. Plows blew snow high into the air on the next runway over, obviously on a fool's errand. As fast as they plowed, more snow fell and blanketed the ground in white.
Jus paused to give instructions to the pilot. "We'll be back in a few hours at the latest." He glanc
ed at Dex. "Like Dex said, we're making a quick visit to their aunt and then we'll be right back."
The pilot nodded. "I have the tower on standby. They're ready to give us clearance as soon as we're ready to take off. They want everyone they can out of here as early as possible. The sooner you're back, the better. Unless we all want to spend Christmas Eve here on the plane."
Jus nodded and cast a sidelong glance at Dex. "At least if we come to that, we have plenty of fruitcake and brandy." He patted the pilot on the back. "We all want to get home tonight. We have a date with the Sugar Plum Fairy."
"That was close," Jus said when we were out of earshot of the pilot. "I almost blew it with the bouquet. What was I thinking? Nice save, Dex. Agatha?"
"It was the first name that popped into my head." Dex shrugged. "I thought up a lie and I thought it up quick. It's an acquired skill."
"You must be related to the Grinch." Jus grinned.
A four-wheel-drive SUV waited for us at the terminal.
This is it, I thought as Jus handed me into the car. This is the day I marry the man I love beyond reason, or die trying. Or end up stranded in a ditch with him on Christmas Eve.
"Take us to town hall," Jus told the driver.
I'd timed everything to the minute. The drive to town hall should have taken us no more than ten minutes. It took nearly thirty. Cars were spun out everywhere. Traffic moved at a crawl. Everyone in the small upstate town was out before they became snowbound for Christmas.
Despite the traffic headaches, our driver was jovial and in the holiday mood.
"This town looks like Bedford Falls," Jus joked as we finally pulled into town. "Where's the old savings and loan?"
"Legend is we were one of the towns the producer based Bedford Falls on." Our driver sounded proud of that fact. "That's town hall straight ahead."
"I don't care about the savings and loan. But we could use an angel like Clarence right now." I squeezed Justin's hand. "Oh, it's lovely!" I exclaimed when we pulled into sight. "Town hall is as quaint as the rest of town."
The driver pulled to the curb. Actually, he pulled to the snowbank that was serving as the curb. Jus paid him generously to wait for us while we went into the quaint town hall building for the license.
Jus helped me out of the car and over the snow bank to a sidewalk that was covered with two inches of snow and had probably been shoveled less than fifteen minutes ago. A wreath was on the door of the building. Inside, it was eerily quiet and nearly deserted. People were closing up offices everywhere we turned."
"We have to hurry!" Jus glanced around. "Where the hell is the office of town clerk? We need a map."
"This place is a maze!" I looked around frantically.
"I'm the best man." Dex spotted a town official heading toward the exit. "I got this." He dashed to the guy and asked him for directions.
The guy pointed. "To the end of the hall. Take a right. Last door on your left. You'd better hurry. We're all closing up shop."
"Thank you! Merry Christmas!" Dex pointed. "This way!"
We took off at a run. Jus pulled me along by my hand holding my bouquet.
"I'm slowing us down!" I said, worried, as I ran with one hand on my baby bump.
"Don't worry! I got you, babe. We'll get there." Jus pulled me faster.
We rounded the corner.
"There it is!" Dex pointed to the end of the hallway. "We're just in time!"
A woman was locking the door to the clerk's office.
"Wait!" Jus called to her. "I'm the groom. I got this." He let go of my hand and took off at a sprint down the hall toward her. "Don't lock up!"
The woman, dressed in an ugly red and green holiday sweater with tacky embroidered reindeer and Santa, the kind that was intentionally ugly, at least I hoped, looked up, startled to see three people dressed for a wedding heading toward her. One sprinting. One running. One waving a bouquet and holding the sides of her belly, which didn't shake like a bowl full of jelly, but slowed me down considerably as I lumbered forward.
The woman frowned. "I'm closing up. We've been ordered home. Because of the storm. You should get home, too."
She was middle-aged and plump. With a kind face.
"Not until we're married. Please." Jus put on his charismatic smile, the one that charmed everyone but the severest Scrooge. "Can you open back up for just a minute and issue us a marriage license? Or find someone who can?
"We have all the paperwork. We'll be fast, I promise. It will just take a second. We'll be eternally grateful. We've flown all the way in from Seattle this morning. We have to get married today."
She took the three of us in, including me with my bouquet. Her frown deepened, but she looked sympathetic. When she saw my bump, her expression turned worried. "She isn't going to pop today, is she?"
"No." Jus laughed. "Not yet."
"Sweetie," the woman said to me, kindly, but firmly. "I wish I could help you. Even if I issue you a license, you can't get married today. There's a twenty-four-hour waiting period."
"Oh, but we can!" I dug into my purse, pawing through it wildly, jiggling it enough that my light-up purse jewel flashlight came on. "We have a judicial order setting aside the waiting period. Where is it? Ah! Found it." I pulled the waiver out with a flourish and held it out to her.
She hesitated, looking highly skeptical before taking the order and looking it over. We watched her read, not a creature stirring. When she finished, she still seemed undecided.
Jus put his hand on my bump. "What's your name? We'll name our firstborn after you. We already know it's a girl. Perfect, right? Fate."
The lady's look softened. She shook her head. "My name's Merry. M-e-r-r-y." She sighed and laughed suddenly. "Yes, fate."
She shook her head. "I was born on Christmas Day. The doctor had to fight his way through a snowstorm like this one to deliver me. Looks like it's time to pay it forward. Who am I to stand in the way of true love? Come on in." She pulled her keys out of the door, pushed the door open, and flipped on the light in the dark office.
I almost collapsed with relief. I would have if Jus hadn't been holding me up.
"Perfect!" Jus said. "Her middle name will be Merry."
Merry closed the door behind her and led us to the counter. "I'll need two pieces of ID and the forty-dollar fee."
As we were filling out the paperwork, including the extra piece that specified that the record of our marriage wouldn't be published in a newspaper or any publication other than official records, Justin's phone rang.
He glanced at the caller ID. "Excuse me, I have to take this." He stepped away while Dex signed as our witness.
I heard Jus murmuring in the background.
When he came back, he looked serious and concerned. "That was Parson Brown," he said. "There's a jackknifed semi blocking the road to the chapel. It won't be cleared for hours. Maybe not until tonight. Or Friday."
My face fell. I clutched my belly. I felt sick.
Jus caught my arm. "I'm not done yet. It gets worse. The parson's road is plowed in. Impassable by car. It will take him hours to dig out."
"No." If I'd had more strength left, it would have been more than a whisper of anguish. "But we have to get married! We've come so far!" I was on the edge of tears.
Jus took my chin and tipped my face up to his. He was actually smiling. "Don't worry, Kay. Simple change of plans. Parson Brown will meet us here. He's coming by one-horse open sleigh. He says nothing will stop his sleigh. He'll marry us on the town hall steps if he has to. You picked a good one."
I almost collapsed with relief. "I lucked out. Harry found him. Parson Brown was the only one in town who required the second license."
Jus laughed. "Fate strikes again."
We finished with our paperwork without further incident. As Merry let us out of the office, Jus pressed a handful of bills into her hand.
"No, I can't," she protested.
"Take it. Please. You've made our day. Let me return the favor." He clasp
ed her hand, pressing it around the money. "Merry Christmas, Merry! We'll never forget you."
By the time we reached the doors out of the building, the mayor was waiting to lock up after us. Merry hurried off into the storm to pick her snow-covered car out of the parking lot. The mayor wished us merry Christmas and congratulations and jumped into his idling, warming car to head home.
I stared at the town that looked so quintessentially like Christmas. It belonged on the front of a Christmas card. So innocent and peaceful. So deadly to weddings!
At least four inches of new snow had fallen in the time we'd been inside getting the license. At this rate of snowfall, the plows couldn't keep up. We'd be stranded within an hour.
Our car and driver still waited for us, but the hustle and bustle of the town was dying down as people headed for home and hearth.
And then in the distance, we heard on the road the prancing and pawing of hooves of one great big draft horse, and the jingle of approaching bells.
A sleigh came around the corner. Parson Brown?
He pulled up in front of the steps and jumped out to greet us. He waved with one hand, holding the reins in the other. He cupped one hand around his mouth and called out to us, "Justin and Kayla?"
Jus waved back and nodded. "Come on." Jus pulled me down the steps.
The parson was covered in snow from his head to his toe. A parson's hat sat atop of his head. His cheeks were rosy and red. His dimples how merry. His eyes dark as coal. His beard how it sparkled, laced with snow. He was jolly and round and wore a white puffy down coat with a red scarf around his neck.
Jus grabbed my hand.
As we descended the steps, Dex lowered his voice and spoke out of the side of his mouth. "Is it just me, or does he look like a snowman?"
"Not just you. With that goatee, he looks exactly like a snowman," Jus said. "That one on Elf."
"Or like he belongs on a box of fried chicken," Dex added.
"I wonder if he does that on purpose." I marveled at the similarity.
Christmas Duet: A Big City, Small Town Christmas Romance Bundle Page 13