by Karen Kirst
They all glanced at Sean, who held up his hands to say he wanted no part of this discussion, before she continued. “Not even your family knows.”
“So we’ll tell the town and my family in the morning.”
“I agree with Adelaide.” Rose came to stand beside her. “It would be better to have the societal credibility of a public wedding—one your families can actually attend.”
Chris rubbed his forehead. “Fine. Adelaide can stay with my family tonight. We’ll have the wedding tomorrow.”
Rose shook her head. “We can’t possibly pull a wedding together by tomorrow. We need at least a week.”
Everett placed a hand on Chris’s shoulder and answered for him. “Rose, Adelaide’s safety is far more important than the trappings of a fancy wedding. They’re already married. You can’t change that by delaying another wedding. Besides, I have a feeling that the Johansens can pull together a wedding faster than you’d think.”
Rose turned to Adelaide as though seeking direction. Realizing that the men both had solid arguments, Adelaide glanced past them to the ruined bed. Perhaps she was getting a little ahead of herself in worrying about her marriage to Chris. The first, most important step toward figuring out her future was living to see it. There was nothing left to do but give in.
*
Chris had no illusions that this wedding was for anything but show. The clandestine ceremony he and Adelaide had shared five years ago would always be the one he considered their real wedding. Yet Chris couldn’t deny that this was special in its own way. Not when seeing Adelaide walk down the makeshift aisle on Everett’s arm in his parents’ parlor made the rest of the world fade away.
A wreath of orange blossoms adorned her hair. The cream dress she wore had an understated elegance befitting the occasion. Only when Adelaide drew closer was Chris reminded that this was not a love match on her part. The look in her eyes was one of resignation. Her smile, though beautiful, was subdued. Nevertheless, she faced Pastor Brightly with a resolute lift of her chin as Chris received her hand from Everett.
Pastor Brightly soon pronounced them husband and wife and entreated Chris to kiss the bride. Chris glanced down at Adelaide’s mouth, wondering if he wouldn’t do better to simply aim for her cheek, instead. She must have been impatient to get it all over with, for she rose on her tiptoes and stepped closer to press her lips against his. Ignoring the cautionary voice in his head, he caught her waist and deepened the kiss. An ember of hope flared to life when she responded.
Catcalls and whoops filled the air. To Chris’s surprise, they only intensified once the kiss ended. Chris glanced at his friends and family in confusion even as he grinned at their exuberance. He let out a yell of his own as a couple of his burly friends swept him off his feet and carried him around the room before depositing him in a chair across the room from Adelaide. Quinn sank to his knees beside the chair, strumming his banjo incessantly and intently. Rhett appeared on Chris’s other side, swaying back and forth while warbling on his harmonica. Meanwhile, Lawson came up behind him to pat his shoulder and yell what Chris could only assume were congratulations.
Sean offered Chris a hand, then urged him out of the chair with a tug. The sheriff had to lean close to be heard. “I told everyone that there would be no shivaree later due to safety concerns. I’m guessing this is their response. Do you want me to shut this down?”
Chris laughed. “No. Let them have their fun. I’ve played a hand in a few shivarees myself, so it’s only fair. They’ll wear themselves out soon enough.”
“Well, congratulations to you and the bride on both of your weddings. I’ll keep you up-to-date on anything I find concerning that intruder, but y’all try to enjoy yourselves and don’t let one person’s cruelty ruin this for you.”
Chris only had time to nod in appreciation before bracing for a bear hug from his three younger brothers as they congratulated him. Once they released him, he mussed eight-year-old Hans’s hair before patting August on the back, then clasping Viktor on the shoulder. “I wanted to thank y’all for spreading the word about the wedding to my friends. I have no idea how y’all managed to rustle up a houseful of people in such a short time.”
Viktor waved a finger between himself and August. “We’ve got to confess. We only personally invited about a third of these people. The rest of them showed up on their own.”
Hans patted Chris’s leg to get his attention. “Sophia told me Adelaide is my sister now, too. Is that true?”
“It sure is.”
Hans let out a whoop, then pulled out his flute to join the cacophony with the older men.
Chris turned at the sound of his father calling his name. Olan placed his hands on Chris’s shoulders and gave him an affectionate shake. “My son! Married! I thought I’d never see the day. Little did I know I already had. I’m proud of you for settling down and honoring your commitment to Adelaide. I know I gave y’all a hard time, but I want you to know I think you made a good choice in her.”
Chris grinned but couldn’t resist lifting a brow. “Even though she isn’t Norwegian?”
“She’s the woman you love. What more could I ask for in a daughter-in-law?”
“Thank you, Pa. Would you mind telling her that? I think it would mean a lot.”
“Ja, of course I will.” Olan gave Chris’s shoulder one last pat before heading across the room toward Adelaide.
Chris turned to see Wes run into the parlor. The man stopped and glanced around. His face was clouded over with worry. “I ran here from work. Am I too late? Are they already married?”
“It’s all right,” Adelaide called. “You’re still in time for the reception.”
“And the shivaree apparently.” Stepping forward, Chris extended his hand to welcome the man. Wes’s fist flashed toward him. Pain shot through Chris jaw. He stumbled backward over a chair and landed on the floor. Gasps rent the air. Stunned, Chris stared up at Wes who was being held back by Rhett.
“Chris!” Adelaide slid to her knees beside him. She gently touched his jaw, then settled her hand on his chest before turning to look up at Wes. Accusation filled her voice. “What is wrong with you?”
“He’s a low-down cheating skunk. That’s what’s wrong with me.”
Chris was close enough to hear Adelaide’s breath catch. Her green eyes met his. In their depths, he saw a tumult of hurt and betrayal. He reached for her hand as it left his chest, but she shied from his touch. “Adelaide, it isn’t true. I don’t know what he’s talking about.”
“I’m talking about Britta,” Wes spat out. “You’ve been carrying on with her since Rhett and Isabelle’s housewarming party.”
“That’s a lie.”
“I saw you walking her back to the boardinghouse after my shift late one night. Y’all were standing close and flirting. You held her hands.”
Before he could say he’d only been trying to keep them off of him, Adelaide turned to him with tears filling her eyes. “Chris, please just tell the truth.”
His aching jaw fell open. She truly didn’t believe him. Or, didn’t want to believe him. Everything Everett had said about her father flashed through his mind. How could she honestly believe that Chris would do to her what her father had done to Rose? Didn’t she know him at all? Catching her arms, he helped her stand with him. “Adelaide, you have to believe me. I am telling the truth. I’ve never carried on with Britta or given her the slightest reason to believe I was interested in her.”
“You weren’t out walking with her late at night?”
He hated to disappoint the hope in her voice, but he knew he had to be honest. “She showed up at my apartment uninvited. I was taking her home. That’s all there was to it.”
She seemed to waver for an instant, but then her delicate jaw set with resolve. She stepped out of his grasp and shook her head. “I’ve been ignoring all of the signs, but I can’t any longer.”
“What signs?”
“Your relationship with Amy. All of those women
you wooed and proposed to.”
“Amy and I courted after you and I had broken up. I’ve told you that before. You’ve just chosen not to believe me. Two of the women I supposedly wooed are here—Ellie and Isabelle. Ask them whatever you want to know. As for Britta…” He scanned the crowd for her. She stood near the kitchen door as though half entranced by what was happening and half prepared to flee it. He walked over and caught her arm to lead her to the center of the room. “Britta, please. Adelaide and I are married. You won’t gain anything by lying about this. Tell everyone I wasn’t carrying on with you.”
Britta’s gaze rested briefly on Adelaide before meeting his. “The truth is you have broken my heart. You made me promises you have not kept. Through it all, I have loved you. I still do, but I cannot keep secret that you have wooed me all these weeks.” She turned to Adelaide. “Chris and I have met often. Always at night. I tried to hide it as he wished, but I am not so good at sneaking. Wes has caught me several times.”
“Last night was the final straw. I was going to confront you in private today, Chris, but then I heard about the wedding—”
“Wait. Last night?” Relief filled him. He turned to see that Adelaide had stilled. Her face remained inscrutable, but that didn’t keep the triumph from his voice. “Last night I was with Adelaide, her family and the sheriff.”
Wes frowned. “Until nine-thirty?”
“Let me think.” He glanced around the room until he found Adelaide’s parents. Everett was glaring at Wes. Rose seemed to be cautiously taking it all in. “We brought Adelaide here around ten, didn’t we?”
The sheriff was quick to answer. “Yes, and you were still here when I left at eleven.”
Everett’s firm voice added, “You escorted Rose and I back home at midnight. You left our house a little after that.”
“Britta dear,” Rose said, pinning the girl with her suspicion-filled gaze. “If you weren’t with Chris, what were you doing?”
Gabe crossed his arms and leaned back onto a nearby wall. “She wasn’t at the saloon. What? I go there from time to time to sketch folks. I’ve seen her there hanging around with one of our old boarders in the evenings. They seemed pretty close.”
Wes shot him a look. “You could have told me that.”
“How was I to know what lies she was telling you? Anyway, you could have not jumped to conclusions and punched a man on his wedding day.”
The sheriff held up a hand. “Everyone just hold on for a second. Miss Solberg, would you please tell me where you were and what you were doing last night?”
Britta pulled free of Chris’s grasp and rubbed her arm even though he hadn’t been holding her tight enough to hurt her. “That is no one’s business but mine.”
“Miss Solberg, someone in this town sent letters to Mr. Holden that threatened his livelihood and his daughter. They followed that up by breaking into his place of business where they caused extensive damage through vandalism. They then entered the Holdens’ home to deface Adelaide Johansen’s bedroom. On top of all of that, they have made repeated, escalated threats against her life. I will find this person. When I do, they will face criminal charges for all they’ve done. Now, I could bring you into my office to question you about all of this. Or you could save yourself a lot of trouble by simply and truthfully answering my question now.”
“Criminal charges?” Britta’s face went pale. Her wide gray eyes were filled with panic. “Does that mean you will put me in jail? But you can’t. I did not hurt anyone. They were just supposed to get scared and leave town. Then Chris would have married me.”
Adelaide finally spoke again. “So you made all of it up? Everything about you and Chris…it was a lie?”
He wanted to yell that of course it was. However, he held his tongue, realizing those words would be most convincing coming from Britta. He could only pray she’d finally tell the truth. Lightning seemed to flash in the thunderclouds of Britta’s gray eyes. For the first time since she’d arrived, she spoke to Adelaide. “What else could I do? This man…” She turned to Chris again and shook her head in disdain. “He is as cold as a fjord in the winter. No warmth. No love. No heart. He has the passion of a…a stone.”
Chris glanced past Britta to meet Adelaide’s contemplative gaze just before it lowered to his mouth. Was she remembering all of their kisses? He certainly was. The hint of a blush spilling across her cheeks said she was, too.
Britta’s voiced droned on in the background as Chris waited. “I thought that I could change him, but he would never let me near enough to try.”
There it was. Realization stole over Adelaide’s features, clearing it of doubt and suspicion. Relief followed. Her gaze shot to his, filled with remorse so intense that everything and everyone else seemed to fade away.
It was only then—when he saw how guilty she felt over how completely she’d believed in his transgression—that he felt pain penetrate through the shock that had been shielding his heart. The sting of tears threatening his eyes forced him to lower his head. He swallowed hard. Refocusing on Britta’s voice enabled him to wrangle his emotions into a more manageable state.
“He was my betrothed and you had no right to him, but I think you deserve him. You will discover how unfeeling he is soon enough, and then you will be miserable.”
There was no “then” about it. They were both plenty miserable right now. There was only one way to keep them from staying that way. Chris was resolved to do it even though he knew without a shadow of a doubt that it would break his carefully protected heart.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Shame settled like a rock in Adelaide’s stomach as she realized what she’d done. She’d been so afraid of being betrayed by Chris that she’d betrayed him in front of his family and closest friends. There was no other way to describe it. Her accusation against his character hung in the air, weighing on her shoulders in the wake of Britta’s confessions.
Glancing around at the folks gathered together, she realized that most had satisfied or even triumphant looks on their faces. It seemed as if they’d known all along that Chris was innocent and had only been waiting for the truth to come to light. How was it that they had known and she hadn’t?
She’d like to blame her history with her father and the more recent betrayal by her mother, but this went deeper than that. Wasn’t that what Chris was always telling her? That she kept searching for reasons to push him away? Well, she’d been given one—a significant one—and she hadn’t hesitated to latch on to it. An apology rose to her lips, but Wes beat her to it.
“Chris, I am truly sorry. Gabe’s right. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. I apologize especially for hitting you. I hope I didn’t do too much damage.”
Chris tested his jaw by working it back and forth. “It’s fine. You didn’t hit me hard. I was just stunned more than anything. I wouldn’t have gone down if I hadn’t stumbled over the chair. As for jumping to conclusions… Britta had been lying to you for weeks and you don’t know me well enough to know better. I understand why you were concerned.”
“Well, since I started all this, I guess it’s only right I finish it.” Wes swept a protesting Britta over his shoulder and headed for the door. “I’m making a citizen’s arrest. C’mon, sheriff.”
Sean grabbed his hat and rushed out after them calling, “Wes, put her down. That isn’t how a citizen’s arrest works.”
Quinn strummed a chord on his banjo to gain everyone’s attention. “Look, I don’t know about y’all, but I thought this was a celebration.”
Helen called out a song request while Lawson began to clear some room for a dance floor. Adelaide appreciated their friends’ attempt to cover any lingering awkwardness in the aftermath of what had just happened. However, there was no covering up what she’d done. Nor could she take back the words she’d said. She took a step toward Chris, but he turned on his heel and disappeared into the kitchen. She hesitated for an instant, then followed him.
Seeing him standing in front
of the ice box, chopping a piece of ice off the block, she dampened a cloth with cool water and handed it to him. He covered the ice with it, then pressed it against his jaw before meeting her gaze. She barely held back a wince as the hurt she saw there reverberated through her own heart. “I’m sorry, Chris. I’m sorry for believing her. I should have given you a chance to explain.”
“I held Britta’s hands to keep them off me. I called on Ellie once with a bouquet of flowers. She refused my offer of courtship and that was that. I was a little more successful with Isabelle. I managed to get her to dance with me once. I also drove her home from Quinn’s house so that I could propose to her. I’ve already told you all there is to know about Maddie and Amy. Other than my relationship with you, that is the extent of my history with women. You may not believe any of that, but it’s the truth. I’ve never lied to you about any of it.”
“I know that, Chris. I think I always have. I just didn’t want to believe it. I knew if I did, there would be no reason to…no way to…”
“Keep your distance?” He sighed and lowered his head. “Maybe it’s time I let you.”
Her heart sank in her chest. “Chris, no.”
“Yes, but let’s get one thing straight first.” He set the ice aside. He lifted her chin to cradle her face in his hands. Tilting his head closer, he arrested her gaze. “I love you, Adelaide Johansen. I would never stray from you. You are everything I have ever wanted. No one else in the world holds a candle to you. If I thought that there was some way I could prove that to you, I would spend the rest of my life trying. But I can’t convince you when you don’t want to believe. And that has nothing to do with me. It’s about you and… I don’t know what. Maybe your father? Your mother? Whatever it is that’s keeping us apart isn’t something I can fix. I have to stop trying.”
He released her, and took a step back. “You’re safe now. Britta won’t be causing any more trouble. There’s no reason for you to move into my apartment. I won’t agree to annul our marriage, but I will give you the life you wanted. Stay with your parents or move to your own place. Write to your heart’s content. You won’t have to marry. As your husband, I’ll support you if you have any financial needs. I’m sure there’s more to figure out, but we can do that later. Right now, I’m… I’m going to leave.”