Damn Fitzgerald for putting him in this spot.
He had to make himself believe this was like taking a role in a play…that was all. Playing a role didn’t make the words less powerful, but maybe he could make it okay for him.
The plane was small, three leather-covered seats for each of the twenty-five rows with an aisle dividing the seats, two on the right side and one on the left. Out of the seventy-five available seats, only forty were occupied. He slipped into seat 5B with Caroline beside him in 5C. There were no passengers in row four or six, which gave them a great deal of privacy.
As the plane taxied, Caroline stared out the window and tapped her fingers on the armrest between them. Once the small jet reached cruising altitude, the tapping stopped, but there was a distinctive nervous jitter to her hand.
Travis placed his hand over hers. It was ice cold. He laced their fingers to warm hers. “We don’t have to do this, you know. We can still visit your grandmother. Tell her I got cold feet. Put the blame solely on my shoulders. I’m sure your grandmother would believe that a Montgomery would leave a bride at the altar…literally and figuratively.”
She looked at him, slowly closed her eyes for a moment then opened them to meet his gaze. “No. This is truly the only thing I can do for her before she’s gone. If she wanted anything else, I’d get it for her. You must understand. When your wife was ill, didn’t you feel the same?”
At the mention of Susan, Travis’s chest squeezed and all the breath rushed from his lungs. She was right. The memory of those final days flashed through his mind. The sorrow. The desperation. The days of trying to prepare himself for something there was no preparation for. He gave her hand a little squeeze.
“Near the end, when I knew we’d done everything medically we could for Susan, I would drive sixty miles every other day to buy her a particular ice cream I could only get at one store. Sixty miles there and sixty miles back.” He smiled at the memory. “I even bought a specially equipped freezer to keep in the truck so the ice cream wouldn’t melt before I could get it home. A couple of weeks before I lost her, I bought her a white mare. We’d always talked about raising pure white horses.” He dropped his gaze to their interlocked fingers. “It was silly, but I thought if she saw the horse that maybe…” He shook his head. “I don’t know. That seeing the horse from our plans would give her the will to live. Desperate thinking by a man too young to experience that kind of loss.” He squeezed her fingers. “I think now I finally understand why I agreed to your crazy plan. I understand your need. I do.”
She sighed. “Thank you.”
When she began to pull her fingers from his, he stopped her. “You have to get used to me touching you for this to be believable.”
“You’re right.” She resettled her fingers between his.
His gut pulled taut at the sight of their linked hands. He’d spent more intimate time with Caroline over the past five days than he had in the past five months. He’d always found her physically attractive, but now he was drawn to her on an unanticipated emotional level also. An unexpected heat flared in his chest and he found his breathing picking up speed. “So, you’re going to go ahead as planned?”
She nodded.
He squeezed her fingers before pulling his hand free. “Then I have something for you.”
He stood and rummaged in his flight bag stored in the overhead bin until his fingers touched a velvet box. He pulled it out and retook his seat. Caroline gave him a quizzical look. He popped open the box and displayed three rings. The middle ring supported a large emerald-cut diamond solitaire highlighted on each side by two rows of diamond baguettes. It was flanked on the right by a gold man’s wedding band and on the left by a complimentary wedding band with two rows of baguette diamonds. The wedding band was designed to fit under the diamond solitaire to complete the set.
“You just happened to have these lying around your house?” Caroline asked, incongruity tempering her tone.
“Well, my safe actually. The rings belonged to my dad’s mother. I inherited the set, but Susan didn’t like them. Thought they looked too old fashioned, so I locked them away. Hadn’t looked at them for years. I’d forgotten how much I liked the engagement ring.”
“It is beautiful.” She took the ring box from him. Turning the box from side-to-side, she admired the rings from every angle. As the sun streamed through the small porthole window and shot through the diamond, primary colors sparkled off the bottom of the overhead bin. “Absolutely stunning.” She looked at him. “Are you sure you want to use these?”
“Did you bring rings?”
“No. I ran out of time with getting everything else done before leaving.”
“Then…” He pulled the engagement ring from the box. “Give me your left hand.” When she did, he slipped the ring on her fourth finger. It fit as though it’d been made for her. For a moment, the view in front of him swam. The hollowness inside he’d felt since Susan’s death was filled by a deep-seated sense of calm. He drew in a long, satisfying breath.
“Travis.” She held her hand out in front of her to study the ring. “It’s truly beautiful.” She leaned over and brushed his cheek with her lips. “Thank you.”
Caroline studied the ring, stunned at Travis’s generosity. She’d only be wearing it briefly, but for him to have brought it had her insides tangoing in pleasure.
He’d been right when he’d asked if she was having reservations about this staged wedding. She was. Like every little girl, she’d dreamed of her wedding day. Never had those dreams included marrying a man she barely knew while standing at the bedside of her dying grandmother.
As she’d grown into adulthood, the vision of being married and settled in one spot had faded like all childhood fantasies do in the light of reality. Marriage meant being dependent, a loss of freedom, a loss of control over your own life. No thank you. That wasn’t for her.
As the pilot announced immediate landing, Caroline touched Travis’s arm. “Thank you again.”
The white stretch limousine she’d reserved awaited them when they arrived at baggage claim. The driver stowed their overnight bags into the trunk as they slipped into the rear seat. Her gaze slid over to him. “Sorry the return flight for today got canceled and we couldn’t do this as a one-day trip like I’d promised.”
“Not a problem.”
She drew in a deep breath. “Ready?”
He smiled. “I am.” When she began tapping on the armrest, he frowned. “What’s the problem? Having second thoughts again?”
She reached down and pulled her purse into her lap. “No second thoughts. I just… Well, I wasn’t going to give you this until we were on the way home, but I realized on the flight here I have to trust you. No, not have to, but do trust you.” She pulled an envelope from the large tan bag. “Here,” she said, setting the clasped envelope on the armrest. “It’s the quitclaim deed for Singing Springs.”
He looked at the envelope as though it were radioactive and made no move to take it. “Why?”
“Why? That was our agreement.”
“True, but I could take this deed and run.”
She smiled. “But you’re not going to do that.”
He huffed out a breath. “Of course not.”
“Exactly.” She reached across the car and laced her fingers through his. His hand was warm and the skin tough and callused. It felt like a man’s hand should feel. Work-hardened but still capable of a gentle stroke. “I trust you, Travis.” She squeezed his hand. “And I can’t begin to thank you. If you could have heard the excitement in Mamie’s voice when I told her… Well, it was the happiest I’ve heard in a long time. For that alone I owe you.”
The limo rolled to a stop. The driver sprang from his seat and whipped the rear door open. Travis stepped from the back seat and reached his hand back in to assist Caroline’s exit. The old county courthouse stood in front of them.
“We’ll be a few minutes,” she told the driver.
He pulled a card f
rom an inside pocket of his jacket. “Yes, ma’am. The parking is a little tight around the courthouse. Give me a call when you’re ready to go. I’ll be just up the street.”
Travis took the card and shoved it into his pocket. “Will do.”
The driver climbed back into the limo and pulled from the lot. Travis turned toward the old building. “Where do we have to go?”
“County clerk’s office on the first floor,” Caroline replied, but she didn’t move.
“Caroline.” Travis grabbed both her shoulders and turned her to face him. “It’s not too late to change your mind.”
She shook her head then smiled. “No. It’s not that. I was just remembering the time Mamie arranged a courthouse tour for my Girl Scout troop. The jail was located in this building then.” She pointed to a far corner. “Over there. The prisoners would yell things from those windows.” She laughed. “I learned a few new words that day. Some of the mothers were not happy with Mamie.” She took his left hand. “Come on.”
The county clerk’s office was obviously having a very slow day. No one was waiting to be served, and behind the desk, many of the staff stood looking at some pictures. A short, well-endowed woman waved a hand. “Be right with ya.” She pulled away from the group and took a seat behind the desk. “Now, how can I help you folks?”
“We need to get a marriage license,” Caroline said.
“Well, good for you. Congratulations to you both.” She pulled two clipboards from under the desk, clipped a form onto each of them and slid them across. “I need each of you to complete an application. If you’ve been married before, I’ll need to see a divorce decree or a death certificate. The fee is fifty-eight dollars. We only take cash.”
Caroline and Travis moved to the chairs along the wall to complete the paperwork. Travis wrote quickly and finished first.
“Done?” he asked
“Just about.” Caroline signed the form. “Finished.”
Travis took both clipboards and returned to the counter. He pulled a folded piece of paper from his jacket, placed it on top of his form and handed both to the clerk. She took them, unfolded the paper and nodded. Caroline could read the large bold print at the top. Death Certificate. She hadn’t even given a thought to his being a widower.
“Good thing you remembered this,” the clerk said. “Have to have it. Okay, let’s see what we’ve here.” The clerk’s fingers began flying across her keyboard as she entered Travis’s information. It didn’t take long before she refolded the death certificate and handed it back to him. “You’re done. Let’s get your bride in there.” She lifted Caroline’s clipboard and read the name. “Caroline Graham. You related to Joshua Graham over on Maple?”
Caroline shook her head. “No, ma’am.”
“Just as well. He’s an old bastard anyhow. Okay, let’s see. Never married, so I don’t need anything there.” She continued to talk to herself as she rapidly entered Caroline’s information. “Okay, that’s it.” She looked at Travis. “If you and Ms. Graham will have a seat, it’ll be just a minute.”
In about five minutes, the clerk waved them back to the window. “Okay. Here is your license. Remember that you need to have it signed and back to this office within sixty days. Good luck to both of you. I wish you many years of happiness.” She smiled as she passed the legal document across the counter.
Travis took the license, folded it and slipped it into his jacket pocket. “Thank you.”
After retrieving her purse from the chair, Caroline looked at the clerk. “So we’re done?”
“Yes, ma’am. Good luck.”
“Thank you.”
Caroline was amazed at Travis’s calm exterior, in contrast to her quivering insides. Once they reached the exterior door, Travis dialed the limo, which pulled up not more than a minute later. They climbed in, the air vibrating with tension. Or maybe it was just her. She didn’t know.
They pulled into the circle drive that fed St. Michael’s Hospital visitor entrance. As before, the driver slipped from the car before Travis or Caroline could reach for the door release and opened the rear passenger door.
“We will be a while in here,” Caroline told the driver. “I’ll call when we’re ready to go.”
“That’s fine, ma’am.”
As the car pulled away, Caroline’s stomach rolled and pitched like a ship at sea. Travis’s hand at the small of her back as they entered the hospital did little to calm her nerves. If anything, his touch was stirring up emotions she had no right to feel about him. In the lobby, she paused.
“You okay?” Travis asked. He turned and looked into her eyes.
“No second thoughts, not about what we’re doing. I just wish…I mean…” She let out a long breath. “I just wish this wasn’t a fake wedding.” As though realizing what she’d said, she added in a rush of words, “Not that I’m saying I want to marry you. I mean, you’re great and all that, it’s just that I wish I was really in love and—”
Travis chuckled. “I’m great and all that?” Then he let out a laugh. “Way to flatter your groom.”
She pulled him off to the side. “That’s not what I meant.”
He smiled and captured her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Caroline. You are a wonderful woman any man would be lucky to have as a wife. If I were looking for one, you’d be at the top of my list.”
Her heart leapt into her throat at his words. The air whooshed from her lungs. The heat of an oncoming blush warmed her cheeks. She jerked her head, pulling out of his grasp. “I’m fine. Let’s just get this over with. I get a husband for a few hours and you get a chunk of land forever. Works for me.”
Whipping around, she marched for the elevator.
Like I’d want to really marry him. Ha. Give me a break.
Thoughts that hit a little too close to the truth deserved to be laughed off, so ha-ha.
The elevator opened on the third floor and they stepped off. Immediately, Caroline’s olfactory senses were assaulted with the smell of industrial-strength disinfectant mingled with the aromas from the lunch food cart delivering patient meals.
“Man, I hate that smell,” Travis groused.
Caroline put her arm through his. “I’m sure you do. Most people do. Believe it or not, most hospital personnel learn to ignore it, along with a lot of other unpleasant odors.” She placed her other hand over his. “Ready.”
He snuggled her closer. “Let’s do this.”
As they neared Mamie Bridges’s room, the sound of happy voices filtered out and into the hall. Caroline frowned. What was going on?
She knocked gently and pushed the door open. Her eyes flew open in surprise. “Oh, no.”
The drab hospital room had been transformed into a makeshift wedding chapel. White ribbons and hearts draped the window. Lengths of white silk decorated the dingy-yellow walls in flowing swags. Soft music floated from a box in the corner. And flowers. There were flowers everywhere. White roses. Cymbidium orchids. Baby’s breath. Calla lilies. White peonies.
Caroline’s breath rushed out in a loud gasp. “What in the world?”
The chattering halted and the people in the room turned toward the door.
“Caroline. Come here, child,” her grandmother said from the bed, her arms stretched out for a welcoming embrace.
Caroline rushed across the room. “Mamie. It’s so good to hear your voice.” She gently hugged her grandmother’s frail frame, the old-fashioned rose scent of Mamie’s cologne filled Caroline’s nose, bringing unwelcome sentimental tears to her eyes. She pressed her cheek against her grandmother’s soft, but parchment-textured cheek then stepped back to clasp her grandmother’s hands, careful not to hold her fragile fingers too tightly. “You look wonderful, like you’re ready to take on the world.”
Mamie’s white hair had been curled, teased and sprayed stiff, like many women of her generation. Her normally pallid cheeks sported red slashes of blush. She wore eye makeup and mascara. Instead of one of those horrid hospital gowns,
she wore a blue suit jacket with a pink silk blouse.
Mamie squeezed Caroline’s fingers. Granted, it was a weak squeeze, but it felt so good to feel her grandmother’s fingers in hers. “Of course I do. I couldn’t let you get married with me looking like an old dying woman, now could I?”
Caroline leaned over the bed and hugged her grandmother again. “I miss you so much.” Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. “I am so sorry I don’t get up here enough to see you.”
“Now, don’t start that,” Mamie chastised in a weak voice. “This is a happy day. One of the happiest days of my life.” She looked around. “Now, where’s my grandson-in-law-to-be?”
Caroline turned, expecting to see Travis standing in the door. He wasn’t. Her heart skipped. Where was he?
“Over here, Judge Bridges,” Travis’s deep voice drawled from the corner.
Caroline shut her eyes briefly as the fear that he’d left crumbled. She drew in a quick breath and turned in the direction of Travis’s voice. She’d been so nervous all day. She hadn’t really looked at him. Dressed in a dark suit with his boot tips glistening under the room’s florescent lights, he looked more handsome than she’d ever seen him. He smiled when she turned. “Be right back,” she said to Mamie and crossed the room to where Travis stood talking with her brother, Noah.
“Hi, Noah. You have really grown.”
“Yeah,” he snarled. “People do that when you don’t see them very often.”
Travis’s head snapped toward Noah. “Now, son, I’m sure you don’t mean to speak to your sister on her wedding day in that tone of voice. I think you owe her an apology.”
Caroline touched his arm. The muscles were tight with tension. “It’s okay, Travis. I’m sure he didn’t mean it.” Travis had always had his parents, had known his parents loved and wanted him. He couldn’t understand what it was like to be dumped on your grandmother’s porch to be raised, whether she wanted the task to or not. She understood though. Noah deserved a break. He sure hadn’t had one in his short fourteen years.
Texas Tango: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 2 Page 7