by Ellie Hall
“Are you ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I said.
He placed his hand on the small of my back, guiding me into the small room where the judge was waiting to sign our marriage certificate.
“Don’t be nervous,” he whispered into my ear as we stepped next to the judge.
That little action sent whispers of pleasure down my spine. I wasn’t sure if it was because he was going to be my husband in a minute, or if my body knew something I didn’t.
“So, you two are looking to get married today?” the judge asked.
I nodded, looking at Brandon, I mean, Zach. This was going to take a little bit of getting used to. I would have preferred that he told me this information before I had gotten on the plane to marry him. It wouldn’t have made any difference to me what he went by. I’d known plenty of people who did the exact same thing, but there was never any confusion. Until now.
“This shouldn’t take very long,” the judge said, looking at the marriage license in front of him.
The judge looked at Zach. “Brandon Zachary Wells?” the judge asked.
Zach nodded.
“And Emma Carter?” he asked, looking at me now.
“Yes,” I said.
“It looks like you’re from Florida. What made you decide to come out here to get married instead of dragging him to Florida?” The judge gestured towards Zach with his head.
“He likes his job in Oregon, and I had no problem moving here,” I said, explaining to this judge what I had already explained to every single one of my friends and family back home.
They didn’t understand my choice in marrying a stranger, and they definitely didn’t understand why I was willing to give up my whole life back in Florida. What they didn’t understand was I had waited my whole life to get married. And I didn’t see that changing anytime soon, unless I took drastic measures. It wasn’t like I was born in Florida. Most of my family lived in Minnesota, which was about as different as you could get from Florida and Oregon. All of it was an adventure and I was ready for it.
“It looks like you already have a good start to your marriage. Deciding where to live is the first step in bringing a long-distance relationship together. Everything looks in order, all you need to do is sign here.” The judge pushed the paper towards Zach. “You can go first.”
Zach took it, signing the paper, then he handed it to me. I quickly did the same, giving the document back to the judge. He handed it to the witness, then signed it himself and just like that I was a married woman.
“You may kiss your bride,” the judge said with a smile.
I squeaked out an “Oh,” as Zach smiled at me, stepping closer.
I hadn’t planned on a kiss. But I would have to get used to it sooner or later, so I didn’t stop him as he wrapped me in his arms, bringing me against his chest. I looked up, offering him my mouth. But as he bent, his lips landed on my forehead. They lingered there for a moment and a warm feeling seeped into my body. It wasn’t amazing sparks like it could have been with a first kiss. Instead I felt peace, comfort, and contentedness. Zach was surprising me already. It had to mean things would work out between us. He let go of me, stepping away slightly and I brought my eyes to his.
He gave me a smile. “Are you ready to go home?”
Home I thought, letting the warm feeling sink through my body again.
“Yes,” I said quietly.
“Good.” He took my hand into his before looking back at the judge. “Do we need to do anything else?” he asked.
“No. I will submit this to the clerk and a copy of your marriage certificate will be mailed to you.”
Zach nodded once, tugging me out of the room.
“Do you mind if I use the restroom?” he asked.
“Not at all,” I said as he let go of my hand.
I found a seat and waited as he walked to the restroom.
He must have been much more nervous than he was letting on because ten minutes later, he was back. Nothing mattered anymore except I was about to go with my husband.
Zach
I looked in the mirror, resting my hand on the sink, staring at my reflection. What did I just do? Did I regret it? Absolutely not.
I breathed it in and out slowly, trying to talk myself off this ledge. I had to tell her, there was no way around that. But I needed to give us time to get to know each other so that when I did, it wouldn’t be so dramatic. Yes, I’d still be jumping off a cliff, but I might have a parachute by that time.
As I’d wrapped Emma into my arms, she’d felt right, just as I had imagined so many times in high school. My stomach turned. The fact that I had just lied to my wife didn’t sit well with me. And it wasn’t like it was a little white lie. No, it was a doozy. One that could be a deal breaker in her eyes.
First things first though. I needed to call Brandon and let him know the situation.
I thought that naming both your sons Brandon was a really stupid idea. A way that my father wanted to carry on his name, but now I saw the wisdom in his decision. My brother’s name was Brandon Thomas Wells, while mine was Brandon Zachery Wells. It had caused some confusion over the years, but we were five years apart in age, so it had never affected us in school. And Brandon was vain enough that he refused to go by Thomas because it wasn’t cool enough. I called him Junior a time or two, but all that resulted in was a slap on the back of the head by my affectionate brother.
I pulled out my phone, dialing my brother.
“Is it done?” he asked anxiously.
“Well, not exactly.”
“What do you mean, not exactly? You had one job.”
I ignored his rant. He was the one who sent me to break off his wedding. He got to live with the consequences of my actions.
“Listen, I did something that you might not agree with.”
There was silence on the other end of the line. I took that to mean he was waiting for me to tell him what I had done.
“You know your future wife was Emma Carter, right?”
“Yes. What about her? What happened? Did she not make her flight?” He drilled me with a million questions.
“No, she was at the airport, but the thing is, I went to high school with her.”
Silence again.
I waited.
“Okay, what does that have to do with you breaking off the wedding?” he finally asked.
“I had a major crush on her in high school.”
Silence.
“I married her instead,” I finally admitted.
“You what? Are you crazy?” he asked, exploding at my confession.
“Does she know it was you? This doesn’t make sense.”
I imagined him pacing.
“She thinks I’m you.”
Silence again.
I’d never seen my brother be so quiet my entire life. It was definitely a good idea not telling Emma the truth right away. If this was my brother’s reaction, I could only imagine she’d be worse.
“How did you even pull that off?” he asked.
“Both our names are Brandon. I said I went by my middle name, which is true.”
“We share Brandon, but I’m a Thomas, and you’re a Zach. Didn’t she notice?”
“She didn’t call me out on it. And she doesn’t look suspicious.”
“Dude, you have to tell her. This is major.”
“I know. I will tell her, but I need to give us time to get to know each other.”
“So you’re telling me that you went to the airport to break up with my fiancé and ended up marrying her instead?”
“That about sums it up.” I was glad he was understanding the situation. If he could understand it, Emma had to right?
“So what? Are you going to take her back to Florida?” Brandon asked sarcastically.
“I will eventually. She’s from Florida anyway, so actually this works out better.”
“She was excited to come to Oregon,” Brandon said, deflating my balloon as soon as h
e had a chance.
“I’m going to call my work and extend my vacation another week, but I need to use your apartment.”
“Wait, you can’t have my apartment.”
“I’m not going to have your apartment,” I said, defending myself. “I just need to stay there with my new wife for three weeks.”
“Where am I going to stay?” Brandon asked.
“You can get a hotel.”
“I’m not going to stay in a hotel,” he said.
“You were going to make Emma stay in a hotel.” This was like the pot calling the kettle black.
“Yeah for like two nights at the most, then she was going to go back home to Florida,” he defended.
“Staying in a hotel for three weeks isn’t going to be that bad. You deserve it for what you did to Emma.”
“I don’t think—” Brandon was starting to get just as flustered as I was.
“Please,” I pleaded. “I came all the way out here to be your best man, and then I went to the airport to break it off with your fiancé. What is three weeks living in a hotel compared to that?”
“I don’t think this is going to go the way you think it’s going to go,” Brandon said.
“I don’t expect it to go any way. All I want is to have time to get to know my new wife before I tell her the truth.”
“If I let you live in my apartment for three weeks while you try to romance your wife, I’ll feel like an accomplice.”
“I hate to break it to you, but you already are.” I was digging a hole, but I considered this partly his fault. He had to help me. “I need this time so when I finally tell her, she doesn’t take off running for the hills.”
“I’m still not convinced,” Brandon said.
I had a feeling he just didn’t want to give up his condo for three weeks. I pushed him further. “I need you to go through your entire apartment and get rid of all of your pictures and then leave as soon as possible. We’re heading out now to come home.”
“I did not agree to this,” Brandon countered.
“But you will,” I said.
“How do you know?”
“Because if you don’t, I’ll tell mom what you almost did.”
“I don’t think that’s as much of a threat as you think it is.”
“Why not? Mom will be very disappointed in you.”
“I’m not going to be the focus of attention in this situation anymore.”
Nope it wasn’t working. I’d given my ace away the moment I said I do.
“Please, just do this as my brother,” I said, in a last-ditch effort to save this.
“I’ll give you three days.”
“Seriously, three days isn’t going to be anything,” I said.
“A week and three days,” he offered.
“Listen, I don’t think a week is going to be long enough time to get her to understand.”
“Fine. Two weeks, but after a week, I want to meet her.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Because she’s seen your picture. If she sees us together, she’s going to know what I did.”
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
“We can argue about this later,” I said. “She’s waiting for me.”
“Where are you?” he asked,
“I’m in the bathroom at the courthouse.”
“So you left your new bride to come argue with your brother in the bathroom.”
“She thinks I’m using it.”
“That’s not better. How long have you been in there?”
I was starting to get irritated now. “Not very long.”
“You’ve been on the phone with me for a long time. She’s going to think you pooped.”
I rolled my eyes. “Everybody poops. I’m heading out now. Make sure you do those things I asked before we get home. I’ll call you later and let you know how things are going.”
“I’ve created a monster,” Brandon said.
I wasn’t going to argue with him on whether or not that was correct. Right now, I needed to take one step at a time. Because if I tried to look farther into the future, all I could see was a train wreck. I left the restroom, praying that everything would go as smoothly as possible.
Looking at Emma again, it was the right decision. This was my time to prove to her I wasn’t some gangly teenager anymore. I could be someone she saw as desirable.
3
Emma
The drive home was long. And awkward. Very awkward.
“I think I failed to take into account how awkward this would be.” I smiled, trying to ease the tension.
“So you’re saying moving in with a stranger is a little awkward?” Brandon asked.
“I’m glad you can find the humor in this.”
“What do you suggest we do then?” Zach asked, moving closer to me. “A kissing contest?”
I placed my hand on his chest, stopping his forward motion so he couldn’t come closer. “In your dreams.”
“You’re probably right.” He chuckled.
That brought a smile out of me. Again. But really, how did he seem so attached to me already? “How about we date?”
“Somehow I thought you were going to say something different.”
“If your mind is in the gutter, get it out now. I think it will be beneficial to our budding relationship if we start things out the way people normally would. I don’t see how this should be any different, minus the being married part.”
“Right—”
He was probably thinking the same thing I was, that maybe this decision was a little rash.
The one thing that stood out to me on the application was both of our strong desires to be married. The man in front of me had the same dream I did. It wasn’t the only thing we had in common. Wanting children. Marital status. Hobbies. They all lined up. And since we had both seen pictures of each other before we committed to this marriage, it had to work.
The only thing we needed to do was take everything off paper and implement it into real life. That shouldn’t be very difficult.
He pulled my hand into his, rubbing the top of it with his thumb. “Will you go out with me tonight?”
I swallowed. “Yes?”
“For someone who wants to date her husband, that didn’t sound very convincing.”
“Yes,” I said again, clearing my throat.
“Let’s go,” he said.
“Wait, now?” I asked.
We’d just walked into the condo. I figured he’d give us some time to get settled. “Don’t you want to get situated?” I asked, trying to stall. I needed to gain my bearings.
“We can do that when we get back. Are you not hungry?” he asked.
“I’m hungry, but—”
“Then let’s go,” he said, not letting me finish my sentence.
“Okay.”
He tried to get me to relax. “This is our wedding day we might as well celebrate it in style.”
“Let me just get changed first. Where am I staying?” I asked.
“Oh, right. It’s this way,” he said after looking around like a frightened deer. Did he only have one bedroom?
“It’s just over here,” he said, turning around and heading to a door. He opened it, peeking his head in before letting me walk through.
I looked around then back to Zach. “This is your bedroom.”
“Eventually it will be yours. You might as well stay here so you don’t have to move later.”
“Where are you going to stay?” I asked suspiciously. Why was I starting to not trust him? I thought I had made myself clear that we wouldn’t be sharing a bed but maybe he didn’t understand what I was trying to tell him.
“I’ll stay in the guest bedroom,” he reassured me.
I lifted an eyebrow. This didn’t make sense. “Why don’t I stay in the guest bedroom? I don’t want to put you out.”
“It’s fine, really. I would feel more comfortable
if you made yourself at home.” He looked around. “In my bedroom,” he added awkwardly.
He couldn’t believe that this would be preferable to the guest bedroom. My trust was diminishing by the second. I knew I might have gotten a crazy one, but I thought the chances were slim. Apparently I was wrong about the slim part, because I was starting to realize you had to be crazy in the first place to try to catch a husband online.
“How about this,” he said, probably at my anxious expression. “You stay here for tonight and if you don’t like it, you can move to the guest bedroom later.”
He wheeled my hot pink luggage into his bedroom and I couldn’t do anything but agree with him. It was silly to argue about it anyway. Especially if he gave me an opening to move out if I felt bad for stealing his space.
He closed me in my new room as he exited.
I changed into long pants and a long sleeve shirt. It was springtime, but it was definitely chillier here than it was in Florida. I would have to get used to that. Since I grew up in Minnesota, I hoped it wouldn’t take me long. I had never imagined that a few years in Florida could change my blood so completely, but I guess I never really enjoyed the cold anyway.
I was back in the living room in less than a minute.
“Are you ready?” I asked.
“Yep, let’s go,” he said, grabbing his keys from the table and shuffling me out the door with him right behind.
He locked the door then tucked my hand into his and I looked down at our intertwined fingers.
“I figured we might as well get comfortable with each other,” he said in answer to my expression. “Don’t worry, I will respect your boundaries.” He crossed his finger over his heart.
I shook my head, letting him guide me back to his car.
Besides the awkward silence on the way back from the airport to his home, I had to admit this marriage was starting out on the right foot. I couldn’t begrudge him a few little quirks. Sleeping in his bedroom was normal for a newlywed couple. The only thing abnormal about it was that he would be sleeping in the guest bedroom.
“So where are we going to eat?” I asked as he pulled out of his driveway.
“It’s a surprise,” he said, lifting his lips into a smile.