AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I was surprised to see a woman in a robe waiting by the front door.
She scowled at us. “Come in.”
“Thank you.” I wanted to apologize a hundred times over for waking her up, but she didn’t seem like the kind of woman who wanted excuses.
She flipped on the dining room light. She wanted us out of her house as quickly as possible so she could return to sleep.
“I need your drivers licenses.”
Jeremy placed his on the mahogany table. I had to search my purse for mine. “Here it is.”
She scribbled down the information, pressing her reading glasses closer to her eyes. I wondered how many times this had happened before. But I had to think in those instances, the couples were madly in love. Desperate to be together.
“And birth certificates?” She held her palm forward.
“We have those too.” I smiled, but she pulled them from my hands quickly.
I yelped when I felt something crawl over my foot. Jeremy stared at me. I looked down to see a gray tabby cat making circles between my legs.
“A little jumpy?”
I shook my head.
“That’s just Felix. Ok. I need you both to sign here and here.” She pointed to the two blanks under applicant.
Jeremy handed the pen to me. “The bride should sign first.”
I rolled my eyes. I scribbled my name on the top line. “And then the groom.” I shoved the pen into his hand.
He signed an autograph-looking signature underneath mine. “There. Done.”
I watched as the clerk transferred the information onto the official North Carolina certificate. She slapped her seal on the corner. “You’ll need to mail this in to the county clerk’s office after the ceremony, with the officiant’s signature,” she instructed us. “They’ll send you the marriage certificate once it has been recorded. That’s it.”
I couldn’t believe it was that easy to get married. That was all we had to do. All we needed now was a minister.
We turned for the door. Jeremy had the license clutched in his hand.
“Almost done,” he murmured. “Almost.”
“Thank you,” I called over my shoulder, but the clerk had turned off the dining room light and was anxious for us to leave her alone. Felix had run up the stairs.
The door slammed behind us when we reached the porch.
“One more stop.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“One more,” I whispered.
11
Jeremy
It didn’t matter to me if we got married in pajamas, bathing suits, or formal wear. I just wanted to get the ceremony over with. When Evie met me with protests about rushing through it, I gave in. There was something she had packed that she wanted to wear. She was angry I even suggested she marry me in a pair of jeans. She mumbled something about a bad prom memory and I let it go.
She was upstairs in the bridal suite changing. I paced in front of the fireplace in the small study, drinking another glass of champagne. There was no reason for us to use the mini-ballroom. We agreed the study would work for the ceremony.
I checked my watch again. How long did it take for her to change into something else? It wasn’t like this meant anything. It was a check in a legal box. The sooner the minister said I do, the sooner we could make the heir that would give me my fortune. There was no reason for her to go through a lot of trouble.
I stared at the flames in the fireplace. The logs popped and crackled. If I was going to talk myself out of this, now was my last chance to walk away. Once I married Evie, it was forever. Divorce made the contract null and void. I’d lose everything.
