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They took the elevator down, and just when she wanted to turn and bolt back up to the suite he took her hand.
‘Come on. Let’s do this.’
He sounded as if he was on the way to his own funeral.
It was to be a City Hall wedding—where, Ethan told her, it was first come, first served.
There, they stopped by a desk and took a number, and were told that the wait was around two hours.
‘Plenty of time, then,’ Ethan said.
‘For what?’
‘You’ll see later.’
Ethan was quite confident that word would have spread to the press by the time they were finished with the ceremony.
City Hall was, Merida soon discovered, a rather wonderful place to pass the time. There were cheers and tears, families and friends. But theirs weren’t there.
Merida could not think about her parents now, so she watched the anxious brides and tense grooms waiting to marry, though some seemed relaxed and simply enjoying the day.
Ethan sat and occasionally tapped a well-shod foot, and in her chest butterflies leapt, but apart from that they might well be sitting in a doctor’s waiting room.
‘The photographer will be here soon,’ Ethan said. ‘He’s our witness.’
‘I see.’
She didn’t really.
Merida watched a couple come out. The woman was heavily pregnant, and as she watched their loving embrace Merida felt sure that she and Ethan would never be like them.
‘Having second thoughts?’ Ethan asked.
‘Yes,’ Merida admitted. ‘Are you?’
‘No,’ Ethan said.
He had given it enough thought to feel positive that this was right. In fact, he’d feel a whole lot better once this was all made legal.
‘We’re up,’ Ethan said.
They walked in for their two-minute wedding ceremony, and though she had been expecting very little, it was incredibly nice.
The celebrant was a real New Yorker, and clearly thrilled to be a part of this day.
‘Mr Devereux, this is a pleasure!’ he boomed. ‘And Miss Cartwright—can I say that for the last time?’
Merida found that she laughed.
She did make a very beautiful bride, Ethan thought. Her lipstick was the coral one she had worn when they met, and a curl of red hair had escaped and fallen over her face. He pushed it to the side.
‘We’ve got this,’ he told her.
On a day when she felt as if a flock of seagulls were roosting in her chest, and when it took all her focus and acting skills to appear calm and smile, there was an almost surreal moment when they exchanged rings that she felt they might just get this right.
‘You may kiss your bride.’
Ethan did so—and it had been such a very long time since he had kissed her.
