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“It’s over, Emily. The threat is gone. You are free.”
“Josh, do you… do you still want to marry me? I understand if you don’t.” Emily stares down at the ring on her left hand.
“What? Why would I not want to marry you? Emmy, it’s not even a question. We are getting married. As soon as I can book an appointment with Judge Thomas, we are signing those papers.”
“You’re not disgusted at what I’ve done?” she asks. “Josh, I just killed someone… again.”
“Emmy, look at me.” I tilt her face up towards mine. Once I see those blue eyes, I tell her, “There is nothing you could ever do that would make me not love you. You didn’t have a choice. What you did was self-defence, Em. You are perfect in every single way. Never doubt that.”
“I should feel bad, guilty, or something. But I don’t. If I had to do it again, I would. And that scares me. Why don’t I feel remorse? It’s not normal.”
“Normal is overrated, babe,” I remind her again. “We are exceptional. Normal is for the masses. You’re one of a kind. There’s nothing wrong with you.” I think about what she says. I’ve never felt remorse in my life, other than when I made her leave town all those years ago. “Emmy, do you think less of me? Are you disgusted by me? You’ve seen me do unspeakable things. You know I don’t feel any kind of remorse afterwards. Fuck, Em, I’d slaughter my whole family if it meant saving you. I would sacrifice anyone. If it were a choice between you and them, there is no choice for me. It’s always going to be you.”
“I don’t know how I got so lucky to have you, but I will always choose you too.” Her words mean everything to me.
“You should sleep, babe. It’s been a really long fucking day.”
“Josh, can we go back to the ranch tomorrow? I mean, if you don’t need to be in the city, can we go back?”
“We will head back as soon as we wake up. I promise.”
“Thank you.”
* * *
Three weeks,it’s been three weeks since Emily and I returned to the ranch. She was able to reunite with her mum, and honestly, between her mother and mine, I feel like I’ve hardly got her to myself. Today’s going to be different though. Today is the day I get to make her mine. Legally. Today is the day I get to call her my wife.
We decided to rebook and have the judge marry us out on the ranch. We’ve invited just our family and friends. Emily decided that she’s friends with Ella’s sisters-in-law, which means I have to endure spending time with Ella’s brothers, Zac and Bray. I’m getting used to them being around. Would I call them friends of mine? Absolutely not. But they are friends of my brother’s, and now apparently friends of Emily’s, which means I can’t turn the idiots into pig food.
As much as I’d like to think I can hog all of Emily’s attention today, I know I’m going to lose her to the girls. I want her to have that moment, to be surrounded by friends and family when she gets ready for her wedding. Even if we’re not having a huge ceremony, no expense has been spared.
I let my mother go wild, with the one condition that only family would be in attendance. No press. No outsiders. She grumbled about how I’m ruining her dreams of a huge wedding, but I reminded her she still gets to do all of that for Dean and Ella, after which she happily arranged everything (happily for the most part anyway).
Wanting to take advantage of the morning, I wake Emily up by burying my head between her legs. This has become my favourite way of waking her. It doesn’t take long before she’s moaning and squirming underneath me as I slowly swirl my tongue around her clit.
“Shit, Josh, stop. Move.” Emily groans as she jumps out of bed and runs to the bathroom.
I follow her, holding her hair back while she prays to the porcelain gods. “Well, that’s not the reaction I was hoping for,” I say, when she finally stops and leans her back against the wall.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I’m so embarrassed.” She covers her mouth with her hands.
Standing up, I fill a glass with water and hand it to her. “Are you okay? Should I call a doctor? Is it nerves?” I really fucking hope she’s not getting cold feet.
“I’m fine. I probably just ate something bad. I’m not nervous at all. I get to marry you today. I want to marry you, Josh. Stop worrying.” She sips on the water, then bends straight over the bowl again.
“I’m calling a doctor. Hold on.” I run out to the bedroom, grab my phone and find the doctor’s number that we use in town and dial. It’s seven o’clock on a Saturday morning, but I don’t care.
“Mr. McKinley, what can I do for you?” Dr. Kapner answers.
“I need a house call, doc. My fiancée is sick.”
“What’s the problem? When you say sick, what do you mean?”
“She woke up throwing her guts up. It’s our wedding day. We’re getting married today. I need you to come and check her over.” My voice is panicked. The thought of Emily being sick, of something horrible being wrong with her is too much.
“I’m fine. I’m sure it will pass,” Emily groans into the toilet.
“Ah, I can be there in about thirty minutes. In the meantime, make sure to keep her fluids up. Does she have a fever?”
