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Logically I know I could have said no and not cared about anything else, but one thing Lloyd said is correct. We have to get this town back up and running. While it's true I am not going to contribute the way he thinks I am, with babies and such, having a wife can be beneficial for other reasons such as fundraisers and such and I would do anything for Hollow’s Hollow.
“It’s time,” Alton says, walking into the room. I turn and give my sister my most angry look and she hugs me instead of being scared or remorseful.
“I love you, Geeb. I want you to be happy and hiding from the world and love because you are scared of being hurt is not the answer. So just give it a try. Please.” She pokes her lip out and immediately big brother mode kicks in. I hate to see her upset or sad.
“Fine. Let’s get this farce over with.” She walks out into the church, her arm inside of mine. The first faces I see are of Jasper and his wife Sadie. The mayor, Lloyd, is also in attendance since this was his bright idea and I see the other sisters standing behind them. When I look to my right I almost trip over my feet. “No fucking way,” I say low enough for only my sister to hear. “They give me the one who looks like a damn supermodel?”
“Stop it,” she admonishes under her breath.
“Welcome everyone to the joining of Geeb and Ada in holy matrimony.” Alton begins the service and I find myself staring in her face. She looks to be happy right now, but I know even if no one else does that it is for show. How brave is she to be going through with this with her head held high. Well shit. If she can do it, so can I.
“Before we begin, does anyone have any reason why these two shouldn’t be married today? Speak now or forever hold your peace.” Her face looks a little pale now I have my confirmation that she doesn’t want to be here anymore than I do. “Excellent. Let’s proceed.”
“Today in this unorthodox moment, we must remember that God works in mysterious ways. As a man of God, I am standing before you to seal your fate to one another, binding you in marriage and in trust of not only yourselves, but in the one and only Lord our Savior. To remind you to seek him out in times of confusion and pain but also joy and elation. To put him and your family first and to rely on one another for partnership, friendship, trust, and companionship. Geeb, please repeat after me.” My sister hands me the wedding band I picked out yesterday followed by the engagement ring.
“I Geeb take thee, Ada to be my lawfully wedded wife. I promise to not break my marital vow of faithfulness and respect and to be there for you in sickness and in health, for as long as we both shall live.” I amend the vows to suit me, but when I look in her face, I see…hurt? No. That can’t be right. I slide both rings on her finger and something inside of me shifts but I ignore it.
“Very well. Now you Ada.” Alton’s gaze lingers on me for a second longer. Long enough to see the disappointment in his face. Great. I already feel like shit, and we haven’t even been pronounced yet.
“I Ada take thee Geeb to be my lawfully wedded husband. I promise to love, honor, obey you in sickness and in health for as long as we both shall live.” She slides a ring on my finger and her face looks pained. Anguished even, before she looks up at me and smiles.
“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride.” She looks up at me, so short and tiny compared to me and I swear to you for a second I forget this is not real. She is fucking gorgeous.Get a grip, Geeb.I lean into her, making a mistake and inhaling her sweet scent. This is going to be harder than I thought. Instead of kissing her on the lips, I kiss her cheek and step back. “Please join me in congratulating Mr. & Mrs. Geeb and Ada Hearst.” Yay! Let’s get this joke underway. How the hell did I get in this situation again?
ChapterTwo
Ada
He kissed my cheek… if I was braver, I’d pull him closer to me by his jacket and make him kiss me, but I’m not. He places his fingertips on my elbow and all but drags me out of the church. I don’t get a chance to say goodbye to anyone, but that’s okay. It’s Summer, so despite being almost seven-thirty in the evening, the sun is still out and Geeb appears eager to get me alone and I’m all for that. My body tightens in anticipation. I want my husband and that’s a good thing. I want him to touch me, like a man should and finally erase the memory of Matthew’s monstrous hands on me.
Did I mention that I am excited to be a wife, specifically his wife? I’ve had a week or so to get used to the idea of being Mrs. Geeb Hearst. I’m also excited to get to know what kind of man my husband is. Jasper filled me in on him. His family is a founding family of the town. Geeb grew up in Savannah Georgia and spent every summer in town with his grandparents. He played football, which I’m told is some kind of sport, in high school and college where he majored in journalism. He runs the newspaper in town, which is read as far as Huntington.
“Geeb?” I ask as we walk, well I practically run to keep up with him.
“Yes?” he asks, his fingers slightly tightening on my elbow. It doesn’t hurt and doesn’t scare me. I still want him to touch me everywhere else, like the heroes in the romance novels Lavinia has been checking out of the library for us. I’ve been devouring them, thinking they are like little textbooks that make my heart race. Geeb makes my heart race. I want him on top of me, inside of me, making me his. I can’t even chastise myself for my wicked thoughts… he is my husband after all.
“Where are we going?”
“Home,” he says, and we continue to walk away from the church, down Main Street. We pass the ice cream parlor, the mechanic, a tailor, the vet, a lawyer’s office, and the library and turn down 2nd Street. We walk for a couple of minutes and arrive at a huge house.
“This is where we live?” I ask, wondering if cleaning it is going to be as fun as I think it is.
“Yes. Is it not enough? If you hate it we can move.”
“What? No. I love it. It’s perfect.”
“Come inside. I’ll show you around.” We walk up the front steps and he unlocks the front door and goes inside. I stand outside, waiting. “What’s wrong?” he asks, looking at me like I’m crazy.
“It’s bad luck for you not to carry me over the threshold. I could trip and we’d be doomed.”
“You believe in things like that?”
“No. Of course not,” I say hastily and start to move inside the house. Before I can take another step, he lifts me into his arms and carries me inside the house. It feels amazing being in his arms. He just as quickly sets me down.
“There. Bad luck avoided. We definitely don’t need to add that to this,” he says, making me frown.
“Thank you,” I say. He just nods. He keeps doing and saying things that makes me think he didn’t want to marry me. I force myself to push that to the back of my mind as he takes me on a tour of the house. I smile as he tells me a little about each room we go into. He seems to love this house and I know I will too. Finally he stops in front of a closed bedroom door.
“The house is beautiful, Geeb.”
