Still, even though Gabby wasn’t going to be an excited, dewy-eyed bride, she would be married. And life would be easier because of it.
“All right,” the judge said with a smile. “Let’s get started. Come inside, please.”
Gabby went into the office first, followed by Seth. He’d always been the polite sort—ladies first and all that. She used to tease him about his old-fashioned ways. He’d have to loosen up if he wanted to catch a girl, she used to say…but then he’d married Bonnie, disproving that theory. And watching Seth using those antiquated manners on his wife, she’d wondered if she’d been the one to miss out.
Gabby felt Seth’s warm hand linger on her back as the door to the spacious office shut behind them. Was he as nervous as she was? She glanced back and found his dark gaze drilling into the carpet in front of him. Whatever he was feeling, it was locked away.
A desk dominated one side of the room, but there was a nice open area by the window. There were two court-appointed witnesses sitting in visitors’ chairs—an older woman in sensible slacks and a bored-looking young man whose hair didn’t flatten all the way at the back. They each gave her a cordial nod. How many weddings had they seen today?
“Let’s just take a look at your paperwork,” the judge said, and Seth handed it over. They spent a couple minutes going over everything, and then the judge gestured for them to stand by the window.
“Let’s get started, then,” she said. “I normally do the vows over here by the window. It’s a little nicer for pictures.” She paused. “Do you have anyone to take a few photos?”
“Uh…” Gabby shook her head. “We didn’t really think of it.”
“Sorry,” Seth murmured.
It hardly seemed appropriate to be taking joyful photos of this sort of wedding. They’d look like those stricken couples in old black-and-white photos—the ones where the bride and groom stood a foot apart in every shot.
“I’ll take a few shots, if you like,” the older woman said. “I’ve got my phone right here. I could email them to you.”
Seth smiled. “Thanks. We appreciate that.”
Did they really appreciate that? She’d have her own stricken pictures to pass down to her sons… She wasn’t sure she wanted pictures. It was better to remember this day the way she wanted to—taking an intelligent step that would benefit them both—instead of seeing actual photos that might betray her memories somehow. But now wasn’t the time to quibble. They stood where the judge indicated, and the older woman came and took a couple photos of them facing each other. Seth seemed more stable than she did—more resolute. Mind you, he’d been married before, so he knew how all this worked.
“Join hands,” the judge instructed.
Seth held out his broad, calloused palms and he gave her a small smile. There he was—the best friend. It almost felt like a joke, an act they were putting on, two collaborators once more. Normally, she was the one who lured him into drama, and maybe that hadn’t changed. His hand was warm, and he gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze.
“We’re here together today to join you in marriage. Have you both come of your own free will?”
Gabby nodded.
“We need you to answer aloud with a yes or a no,” the judge said.
“Yes,” they said together.
“As expected,” the judge said with a soft chuckle. “So let’s just get right into the vows then. Seth Straight, do you take this woman to be your wife from this day forth and for the rest of your life?”
Seth’s dark gaze met Gabby’s, but only briefly before he cleared his throat and looked toward the judge instead.
“I do.”
“And Gabrielle Rogers, do you take this man to be your husband from this day forth and for the rest of your life?”
Gabby licked her lips. “I do.”
“Rings?” the judge asked brightly.
Gabby picked up the ring box, which she’d set on the desk, and cracked it open. They’d bought very simple, cheap wedding rings. Gold, but barely, Gabby had joked earlier. But now, they seemed weightier, more important. She started to put the ring on Seth’s finger, though he had to shimmy it the rest of the way past his knuckle. Then he slipped the matching slim band onto her hand.
“Repeat after me,” the judge said. “With this ring, I thee wed.”
“With this ring, I thee wed,” they murmured together.
“Then by the power vested in me by the state of Colorado, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The judge smiled warmly. “If you would like to share a kiss to commemorate your marriage, now would be an appropriate time for that.”
And that was the moment that Gabby realized she’d never kissed Seth before. Not when they agreed to this wedding, not when they first saw each other all gussied up. Even when she’d broken up with boyfriends and Seth had been the one to let her cry on his shoulder… They’d never crossed that line because they’d never been attracted to each other.
She’d never kissed the man that she’d just married!
“Brace yourself,” Seth murmured, as if reading her mind, then dipped his head down and caught her lips with his.
SETH DIDN’T KNOW what he’d expected kissing his best friend to feel like, but perhaps a little less wide-eyed shock on her part would have been nice. Her lips were tense at first, but after a moment, her eyes fluttered shut and they softened under his own.
Married. He hadn’t thought ahead to the kiss after the ceremony, but with a judge and two witnesses expecting something, he felt he’d better oblige. He didn’t want to embarrass Gabby on his very first day as her husband, after all.
He pulled back and Gabby’s eyes opened again, and they exchanged a serious look.
“Congratulations!” the judge said with a smile. “This is a big day. We’ll all just put down our signatures here—”
“I got that shot!” the older woman said with a brilliant smile, her phone held up in front of her. “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Straight!”
A surge of guilt swept through him, and he attempted to push it back. He’d sworn he wouldn’t take these vows again, but this was different, wasn’t it? Bonnie had been his first love—his first kiss! He’d been a late bloomer in that respect. While the other guys were dating around, he’d been the serious one, focused on his career and not wanting to waste his time with the wrong girls. His parents had gotten divorced when he was twelve, and he’d never wanted to endure that kind of misery in his own romantic life. He’d always been cautious to a fault. And when Bonnie died in childbirth, the light of his life blinked out. He’d been prepared to keep their marriage healthy and strong for a lifetime, but he had no control over mortality. He’d lost a baby girl and wife all in one day, and he’d been in a fog of depression for two years.
Seeing
