Chapter 26 The Paperwork
THE PAPERWORK
MAGGIE
This is insane.
That thought played on replay over and over again as I fluffed up my hair and fixed my makeup while Zeke called down to the courthouse to find out what we needed to do. I, Maggie Eaton, was getting married. Today. To probably the world’s sexiest man alive.
Except that wasn’t why I wanted to marry Zeke.
Sure, his good looks added to the overall package, but it was something more than that.
Life was cruel to take him from me so soon after we decided to make a real go at this, so if I needed a piece of paper from the state of Georgia to ensure we got to keep making a go at it, that’s what I’d do.
Besides, as romantic as Zeke’s declaration was, I didn’t believe he wouldn’t divorce me if it really came down to it.
Every couple gets married thinking that they’re going to be together forever.
Then life happens, people show their true colors—like Diana did to my father—or some strange twist of fate drives them apart.
Hell, look at what Fate had done to Wes and Celeste.
I had to grab this chance with Zeke with everything I had or else I’d have to live the rest of my life wondering if he would have been the one.
Celeste would try to talk me out of it. It probably would sound like we were rushing things to the rest of the world. I couldn’t blame anyone for thinking it. But I also knew I wanted to keep getting to know Zeke, no matter what hurdles were thrown our way.
There was nothing left for me in River’s Run. I hadn’t found a job yet and Diana would never even know if I left. Leaving Marla, Celeste, and Iris sucked, but Zeke and I would come back to visit. They weren’t as much of a reason to stay as Zeke was a reason to go.
“Do you have a passport, birth certificate, and social security card?” Zeke asked from the doorway. He looked pale, like the idea of marriage made him queasy, but he never said he didn’t want to go through with it.
Thankfully, I had planned a senior girls’ trip in high school where we thought we were going to visit the Carribbean on a cruise.
Most of us would be over eighteen by the time spring break hit, so we all applied for passports over winter break only to realize that none of us had enough money to go on that kind of vacation.
We settled for driving down to Daytona Beach instead.
I nodded at him, biting on my lower lip. “Are you okay with this?”
Zeke paused before answering. “I just never pictured getting married this way. I feel like I’m cheating you out of something. Don’t you want a big, fancy wedding with a dress and a veil and all that stuff?”
I shrugged. As much as I enjoyed makeup and glamour, a wedding was the one thing I never really planned. “Why envision a wedding when you can’t envision the groom?” The joke fell flat as Zeke’s eyes tightened.
“And now that you’ve met me?” He moved further into the room, so close that the dresser knobs jutted into my back as I tried to back away. “Am I who you can see as the groom?”
Why was formidable Zeke so stupid hot? My nipples peaked and arousal pooled at my core from the dominance radiating off him.
“Yes.” It was a simple answer, loaded with complicated tangles of feelings, needs, and desires.
My voice sounded breathy, even to me, and I fixated on his mouth as Zeke’s gaze dropped to mine.
He licked his lips as he stared. Was he remembering the way he fit in my mouth yesterday in that dressing room?
Did he know how badly I wanted to taste him again?
“Collect your things. We’re heading to probate court to get the license, then we have to head on post to get you signed up for DEERS,” Zeke said. Gravelly and low, his voice made everything sound so seductive.
I waited to see if he would kiss me, or better yet, explore more of my body than he’d been able to yesterday, but instead I was doused with cold air as he turned away from me and broke the spell.
It took me a full minute before calling after his retreating back, “Wait—what does a deer have to do with this?”
DEERS, it turned out, was yet another Army acronym I needed to know.
It stood for Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System.
Zeke explained it would give me a special identification card so that I could get onto any military base to utilize the services there.
Apparently they had special shops and activities that only military personnel and their “dependents” (aka family members) could access.
Plus, enrolling in DEERS was what gave me health insurance through the military.
Zeke said it was important to have me in the system right away because I needed to be listed on his orders to Korea as an eligible spouse in order for the Army to pay for me to move to Korea with him.
First, though, we had to have the marriage certificate from the Georgia courthouse.
“Okay, Miss Eaton, I need to see your driver’s license and birth certificate, please.
” The clerk behind the tempered glass at the Smithson County courthouse didn’t bat an eye to my casual attire, the Army uniform Zeke had changed into, or our sudden need to get married.
Zeke politely declined when she offered to schedule something further out so that we could plan for a small ceremony.
She did, however, flip her brown hair over her shoulder and try to flirtatiously catch his eye as she commented, “We don’t often get soldiers like yourself in here.”
I wanted to scratch her eyes out. Possessively, I wrapped an arm around Zeke’s waist, and stared the woman down.
Zeke tried to hide his smirk. “I guess other soldiers aren’t as lucky as I am.” He leaned down and planted a kiss onto the top of my hair.
Take that, bitch!
The clerk jerked as if coming to attention.
“Of course. Congratulations. If I could just see your driver’s license and birth certificate as well, sir, I’m going to have Miss Eaton fill out some paperwork.
” She handed me a clipboard after accepting Zeke’s documents.
“And if you’re taking your husband’s last name, you’ll need to fill this out as well. ”
I glanced at Zeke in suprise. His eyes softened and he flashed me a small smile that reminded me of Celeste.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he whispered. “Your name is entirely your choice.”
The clerk melted in her chair. “Oh, isn’t that sweet. I’ve got a good feeling about you two. Now, here’s your paperwork, Mr. Hayes. Just bring it all back to me when you’re done.”
Zeke and I took seats in the waiting area.
The name change form on top stared at me, and I wiped the sweat off the palm of my hand as I steadied my breath.
Changing my last name didn’t really matter to me; I didn’t feel like an Eaton anymore than I felt like a Rockefeller.
The act of changing it, however, brought the weight of my current situation into stark clarity.
We were getting married. I was going to be somebody’s wife. I couldn’t even manage to make toast without burning it—didn’t you have to have more qualifications than that to be a wife?
“Having second thoughts?” Zeke looked at me pensively, chewing on his bottom lip. His form already had everything filled in, and he glanced at the blank papers on the clipboard.
“No.” Thankfully, my voice sounded firm, even if my insides squirmed like worms in a tackle box.
“I don’t have any second thoughts about you.
” That much was true. I might not exactly be wife material or have my life together in any conceivable way, but I knew Zeke made me feel good enough, and that was worth pursuing.
With a flourish, I filled out the top line, requesting the courts change my name from Margaret Elizabeth Eaton to Margaret Elizabeth Hayes. Maggie Hayes had a nice ring to it.
I just hoped this new version of Maggie didn’t screw up quite as much as the current version.