Chapter 41 Maya
MAYA
The room smelled like aged varnish and government-grade printer toner. A side office in the Ravalli County Courthouse, the window cracked open, the fluorescent lights buzzing. I sat in a straight-backed chair with my fingers twisted in my lap, every nerve in my body pulsing.
I knew Dom had done the impossible. He’d convinced the judge to hold off on the transfer to Bozeman. I knew we had maybe fifteen minutes until my entire future was decided. But I didn’t feel calm. Not even close.
Because it wasn’t Dom that I needed.
Yeah, sure, I needed him to get me out of here in one legal piece. But to feel whole again, to remember I still had someone in my corner when the cuffs and whispers and shame stripped everything else? I needed Noah.
“I’ll be back, Maya,” Dom said after checking a message on his phone.
I nodded, but I wasn’t really present. My mind was stuck in rewind…at the bakery, where the clatter of the cruiser door had sounded like a cell slamming shut on my future.
Somewhere beyond the fog in my head, I registered boots pounding down the hallway, fast and heavy.
Then, the door burst open.
“Noah!”
He stood there, wind-tossed and breathless, his shirt half-tucked. His eyes said it all. He’d only cared about getting to me.
I crossed the room and buried myself in him. All the fight, all the fear, I let it all go in that one moment. I pressed my face into the place between his neck and shoulder and let him hold me up.
Dom strolled in behind him, grinning.
“What is that?” I asked, squinting at the piece of paper in his hand.
“A golden ticket,” Dom said. “Marriage license. Names are on it. Just needs a couple of signatures and witnesses.”
Noah dropped to one knee in front of me. Not dramatic, not rehearsed. “You’re not going anywhere, Maya. Not without me.”
My entire body buzzed—my heart, my limbs, my lips. “You’re not serious.”
“I’ve never been more serious.” His hand tightened gently. “You want out of this mess? You want to stay in Buffaloberry Hill? Then marry me. Right now.”
My breath caught. “Noah…you don’t have to do this.”
Dom, not bothering to hide his urgency, said, “Actually, he does. The judge wants proof that you’ve got roots somewhere stable. A fiancé is nice. But a husband? That’s the kind of tie that sticks. There’s no guarantee, but it’s a step-up.”
The door opened again, and in walked a man I didn’t recognize. He was older, weathered, and carrying a satchel that read: Licensed to wed, weld, and whittle.
“Heard someone needed a rush job,” he said, his eyes kind beneath shaggy brows.
Noah leaned toward me. “That’s Smith. Retired pastor. He runs the general store now. And yes, he’s legal.” Just then, Noah groaned. “We haven’t got rings,” he said, casting an apologetic look at me.
Smith waved a hand. “Who needs rings? Let’s go.”
I looked between them. Noah, Dom, and Smith. The judge was already getting antsy in the courtroom next door.
“This is insane,” I whispered.
“Darlin’, I’m from Buffaloberry Hill,” Smith said with a wink. “We don’t do normal.”
And somehow, that was the push I needed.
Dom cleared his throat. “Well, we’ve got one witness. Me. But we need a second, or it won’t stick.”
A beat of silence stretched.
“I’m calling my brother,” Noah said, already reaching for his phone.
But before he could dial, the door banged open.
My head lolled forward, my heart dropping. It’d got to be the call that the hearing was about to start.
But it wasn’t.
It was Elia Lucas, still in his worn ranch jacket, his boots tracking in dust like he’d driven straight through the horizon to get here. And behind him—
“Sheryn!” I launched myself at her, nearly knocking her off her feet.
“You think I’d miss your wedding?” She glared at me as she held me tight. “Short notice or not, I’m your girl. You tie the knot, I show up.”
I admired her face, her eyes gleaming, cheeks flushed, and a grin that stretched from here to forever. She was radiant. You’d never guess this was a rush job to avoid a legal disaster.
“How did you—” Noah started.
Elia smirked. “Granger called me and said Smith was on his way to Hamilton to officiate something for a Lucas. Figured it wasn’t me. So here we are.”
Relief slammed through me so fast that my knees almost gave out. My best friend. My almost-brother-in-law. Both here. Both with us.
Dom held up his hands. “I happily revoke my witness status. Looks like we’ve got ourselves a proper Buffaloberry wedding.”
Sheryn hooked her arm through mine and steered me toward Noah. “Come on, you glorious disaster. Let’s get you hitched.”
Noah stood and took both my hands. “Maya Belrose, you stirred something in me that I thought was set in stone. From the moment I saw you in that magnificent blue dress, I’ve wanted you. And if marrying you gets us through this…I’d do it a thousand times.”
My throat tightened. I wished we were marrying under different circumstances, but this was as real as it got. It didn’t matter where, when, or how. As long as it was Noah.
He shook his head. “I’m doing this because I love you. Court’s just the excuse.”
My throat burned.
“Then say the words,” Smith said.
So we did.
No flowers. No guests. Just a retired pastor with an eccentric satchel, my force-of-nature bestie, a lawyer with fire in his eyes, a steadfast brother, and the man who’d just become my husband in a courthouse side office with a dusty clock that ran five minutes fast.
As Smith pronounced us married, Noah kissed me, erasing the hours the world spent trying to pull us apart.
It wasn’t just about survival anymore.
It was us.
And we were in this for keeps.