Chapter 27 The Vow
THE VOW
ZEKE
As a kid, I thought weddings came from fairytales.
They included lots of flowers, men in stiff tuxedos, and a woman wearing a dress wide enough for an entire classroom of children to hide under.
I never attended a wedding before, but I never knew anyone who got married.
I wouldn’t have imagined that the first wedding I experienced would be my own.
That I stood here now, in a courtroom, holding Maggie’s hand in mine as she recited a vow to love, honor, and forsake me above all others seemed surreal.
I had tunnel vision as we had walked down that aisle. The justice of the peace’s face blurred and I couldn’t get a bearing on my surroundings. Only Maggie’s face kept me grounded. I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest.
Her hands felt warm in mine, but maybe that was because mine were so cold.
Marriage meant forever. I had to provide for her, to give her the kind of life she deserved.
Could I do that? I sure knew I wanted to try.
Maggie would be my responsibility after this and it was up to me to make her dreams come true.
“Mr. Hayes, it’s your turn,” the justice said. “Please repeat after me. With this—”
“Actually, sir, I’d like to say my own vows, if I could,” I interrupted. He nodded. “Maggie, I’ve always been on the outside of things. Never had a family. Never really had a friend. I just accepted that I was meant to live my life alone.
“But then I met you, and now I can’t stand the thought of being alone.
I wake up and look for you; I fall asleep at night and see your face.
You’ve shown me more light and happiness in the past few days than most people know in a lifetime.
Thank you for the honor of being my wife.
For committing to share more of that light and happiness until I take my last breath.
Knowing you, Trouble, it’s gonna be one hell of a ride. ”
Tears leaked down Maggie’s cheeks as she gave a watery chuckle. Even the justice of the peace coughed to cover a laugh.
“Then I guess, by the power vested in me from the great State of Georgia, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.” He clapped a few times and beamed at us.
Maggie’s smile lit up her whole face, even with the tears steadily falling.
Our first kiss as husband and wife was soft. Gentle. Full of promise. I might’ve only known her less than a week, but I vowed to love Maggie Eaton—now Maggie Hayes—until the end of forever.
We returned to the clerk’s window to pick up our temporary certificate, providing Marla’s address as the physical location to send the official license. Maggie would have Marla forward it to us in South Korea.
“I wish I had time to take you somewhere special to celebrate,” I told her as we walked hand in hand out to my truck. “But we’ve gotta hurry up and get to post to enroll you in DEERS. I don’t want to risk you not being included in my orders.”
Maggie nodded and squeezed my hand in reassurance. She didn’t say anything the entire drive back to Fort Stewart, listening intently as I called Bridges to give him a head’s up.
“Sir, this is Hayes,” I greeted him on speakerphone. “I am en route to the DEERS office to get my wife entered in the system. Please don’t send the paperwork until you have confirmation.”
Bridges’ sharp intake of breath indicated how much I surprised him. “Hayes, you son of a bitch. When I told you to go handle whatever you needed, I didn’t mean to go get married.”
“I know, sir, but this is exactly what I needed to do. Please make sure my wife, Margaret Hayes, is on my PCS orders. I’ll text photos of our temporary marriage license over as soon as we get to DEERS.”
That animal inside rippled in satisfaction over hearing me call Maggie my wife.
My staff sergeant sighed. “Roger that. I’ll work on giving you an extra day. I don’t wanna be the one who made you pack up all your stuff on your wedding night.” He laughed to himself. “Send me that picture as soon as possible.”
With a click, the line disconnected.
We drove in silence for several more miles before I finally exclaimed, “Say something, Maggie. Jesus, you’re freaking me out over here.”
One shoulder raised in a shrug. “I’m just trying to wrap my head around everything,” Maggie said. “I’m your wife. We actually got married.”
The hair on the back of my neck bristled as panic set in. Did she already regret the decision? Should I have told her no? I promised her the world, yet I couldn’t even make her happy enough to stay married to me for an hour.
“Maggie, this was your idea…” I trailed off in uncertainty, unsure of what to say.
“I know that. I’m not saying I regret it. I’m just saying that it didn’t really hit me until we left the courthouse. I mean, I barely know you. What if you’re secretly an axe murderer?”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “A secret axe murderer with a government security clearance?”
She snorted. “Okay, yeah, I know that sounded stupid. But you get what I mean.”
“I do and I don’t. You said you wanted to get married, that you didn’t want to give up on us right as we were beginning. Do you not mean that anymore?”
“No.” Maggie mulled it over, twisting a curl around one of her fingers as she tended to do whenever she felt anxious. “Can we just pretend like we’re not married and instead just treat each other like we’re still in the early stages of dating?”
That sounded like a dangerous option to take when I already knew I was completely smitten with her. Like she wanted an out in case our marriage didn’t turn into what she expected. I meant it when I told her there would be no divorce. We were in this thing together, whether she liked it or not.
But I didn’t want to scare her away by admitting that out loud.
“We’ll just keep taking it one day at a time,” I suggested. There, that didn’t sound too threatening or overbearing.
We needed to talk about Spencer, though, and the money she supposedly owed him. Starting married life with a threat looming over her didn’t seem like a good choice.
How would I bring it up without sounding accusatory?
“Is there anything you need to tell me?” I hedged. “Anything that I need to know about you before we move to another country?”
Maggie cocked her head to the side. “No? I don’t have anything to hide.”
A lump formed in my throat at her lie. “Nothing about that Spencer guy?”
Her face flushed and she visibly bristled as she recoiled from me. “How do you know his name? Have you been snooping around on me or something?”
“No, of course not! But I know that you owe him something and he thinks it means he has a claim on you!”
As soon as the words were out, I knew I said the wrong thing. Maggie’s jaw dropped as if I’d slapped her. Her hands shook until they clenched into fists on her lap.
“You don’t control me anymore than he does,” she snarled. Venom dripped from her voice. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
And with that, she turned to face the window, refusing to look at me again.
I pounded my hand on the steering wheel in frustration. “It’s not about controlling you, Maggie. It’s about making sure my wife is safe!”
Still, she wouldn’t turn from the window. We drove the rest of the way in silence. When we approached the gate, I asked for her driver’s license for the Military Policeman, otherwise known as an MP, granting entry. Rather than look at me, Maggie chucked hers on the dashboard in front of me.
My heart dropped into my chest. We were barely married and already fighting. How could I take her to the other side of the world if I made her so miserable?
I pulled into a spot at the DEERS office and cut the engine, turning in my seat to look at her.
It hurt to see how stiffly she sat, how much she concentrated on ignoring me.
It served as a startling reminder that I didn’t know how to talk to people or what to say.
Just because I had a slip of paper labeling me a husband didn’t mean I could carry a conversation as one.
“Look, I know I don’t say the right things.
Most of the time I don’t know what to say or how to understand people.
If what I said came out wrong, I’m sorry.
Do you still wanna be married to me? Are you still going to Korea with me?
Because if so, we need to go set things in motion.
If not, I need to take you back to River’s Run and start packing my stuff. ”
Maggie swiveled to me, tears glinting in her eyes again. “I don’t say the right things either. Celeste always says that I’m a drama queen. Please don’t bring Spencer up again. There are…things in my past I don’t want you knowing. Things you shouldn’t be a part of. Okay?”
I nodded. “Then let’s go inside and make you an official milspouse.”
She crinkled her nose. “You make it sound like I’m joining a cult.”
“It’s not that kind of initiation.”
Maggie snorted, though I had no idea why. I’d read a lot about cults a few years ago and military spouses as a group didn’t meet any of the eligibility criteria to be considered a cult.
I got out and rounded the front of the truck so I could open the door for her. Lacing her fingers through mine, I added, “Last chance to back out. After this you’ll officially be Mrs. Hayes, set for Korea.”
Although she gulped, a smile tugged at her lips. “Count me in.”