Chapter 13 CORMAC
CORMAC
The county courthouse and town hall sit next to each other on a block of green and brown grass in the middle of High Ridge—separate from the rest of the buildings along Main Street.
“Looks like our new mayor is trying to make good on those promises to revive the town—starting with her domain,” Connor muses as we watch a team of landscapers work to prepare the messy flowerbeds and patchy grass for spring’s arrival.
“I’m glad. Miller let things go to shit.” Jeb Miller’s father had been an honorable man and helped High Ridge prosper during his tenure; his son hadn’t inherited the same temperament or wisdom.
Which was why when Brenda Castillo decided to run against the usually unopposed Miller family, she won.
Tugging on my cuffed sleeve, my eyes drift away from a guy clearing dead leaves behind some bushes to the parking lot.
Davie should be here soon with Jesse and Linnea, who will serve as one of our witnesses.
“Nervous?” Connor asks. When I told him about Jesse and my plans to marry Davie, he’d offered very little resistance. He knew how much I wanted a family. Knew I’d never abandon my own kid.
If he held any doubts about marrying a stranger, my brother kept them to himself—choosing to support me without judgment.
My best friends, Deacon and Briggs, were another story. Deacon had voiced his concern several times while we worked together on the ranch, and Briggs’s attitude stemmed from how he first met Davie that fateful day at the hardware store.
The fact that she sought me out to deliver the news of my son made him question her intentions. As if she intended to trap me into marriage all along, despite it being me persuading her to say yes.
I spot a grey sedan in the parking lot and release the pent-up breath in my lungs. “Not anymore. They’re here.”
My long strides eat up the space between us, barely giving me enough time to drink in the sight of Davie in a light blue sundress before I pull her into my arms.
“You came.”
A surprised laugh puffs against my neck. “Of course, I did. You think I’d bail? Our things are already at your ranch.”
“Our ranch,” I correct, reluctantly letting her go, and reaching inside the car for Jesse. My boy looks adorable in his little tuxedo tee. “Hey, kiddo. Ready to be Daddy’s best man?”
“I thought that was my job,” Connor says from the sidewalk.
“Face it. You can’t beat those chubby cheeks.” Linnea pats my brother’s arm in commiseration. Clearly, she’s lost out on Davie’s list of priorities, thanks to my boy, too.
Connor places a dramatic hand over his heart. “I’ve been replaced. Thirty-some-odd years as my brother’s favorite gone, just like that.” He snaps his fingers.
Rolling my eyes, I heft Jesse higher on my chest, forgoing his carrier for the trip inside. “Who said you were my favorite?” I tease, sparing a glance at my watch. “We should go. Our appointment with the judge is in fifteen minutes. We don’t want to be late for our own wedding.”
For a Monday morning, the halls are busier than I expected. The sound of heels striking marble floors echoes in the lobby as we study a directory before heading to the second floor.
A clerk greets us with a professional smile, asking us to sign a few papers, then we’re instructed down the hall to wait for the judge to call on us.
When a bailiff ushers our group forward, the hush of an empty courtroom accentuates the weight of what Davie and I are about to do.
We’re getting married.
We’ll legally be tied together until death do us part.
“Good morning,” the judge says, “IDs, please.”
The four of us place our licenses on the raised platform. While he signs more papers and checks the IDs, I hand Jesse over to Connor while Linnea pulls out her phone. I’m not sure if she’s taking pictures or videoing the ceremony, but either way, I’m thankful for her foresight.
“Okay, face each other, and we’ll conduct the vows.”
Unlike previous weddings I’ve attended, these vows are professional rather than romantic, especially when prompted by the no-nonsense tone of the judge.
Seeds of regret niggle into my mind. Maybe we should have waited. Davie deserves flowers and music. She deserves more than a perfunctory recitation of a basic oath.
“If you’d like, you may kiss the bride.” For the first time since we entered the room, a glimmer of happiness shone on the judge’s wrinkled features.
Davie’s eyes widen and the slightest shiver runs down her body as I draw her closer with a hand on her waist.
Cupping her cheek, I bend my head then pause, searching for permission. I won’t force Davie to do something she doesn’t want to, no matter how much I crave the feel of her lips beneath mine.
She’s my wife now; we have time.
But hell, if that doesn’t stop me from praying for—that. Davie’s lashes flutter closed as her head tips back in silent consent, and I don’t waste a second.
Our mouths connect in a gentle brush before I dare to swipe my tongue over her lower lip. There’s the slightest sigh, letting me inside the sweet cavern of her mouth, and it’s then that I know I’m done for.
This is my last first kiss, and it belongs to my wife, Davie Madsen.