Page 5 of The Awakening (The Morton Family Saga #3)

Chapter Four

Ellie

I t wasn’t real. Gavin was only trying to protect me.

But sitting on the sofa, snuggled under his protective arm after he had saved me from the wrath of my father made me wish we truly were a couple.

While I’d dreaded the idea of being married to Ray, there was something about Gavin that made me feel the exact opposite.

Giddy even. But I needed to control that feeling.

It was crazy—he was a virtual stranger, and he wouldn’t want me if he knew the whole truth.

I rested my hand on my belly. It was still too soon for me to show.

Why he was offering this, I couldn’t fathom, but going along with his plan would give me a little more time to figure out what I was going to do. But more importantly, it got me far away from Montana.

“What now?” Part of me didn’t want to know because I was worried he planned to dump me off somewhere before I could get my bearings. The other part of me was scared he would want to keep up the charade.

“We pack our bags. I hadn’t planned on leaving this early, but I did promise to be home for Christmas, and I won’t leave you here.

” He tightened his arms around me. “Like it or not, wifey, you’re part of the Morton family now.

” He shook his head. “You have no idea what you’re in for. ” His chuckle made me smile.

“I’m going back to bed.” We’d been woken in the middle of the night, and being on the lam for the last few days was catching up to me. Shifting away from Gavin, I stood and headed for the bedroom.

“Well, I suppose since it’s our honeymoon, I should join you, little spoon.” Gavin heaved himself off the couch and winked at me.

His words broke the tension, and I laughed, which was a virtual miracle after what had gone on earlier.

“Come on, husband.” I held out my hand for him.

Although I’d reached for him, I was still surprised when he placed his palm in mine.

We were going to have to make this look real, so this was probably a good place to start.

Lying in the bed next to him, I made no effort to keep my distance.

After what we had gone through with my father—being woken in the middle of the night, all but held at gunpoint—there was an intimacy that made me crave his closeness.

Tucked up against him, feeling his warmth, that safe feeling returned.

He’d proven himself worthy of it. A weaker man might have crumbled under the pressure earlier.

He barely knew me, and he owed me nothing, but he’d protected me even with three rifles pointed at him.

The way he out-witted my father and brothers with ease was nothing short of amazing.

When I woke again, Gavin’s side of the bed was empty. I wandered into the kitchen, looking for him. The pot of coffee was half full, and on the counter beside it was a note. I picked it up and read it as I went to get a coffee mug.

Ellie,

I’ve gone to check the cattle and make arrangements so we can leave here this afternoon.

Won’t be gone long. Get ready to go.

Gavin

There wasn’t much for me to get ready, but I could help Gavin. Sipping my coffee, I walked into the bedroom and opened the closet. His wardrobe was simple, all plaid western shirts and jeans. There was a suitcase tucked into the corner of the closet.

I set my cup down on the bedside table, pulled the suitcase out, and flopped it on the bed to unzip it, then I folded everything neatly, hoping to avoid wrinkles.

An hour passed, and I’d packed everything I thought he might need. Staying busy helped me keep my mind off the events of the last twenty-four hours.

The door swung open, and Gavin entered the house. His dark hair was covered in snow and his cheeks were rosy from the cold. Although he looked like he had fought with a blizzard, the sight of him simultaneously put me at ease and caused my body to heat.

“I need to get out of these clothes and then we can leave.” He said as he peeled off layer after layer of warm clothes, his attention catching on the bags I’d set at the door. “Did you pack my stuff?”

“I left you a change of clothes on the bed, but I packed the rest. I figured we needed to get going and it would save time.” I hesitated. Was he mad that I’d gone through his things? “I hope I didn’t overstep.”

“Not at all. Thank you.” He nodded and walked into the room to change. He left the door open, talking to me as he moved around the room. “I’ve been thinking. There is only one way to make sure you’re safe, and I’m not sure you’re going to like it. We have to actually get married.”

What? He didn’t even know me, and I’d broken into his house last night.

“No, Gavin, you’ve already done too much.

It was one thing to make my father think that we had eloped.

But to actually go get legally married? I can’t do that to you.

” I shook my head. We’d only just met. Would he really be willing to marry me after such a short time? Just to keep me safe?

“You aren’t doing this to me Ellie, I chose this. We’ll go to the courthouse and get a license. I booked us in at the justice of the peace in two hours. That’ll give us enough time to get everything sorted before our flight.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because you deserve to have a life. You can’t stay in this town, and you shouldn’t have to live in hiding.” He came out of the bedroom, his shirt still half unbuttoned.

I sucked in a breath at the sight of his muscular chest.

Moving closer to me, Gavin brought his hand up, but before he touched my cheek, I flinched. He dropped his hand and continued buttoning his shirt.

To my surprise, he didn’t ask about my reaction. Instead, he turned and walked into the kitchen.

“We should head out as soon as we can. I don’t want you to stay here any longer than you have to. Your family knows where you are, so we can assume Ray does, too. It’s time to go.” He grabbed our bags and carried them to the truck without another word.

The drive to town was silent. I wondered what he was thinking. Did he want to get out of this? Was Gavin making the mistake of his life?

Was I?

But when Gavin pulled to a stop in front of the courthouse and looked over at me, his smile was warm and eased the fear inside me. “Ready?”.

Was I ready? How ready could I be? We’d only just met. But I was ready to get out of Montana and I could think of far worse ways to accomplish that than marrying Gavin. I still didn’t see how he stood to benefit from it, but I wasn’t about to talk him out of it either. “Yes. Let’s go.”

The clerk was nice, and while we waited for her to find the paperwork we needed, Gavin wrapped his arm around my waist, just like he’d done last night with my father.

Gavin knew how to charm people. Especially women from what I could tell.

Just the sight of him had every woman in the office fluttering her lashes and tittering.

“Congratulations, you two.” The cheery woman behind the counter said, double-checking the forms we’d filled out. Once Gavin paid, she slid the through the hole in her ticket window.

I clutched the paperwork to my chest, and we walked hand-in-hand and sat down where the clerk had told us to. I bounced my knee a few times before I caught myself and forced it to stop. My heart was racing and the marriage license in my hand shook. Gavin gently pulled it from my clutches.

He was so calm and collected. I wanted to match his energy, so I did my best to hide the nerves I was feeling from him.

I took a deep breath in and held it before slowly letting it out.

I straightened out my fingers, which had been clenched tightly since Gavin had taken the marriage application from me.

An old man appeared at the door across from us, holding it open for a newlywed couple to exit.

He congratulated them, shaking hands with first the young man, then the woman, then they said their thanks and goodbyes, before he turned in our direction.

Gavin took my hand and stood. My legs felt like they were made of lead as we crossed the hall and followed the justice of the peace into his room.

If anyone had told me that I’d one day be married outside of a church, I’d have called them crazy.

But there I was, about to do exactly that.

Music played softly throughout the small room. A few pews lined either side of the aisle, and the justice of the peace was flanked on either side by understated silk flowers. The relaxed atmosphere inside the room settled my doubt nominally.

“Okay, you two, let’s start. Gavin come with me and Elyse, my wife, Janet will take you from here and get you all set up.” The old man pointed to a woman sitting at a desk nearby, then he escorted Gavin through a set of double doors.#

The small, slender woman with perfectly coiffed gray hair and a gentle smile handed me a bouquet of silk flowers that looked like they had been around since the beginning of time.

It seemed impossible for silk flowers to wilt—that was the point of using them rather than real flowers, wasn’t it?

—but the ones in my hand looked like they were about ready to give up on that promise.

She flung the door open, revealing an altar where her husband and Gavin stood.

My hands trembled as I held the bouquet. If someone had checked my pulse, I’m sure I would have been hospitalized because I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest. Chewing on the corner of my mouth I hoped the justice of the peace didn’t pick up on how nervous I was.

More importantly, I didn’t want Gavin to sense my hesitation.

I moved slowly down the aisle toward Gavin while he stared back at me, a kind smile on his face. This man was handsome, tall, and strong, and I was going to marry him. I could do worse, far worse. In fact, I almost had, but this didn’t feel right. He needed to know the truth.

The whole truth.