Page 22 of When I Should’ve Stayed (Red Bridge #2)

Clay

“Molene?” Josie asks as I pull into the city limits and drive up their version of Main Street to the courthouse at the center of town.

I smile and reach over to take her hand, pulling it up and over with my own to kiss the back of it.

“Felt like a good fit. Plus, you know we couldn’t get married in Red Bridge, or we’d never get to tell anyone ourselves. ”

Josie smiles and giggles, and I have to fight the urge to drive my truck right into the curb so I can kiss her.

She’s wearing the blue dress she wore to church the first day I asked her out—ironically maudlin of her since she seems so surprised by my own sappiness—and her curls are half up and half down, cascading down her back.

Her eyes sparkle with both moisture and excitement, and she’s never looked more beautiful.

I swear I’d marry her twice if I thought it’d do anything legally to tie her to me a little more.

I settle for reaching over and running my hand up her bare leg instead, and she smiles so big, I almost wreck.

Thankfully, we’re here and pulling into a parking spot because it’s clear we should not be on the road when I’m this fucking over-the-top excited to marry the woman of my dreams. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll be able to concentrate or think until she’s officially mine.

After putting the truck in park and shutting it off, I jump out and run around to help her out.

Our eyes meet as she climbs down with her hands in mine, and I have to lean down to kiss her again.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” she says, and I touch my forehead to hers.

“And I can’t believe it took me this long to think of it.”

I grab Josie’s hand, and we practically run up the steps of the courthouse and into the main hall, where we go through a brief bout with security. I smile and joke about getting a pat-down to get married, but no one laughs.

I have a feeling their days aren’t going quite as well as mine.

I follow the signs to the district judge, which a little research told me is what we needed to get married officially in this county, and pull Josie along with me at a jog. She doesn’t complain, but I do try to slow myself down when it feels like I’m making her trip behind me.

“Sorry, baby,” I apologize, stopping briefly to put my lips on hers. “I’m just excited.”

She nods and smiles, her face alight. “I know. I’m not upset. I think I’d let you drag me like a log at this point.”

I shake my head. “No, baby. As much as I’m ready, this isn’t a race. I’m not going to be careless with you, I promise.”

It’s a small vow in this context, but I mean it in a way that is so much more. I don’t just want a wife. I want a relationship with the woman of my dreams that I foster and curate and care for for the rest of our lives.

Her voice is soft as she leans up to kiss me again, pushing onto her toes. I hold the sides of her face and savor the moment as she whispers against my lips. “I love you.”

My smile invades the space of her face. “I thought we weren’t going to say it again until we were married.”

“I think the point is to say it as much as you can.”

I rest my forehead on hers. “You’re right, baby. I love you.”

A few kisses later, we’re on the way again, this time elbow in elbow. She smiles up at me with every slow step we take, and I cherish the time as something we’ll always have for just ourselves.

I hold the door to the judge’s offices open for her, and she steps through first, the receptionist with copper-red hair and a frilly blouse smiling at us as we do. The wood and gold nameplate on the counter in front of her reads “Debra Katchken.”

“Can I help you?”

I don’t bother with sounding controlled on Debra’s behalf. “Yes, ma’am. I need you to help me with the most important moment of my life and make this lady my wife.”

Josie rolls her eyes at me—forever the cheeseball—but nods in agreement too.

Debra smiles, our happiness contagious as she opens the judge’s books and scrolls through them, her pointer finger skimming the page.

Something I hadn’t considered is that he might not have the time in his schedule to actually marry us today.

But that’s okay. I’ll drive to town after town through the whole damn state of Vermont if I have to. I can’t sleep until I make her mine.

“You’re in luck. He’s actually finishing up his last meeting now, so he can take you in just one moment,” Debra updates. “Write down your names here for me, and I’ll take them back to him.” She sets the paper between us and sets two pens at its sides.

Both of us scribble quickly, and we step back as she snatches the paper off the counter and retreats through the door behind her.

“We’re getting married,” Josie says, turning to me with eagerness.

Her face is open with expression, and her eyes are clear.

I’m a crazy, spontaneous asshole, but she wants this just as badly as I do.

I lean forward to kiss her, and she giggles when Debra returns and talks over us. “I’ll call you back in just a minute.”

I smash Josie to me in a hug so tight she starts to squeal. Her supple body and her intoxicating smell—there’s nothing that feels better to me. We stay like that until Debra returns.

“He’s ready for you.”

Pulling apart quickly, we hold hands and run into the judge’s chambers like a couple of kids at an amusement park.

It’s not demure or composed or courthouse-appropriate in any shape or form.

Luckily, the honorable Miller Faulks smiles as we approach the desk.

“So, I hear you two want to get married?”

Josie and I glance at each other before turning back to the judge, two beaming faces full of teeth. “Yes, sir.”

He smiles. “Well, let’s do it, then. Shall we?”

I nod enthusiastically, and he dives right into the ceremony I’m sure he’s performed a hundred times in his tenure.

It might not be special to him anymore, but it’s sure as hell special to me. He bows his head to read from the paper on the desk in front of him, but I turn to Josie and take both her hands in mine.

“We’re here today to witness the union of Josie Ellis and Clay Harris in marriage. Today, you begin a new life together, founded in love, laughter, honesty, respect, and friendship.”

“And water towers,” I add, making the judge and Josie both laugh. He’s confused. She’s smitten. Pink colors her perfect cheeks, and I give her fingers a meaningful squeeze.

“And water towers. Why not?” The judge shrugs and continues. “The promises you make to each other today should not be taken lightly. A marriage is more than a ceremony. It is a lasting and lifelong commitment.”

Strangely, lifelong doesn’t even seem like enough.

“Do you, Josie, take Clay to be your spouse and to live together as partners, to treat them with love and respect, and to build a marriage that grows stronger and more loving as time passes?”

Her heart is in her eyes as she stares up at me. “I do.”

“And do you, Clay, take Josie to be your spouse and to live together as partners, to treat them with love and respect, and to build a marriage that grows stronger and more loving as time passes?”

“Yes, I do,” I vow. “I really, really do.”

The judge smiles. “If you have rings, take them out now.”

Josie’s eyes widen in panic as she realizes our oversight. “I don’t have a ring for you. I have my engagement ring, but Clay, we don’t have a ring for you.”

I shake my head. “Doesn’t matter, baby. We’ll get one later. For now, all I need is you.”

She nods, even if, in a perfect world, she’d have both.

“All right, then. By the virtue of the authority vested in me by the state of Vermont, I pronounce you married.”

I pull Josie forward by her elbows and wait for the magic words, and the judge doesn’t disappoint by making me wait. “You may kiss now! Congratulations!”

It’s the kiss to end all kisses, and I could swim in it forever if the judge weren’t staring at us expectantly. As it is, he extends his arm for us to leave, and I take my win where I can get it and get the hell out of there…with my wife.

My wife.

We damn near skip our way through the whole courthouse and out the door, down the steps, and over to my truck, and after a few more shared kisses, Josie goes to take out her phone. I know she’s eager to share the news, and I am too. I’m just eager not to share her first.

“Don’t call anyone yet.”

“Clay, I just want to call Grandma Rose. Everyone else can wait.”

I shake my head. “She can wait too, baby.” When her eyebrows draw together, I kiss the wrinkle away. “Not forever. Just for a couple hours. Just long enough for us to have a little honeymoon first.”

“You planned something?”

“Oh, baby, I’ve planned a lot of things.”

And I can’t wait to show them to her. My Josie. My wife. My forever.