“Gabby?” Seth murmured. “What do you think? You want to do this?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes. It’s a good plan.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.” She sounded more decisive than she felt. “Let’s get married.”
Another couple slid onto a bench behind them. The woman wore a lacy wedding gown over a bulging belly. The couple’s fingers were entwined, and they leaned their heads together, whispering. They looked excited, those two. And young—so young. Good grief, were they even twenty? Her gaze lingered on the couple, and she sighed. By the looks of it, that bride was marrying the father of her baby. Gabby hadn’t managed that—the father of her babies was already father to two preteens in Billings. Still, even though Gabby wasn’t going to be an excited, dewy-eyed bride, she would be married. And life would be easier because of it.
“All right,” the judge said with a smile. “Let’s get started. Come inside, please.”
Gabby went into the office first, followed by Seth. He’d always been the polite sort—ladies first and all that. She used to tease him about his old-fashioned ways. He’d have to loosen up if he wanted to catch a girl, she used to say...but then he’d married Bonnie, disproving that theory. And watching Seth using those antiquated manners on his wife, she’d wondered if she’d been the one to miss out.
Gabby felt Seth’s warm hand linger on her back as the door to the spacious office shut behind them. Was he as nervous as she was? She glanced back and found his dark gaze drilling into the carpet in front of him. Whatever he was feeling, it was locked away.
A desk dominated one side of the room, but there was a nice open area by the window. There were two court-appointed witnesses sitting in visitors’ chairs—an older woman in sensible slacks and a bored-looking young man whose hair didn’t flatten all the way at the back. They each gave her a cordial nod. How many weddings had they seen today?
“Let’s just take a look at your paperwork,” the judge said, and Seth handed it over. They spent a couple minutes going over everything, and then the judge gestured for them to stand by the window.
“Let’s get started, then,” she said. “I normally do the vows over here by the window. It’s a little nicer for pictures.” She paused. “Do you have anyone to take a few photos?”
“Uh...” Gabby shook her head. “We didn’t really think of it.”
“Sorry,” Seth murmured.
It hardly seemed appropriate to be taking joyful photos of this sort of wedding. They’d look like those stricken couples in old black-and-white photos—the ones where the bride and groom stood a foot apart in every shot.
“I’ll take a few shots, if you like,” the older woman said. “I’ve got my phone right here. I could email them to you.”
Seth smiled. “Thanks. We appreciate that.”
Did they really appreciate that? She’d have her own stricken pictures to pass down to her sons... She wasn’t sure she wanted pictures. It was better to remember this day the way she wanted to—taking an intelligent step that would benefit them both—instead of seeing actual photos that might betray her memories somehow. But now wasn’t the time to quibble. They stood where the judge indicated, and the older woman came and took a couple photos of them facing each other. Seth seemed more stable than she did—more resolute. Mind you, he’d been married before, so he knew how all this worked.
“Join hands,” the judge instructed.
Seth held out his broad, calloused palms and he gave her a small smile. There he was—the best friend. It almost felt like a joke, an act they were putting on, two collaborators once more. Normally, she was the one who lured him into drama, and maybe that hadn’t changed. His hand was warm, and he gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze.
“We’re here together today to join you in marriage. Have you both come of your own free will?”
Gabby nodded.
“We need you to answer aloud with a yes or a no,” the judge said.
“Yes,” they said together.
“As expected,” the judge said with a soft chuckle. “So let’s just get right into the vows then. Seth Straight, do you take this woman to be your wife from this day forth and for the rest of your life?”
Seth’s dark gaze met Gabby’s, but only briefly before he cleared his throat and looked toward the judge instead.
“I do.”
“And Gabrielle Rogers, do you take this man to be your husband from this day forth and for the rest of your life?”
Gabby licked her lips. “I do.”