“Rings?” the judge asked brightly.
Gabby picked up the ring box, which she’d set on the desk, and cracked it open. They’d bought very simple, cheap wedding rings. Gold, but barely, Gabby had joked earlier. But now, they seemed weightier, more important. She started to put the ring on Seth’s finger, though he had to shimmy it the rest of the way past his knuckle. Then he slipped the matching slim band onto her hand.
“Repeat after me,” the judge said. “With this ring, I thee wed.”
“With this ring, I thee wed,” they murmured together.
“Then by the power vested in me by the state of Colorado, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The judge smiled warmly. “If you would like to share a kiss to commemorate your marriage, now would be an appropriate time for that.”
And that was the moment that Gabby realized she’d never kissed Seth before. Not when they agreed to this wedding, not when they first saw each other all gussied up. Even when she’d broken up with boyfriends and Seth had been the one to let her cry on his shoulder... They’d never crossed that line because they’d never been attracted to each other.
She’d never kissed the man that she’d just married!
“Brace yourself,” Seth murmured, as if reading her mind, then dipped his head down and caught her lips with his.
* * *
SETH DIDN’T KNOW what he’d expected kissing his best friend to feel like, but perhaps a little less wide-eyed shock on her part would have been nice. Her lips were tense at first, but after a moment, her eyes fluttered shut and they softened under his own.
Married. He hadn’t thought ahead to the kiss after the ceremony, but with a judge and two witnesses expecting something, he felt he’d better oblige. He didn’t want to embarrass Gabby on his very first day as her husband, after all.
He pulled back and Gabby’s eyes opened again, and they exchanged a serious look.
“Congratulations!” the judge said with a smile. “This is a big day. We’ll all just put down our signatures here—”
“I got that shot!” the older woman said with a brilliant smile, her phone held up in front of her. “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Straight!”
A surge of guilt swept through him, and he attempted to push it back. He’d sworn he wouldn’t take these vows again, but this was different, wasn’t it? Bonnie had been his first love—his first kiss! He’d been a late bloomer in that respect. While the other guys were dating around, he’d been the serious one, focused on his career and not wanting to waste his time with the wrong girls. His parents had gotten divorced when he was twelve, and he’d never wanted to endure that kind of misery in his own romantic life. He’d always been cautious to a fault. And when Bonnie died in childbirth, the light of his life blinked out. He’d been prepared to keep their marriage healthy and strong for a lifetime, but he had no control over mortality. He’d lost a baby girl and wife all in one day, and he’d been in a fog of depression for two years.
Seeing Gabby again had flicked a light back on, scattered the fog and given him a bit more clarity at last, though he was determined to keep to his resolution to never fall for anyone again. But now, he’d just given his name to another woman for some very logical reasons, but it still felt like a betrayal to his wife’s memory.
What exactly had he gotten himself into?
The paperwork was quickly dispatched, and the older lady had already emailed her snapshots to Gabby’s account. They thanked her, thanked the judge, and headed out of the office, all without once looking at each other. The ring felt funny on his hand, and he fiddled with it with his thumb.
“Congratulations!” the young couple next in line said in unison. They got up from the bench and moved toward the office. “How does it feel?” the woman asked.
“Great.” Gabby smiled and nodded. “Congrats to you, too.”
Did she really feel great about this? He eyed her uncertainly. The judged called the next names, and the young, pregnant couple disappeared into the office.
Gabby shot Seth an annoyed look when she noticed his scrutiny. “What?”
“How does it really feel?” he asked, his voice low.
“Weird.” She shrugged. “But a good weird. We’ll be okay.”
Seth sure hoped so. He’d done it for her, and for those three little babies. They were so small, and when they cried, his heart clenched in his chest like he was the one causing their distress. They’d reminded him of his own baby girl—Hazel Marie. She’d been too tiny to make it, but he’d had the opportunity to hold her, at least.