LITMIR.BIZ

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their father. The decimation of his family had been instant. His mother had moved to California shortly afterward and he and his four brothers rarely spoke anymore except for him and Dylan. He missed the family they once were. “I understand. Did you expect this many people?”

      “Absolutely not.” Belle scanned the crowd. “And I can’t wait to hear the gossip once we have this annulled. I’ll be pitied. You’ll be vilified. They’ll wonder what’s so wrong with me that you ditched me twice. It will be a regular Saddle Ridge free-for-all. Happy days ahead.” She frowned. “They still whisper about our last wedding debacle. This was the last thing I wanted.”

      Harlan sighed. He’d been responsible for every ounce of gossip. She’d always been an awkward social butterfly because of the past her mother bestowed upon her, but she had been an active part of the community. She had organized parties for friends and had even been on the church’s social committee alongside her grandmother. All of that ended eight years ago to the day when he left her at the altar. And then her life burst in flames once more when he married Molly. Belle had become a rebel who’d rather spend her time with animals than people. The rumors rolled off his back, but she shouldn’t have to endure them. Not again.

      “Then we stay married.” Harlan said the words without thinking twice. He owed her. “I’m not saying we have to stay together forever.” Although he’d willingly spend the rest of his life seeking redemption. “But a few months longer than we had intended. Then we can say we gave it a shot and it didn’t work. I’ll take the blame.”

      “I want to argue with you, but I can’t think of a better solution right now.” Her shoulders slumped in defeat despite the smile she wore for their guests’ sake. “I am grateful to you and for all of this, but I should get home. I’ve already been gone longer than I had anticipated.”

      “Is someone waiting for you?” An uneasiness swept over him. Okay, maybe there was a twinge of jealousy in there, too. But why? He had no claim to Belle, except for the fact he was legally her husband.

      “Time for cake,” Samantha interrupted before Belle answered him. “I realize it’s not big and multitiered, but when the kitchen learned you didn’t have a cake, they insisted on making one.”

      If that didn’t amp up the guilt factor, Harlan didn’t know what else would. He vowed to make an anonymous donation to the nursing home to cover all the expenses for the event. The least he could do was pay for one of his weddings to Belle.

      After they cut the cake, Belle fed it to him with a bit too much enthusiasm. Her uninhibited laughter more than made up for his face full of frosting. He had missed that laugh as much as he had missed her.

      His phone vibrated in his pocket. He’d set an alarm for two o’clock so he’d be home when Ivy got off the bus. Their neighbor across the street watched her after school, but he didn’t want to chance her hearing what happened today from somebody else. He hadn’t expected news of their wedding to become public knowledge or else he would have told Ivy last night...if he had found the words. How was he going to explain to a seven-year-old he’d pretend-married the woman he once jilted? He was about to find out.

      “I’m sorry, Belle. I have to leave,” Harlan whispered in her ear as their guests mingled. “I need to have a little talk with Ivy.”

      “I’m sure that won’t be easy.” Belle twisted the ring on her finger. “I shouldn’t have gotten you into this mess.”

      “I talked you into marrying me, remember?” He covered her hands with his own. The warmth of her skin caused his heart to still. In that briefest of moments, everyone around them faded away. Their wedding should have been spectacular. They should be sharing their first dance and celebrating the rest of their lives. Instead the woman he’d never stopped loving had been forced to settle for a charade of a marriage. “It will be okay. We’ll get through it...together.”

      She lifted her gaze to his as happiness dissolved into reality. “Sure, okay.” She withdrew from his grasp and gathered up her skirt, rebuilding the wall between them. “I’ll walk out with you. I want to bring my grandmother a piece of cake before I leave.”

      The two of them managed to sneak away and head down the hallway to Trudy’s room unnoticed. She was already asleep and Belle told him to go on ahead. She wanted to stay a little while longer. He sat beside her and took her hand in his as they watched Trudy in silence. Pretend marriage or not, Harlan had meant his vows. In sickness and in health was the reason they were together again, for however long. He wouldn’t leave Belle. Not with a garden full of wedding guests and not when she needed him most.

      * * *

      IT WAS CLOSE to five o’clock by the time he picked up Ivy. He’d called his neighbor and filled her in on some of the details. Between her chiding tsks, he persuaded her to keep Ivy inside and away from any of her friends until he arrived home. He’d run into some of her playmates’ parents at the wedding and by now they were aware Ivy’s father had remarried.

      “Hey, pumpkin.” Harlan scooped his daughter into his arms and swung her around in a big hug. “How was school today?”

      “It was good. Why are you all dressed up? Did somebody die?”

      Mental note: he needed to take his daughter to more events where people wore something other than jeans and cowboy boots. “Daddy went to a wedding.” He set Ivy down and grabbed her backpack. “Let’s head home and I’ll tell you all about it.”

      After he changed out of his tuxedo and made dinner, he asked his daughter to join him in the living room. “You might hear things from your friends and I want you to know the truth in case someone tells you a bunch of made-up stories.” Ivy’s eyes grew wide in fear.

      “Relax, honey. It’s nothing bad. The wedding I went to today was my own.”

      “You got married? Without me?” She pouted. “Daddy, why?”

      “It’s not a happy-ever-after wedding like in your fairy tales.” Even though that’s what Belle had deserved. “My friend’s grandmother is sick and she doesn’t remember that Belle and I had dated and broke up years ago. We got married today so her grandmother would feel better. But it isn’t a real marriage.”

      “Is it legal?” Ivy asked. “You always tell me I have to obey the law.”

      “Oh, it’s legal, all right.” Now that the wedding was over and he was home with his daughter, the day’s events seemed like a distant dream. If it hadn’t been for the rented tuxedo hanging by the door, he might’ve doubted his own sense of reality. He’d been all for it this morning when he woke up, but he hadn’t realized how much he wanted to marry Belle. Or how deeply invested he’d become in their marriage. Outside of raising his daughter and becoming a deputy sheriff, nothing else had felt more right to him.

      “Is her grandma dying?”

      “Yes, she is.”

      “Then you did the right thing.” Ivy climbed onto his lap and threw her arms around him.

      “Thank you, sweetheart. In a month or so, Belle and I will get what’s called an annulment and the marriage will be like it never happened.”

      “Is Belle moving in?”

      It certainly hadn’t been part of their original plan, then again, neither was a very public wedding. Harlan wasn’t sure he was open to Belle moving in with them, regardless of how much he owed her for the past.

      “We haven’t discussed it.” Ivy sighed and flopped against the back of the couch. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

      “I thought you getting married would mean I’d get a mommy.”

      Harlan covered his mouth. As much as he hated what he did to Belle, and as much as he despised Molly for walking out on their daughter without a second thought, he’d never resent or regret their relationship. If the series of events hadn’t happened, he wouldn’t have his daughter. She was the best thing that ever happened to him.

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