The office, with its wilted plant in the corner and the desk piled high with books and papers, wasn’t exactly where she had imagined getting married. Still, what with the glow from the gaslights in the street and the lanterns here in the office, the room looked almost romantic. Joe’s eyes glittered like gems, his smile filled her heart near to bursting, and she felt almost dizzy with happiness. It was a bit much to believe, in fact, and in her core she felt a nervous thrill, like she was looking over a ledge into an abyss. There was always a chance she could fall—but then again, perhaps she would finally fly.
“Martha will be your witness, I guess,” Tibbs said from his seat behind the desk. She had only met him a couple of minutes earlier, when Joe had introduced him as the justice of the peace. “Unless you had somebody else in mind. Your father isn’t coming?”
“No, all this is kind of a surprise,” Joe said, winking at Amy.
Well, that’s true after a fashion, she thought. Joss certainly had been surprised.
“I’d imagine so. Not many people get married at...nine in the evening,” he said, consulting his pocket watch and fixing Joe with a bemused look. “But I reckon you two just can’t wait, huh?”
Amy blushed, but Joe seemed to take it in stride. “Again, I’m sorry I had to call on you at home,” he said. “And I appreciate you making an exception for us.”
“My pleasure,” Tibbs said. “Just pass on my regards to your father.”
“I will, next time I see him.”
Tibbs cleared his throat and called to the outer office. “How’s that license coming, Martha?”
“Just finished.” Martha entered and placed a document on Tibbs’s desk. “The ink’s still wet,” she said. “Don’t smear it.”
He nodded as he reviewed what Martha had written, then got to his feet. “Well, I suppose all that’s left is to get you two hitched.” He opened his desk drawer, took out a leather-bound book, and got to his feet. He flipped open the book and paged through, stopping here and there and scanning the pages as if to refresh his memory, then came around the desk and stood in front of Joe and Amy.
“Marriage,” he began, “is a relationship unlike any other. It’s the only time in our lives when we have some say about what kind of families we have, what kind of people we belong with—and belong to.”
Amy glanced over at Joe, who met her gaze with a subtle nod and a grin. He seems so sure, she thought. At least I hope he is.
“Up until now you’ve each lived for yourselves,” Tibbs said. “From this moment forward, you’ll live for each other. Joseph Peterson, do you take this woman—”
“Wait a second,” Amy said. She slipped her hand behind Joe’s neck and stood on her tiptoes to whisper to him. “I’m sorry. Before we do this, I need to ask you something. In private.”
Joe stared deeply into her eyes, trying to find some clue to what had stopped her so suddenly in the middle of their wedding. He found nothing.
“Mr. Tibbs, could you give us a minute alone?”
“Take all the time you need,” Tibbs said, his eyebrows rising up only slightly as he and Martha went to the outer office.
When she heard the click of the closing door, Amy turned to Joe. “I should have asked earlier,” she said. “But before we get married, I just have to know this.” She paused to gather the nerve to ask plainly, hoping for one answer but fearing another. “You’re not marrying me just because you feel sorry for me, are you? I don’t want you to marry me because you feel like you have to. I want you to...well, I want you to want me.”
His eyes filled with a tenderness that she hadn’t yet seen in him, and he put his hands on her hips, pulling her close. Amy felt a flash of heat race through her. She’d never had a man handle her like she belonged to him already, and she could feel the warmth of his hands through her clothes.
“Amy, believe me, this is nothing I feel like I have to do,” he said. “This is a blessing for me.”
She placed her hands on his forearms and could feel nothing but wiry muscle. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve never wanted anything more than to marry you, right here, right now.”
Though she felt nearly overwhelmed with emotion, Amy managed to speak. “Call them back.”
Joe quickly went to the door and ushered Tibbs and his secretary back into the room. Once everybody was back in place, Tibbs cleared his throat. “Joseph Peterson, do you take this woman as your—”
“Hold on,” Joe said.
Tibbs let out a long sigh. “Say, are you two sure you really want to do this?”
“Sorry,” Joe said. “I just have to ask her one thing.” He leaned close and put his mouth to her ear. “Amy, I’m just going to ask this straight out.”
“All right,” she said, though she could practically feel her heart pounding in her chest. “What is it?”
“That meal you made my father—you did ruin that on purpose, right?”
“Of course.”
Joe turned to Tibbs. “I do,” he said. “This is the girl for me.”
“And do you, Amy Chase, take this man for your lawfully wedded husband?”
She paused before answering, taking a moment to simply look at Joe. For the first time in—well, for the first time in her life, she felt like she was free to do what she really, truly wanted to do. It felt like she was floating. More than floating. It’s time to fly, she thought.
“I do.”
~ ~ ~
“You two need anything else?”
Amy looked around the room. If they did need anything, she sure couldn’t have said what it might have been. Al Gates, the hotel manager, had taken some pride in showing them around the Governor’s Suite, and there didn’t seem to be a single detail missing. It was the most luxurious, well-appointed room she’d ever seen, in fact.
“We’ll be fine,” Joe said. “Oh, and if my father happens to come by this evening, mum’s the word. We want to surprise him ourselves.”
Al nodded and let loose with a hint of a smile as he stepped out of the room. “Well then, congratulations and good night.”
Joe closed the door and slid the deadbolt home with a heavy clunk. Without another word, he turned and strode toward Amy, took her into his arms, and brought his mouth to hers.
She had never been kissed like this. In front of Tibbs, they had just shared a quick peck after exchanging their vows. It had hardly been enough to notice. Now, however, with nobody watching, Joe had unleashed a passion that nearly stripped the breath from her lungs.
She felt her blood quickening as his tongue flickered into her mouth. A hunger was awakening within her, and she slipped one hand behind his head, tangling her fingers in his hair as if to keep him close. Joe drank from her mouth like a hummingbird taking nectar, and her breath grew shallow. The feel of her husband’s lips against her was thrilling—intoxicating, almost—and over too soon.
When Joe gently broke their kiss, he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to do that.”
She rested her head against his chest and hugged him tightly. “Seems like it was worth the wait,” she said, then raised her mouth toward his again.
Joe smiled, but backed away slightly, dodging her kiss. “Honey, before we get carried away, we should talk,” he said, though she could see the fire in his eyes, as if he were fighting his physical urges. “Come and sit down.” He led her to the sofa, which was behind a low table bearing a vase with freshly cut fall crocuses. As they sat, Joe brushed the table with his leg, setting the flowers quivering as if in a breeze.
“This room is so beautiful.”
Joe nodded. “Best one in the hotel. You should enjoy it while it lasts.”
“How long are we going to stay?”
“Well, by this time tomorrow I imagine my father will have been around town and made it pretty difficult for me to ride on his name anymore,” Joe said. “Getting Tibbs to marry us so fast and staying here tonight might be the last time I’m able to pull any strings.”
“So what are we going to do then?”
“Whatever we want to do,” Joe said. “I’ve got some money saved. And tomorrow I’m going to go see if I can get back the deposit for the horse I was going to buy. All together, we’ll have over a thousand dollars.”
“What? Just what kind of horse was this, anyway?”
Joe chuckled. “It’s a heck of an animal,” he said. “But there’ll always be other horses.”
“Well, that much money could take us...almost anywhere, I would think.”
“It should,” Joe said. “You say the word, and that’s where we’ll go. We’re making a clean break and starting fresh, wherever you like.”
Amy let out a laugh. It wasn’t funny, just overwhelming in a very good way. The very idea of being able to go where she wanted to go, instead of being pushed here and there by fate and ill fortune, was almost alien to her. They could go back East, which she had called home for so long; they could make their way to California, where people said every day was like springtime; they could settle in any of a thousand towns in between.
“Of course, we can talk about all that later,” Joe said. “It’s, uh...getting late.”
She saw the fire in his eyes again, and Amy blushed as she took his hands in hers. “You know, I told you once that you were the only person who had come through for me,” she said. “But there was something else I wanted to tell you.”
“What was that?”
She stood up, leading him to sit on the edge of the bed. “I love you,” she said. “I’ve known it for a while now, and I just didn’t have the chance to tell you.”
He pulled her closer, slipping his arms around her and holding her tight. She could feel his lips brush against her ear as he spoke. “I love you too,” he murmured. “And I’m not saying that just because you did. I’ve loved you pretty much since the first day I saw you.” He turned his head slightly and found her mouth with his.
Amy let herself fall back onto the bed as her husband began to cover her with kisses. Years later, when she would find herself consumed by the happy duties of caring for a houseful of children, Amy would still remember this night, this exact moment, and it would spark a smile and faraway look in her eyes. It wasn’t simply a feeling of relief, nor of joy, though she felt both of those in Joe’s arms. More than that, however, she knew that at long last she was exactly where she was supposed to be.