Victoria McNeal leaned back in her chair. “Right. The legal stuff has all been taken care of. Now,” she said, and smiled. “I’ll need to have a copy of your wedding vows et cetera. Did you use the template I gave you, or one of the samples?”
Madelaine stared at her.
Troy shifted in his seat.
“Anyone?” Victoria still smiled and shifted her gaze between the two.
Madelaine recovered first. “We’re still just nutting out the final bits. I can email it to you by tomorrow.”
“Excellent. I need to have a little bit of time to get comfortable with it so it doesn’t seem as if I’m just reading it off a script.” She closed up the file in front of her, and let the pen drop from her hand. “Anything else you’d like to chat about?”
Both shook their heads.
“No queries or last minute bits and pieces to square away?”
Both looked at her steadfastly, shaking their heads again.
“Your witnesses are under control? I always bring my husband along to the small weddings just in case we need an extra…”
Both nodded.
“I can understand the nerves associated with getting married. But I can assure you, everything will be fine. It’ll be a piece of cake. If you’re well prepared, it will go off without a hitch.”
Both nodded again. “Great,” they said together.
Victoria stared at the pair of them. Was there something she needed to know here? Their body language was definitely not what she was used to.
She relaxed when that handsome young man reached across to his wife-to-be and took her hand, raised it to his lips and kissed it.
“We’re good,” he said, and glanced back at the celebrant.
“Nervous,” said his bride, who removed her hand.
Victoria beamed. “A good nervous though. Perfectly understandable. Well, there’s now two weeks to go, so just sit back, relax, and look forward to the day.”
They both nodded. He had smiled, but the young woman looked like a startled rabbit. Perhaps it was time for a quiet word. After all, Victoria McNeal did not want to be marrying two people when one of them didn’t want to be getting married.
Strange, though. That wasn’t exactly the vibe she was getting. She couldn’t make it out.
Then Madelaine smiled and Victoria saw the room light up when she said, “Perfectly understandable. We’re good.” And then she reached across and squeezed her husband-to-be’s hand.
He looked at her hand squeezing his. And then his face lit up as well.
My goodness. These two were a very nervous couple.
***
“That went off really well.” Madelaine climbed into the four wheel drive passenger seat, clipped on her safety belt and tucked her tote bag under her legs.
He looked sideways at her. “I thought so.”
“Not. She knew there was something funny going on.”
“There’s nothing funny going on. Not if you agree to get married, only if you don’t.” Troy turned the key in the ignition, reversed out of Victoria McNeal’s driveway in Regency and took the main road out of town. He chanced another glance at her before concentrating on the road. “Joseph and Cloudy have asked us over for dinner tomorrow night. Wanna do it?”
“Your cousin?”
“Yeah. Haven’t caught up for a while.”
Madelaine shook her head. “No. Thanks.” Then she shot him a look. “Have you told them?”
“That I’m getting married? Yeah.”
“Oh.”
“Well, I am getting married. To you. And he’s my cousin. We can do dinner.”
“I can’t—” Her phone chirruped and she grabbed it. “Hi, Fiona—”
“Where are you?” Fiona yelled.
Madelaine held the phone away from her ear. “We’re in Regency just heading out of town.”
“Don’t go,” Fiona yelled again. “This baby’s coming out.”
Troy poked a finger in his ear indicating he could hear Fiona loud and clear. He pulled the car off the road.
“It’s too early!”
“Tell that to my kid!”
“Well, where are you?” Madelaine could hear voices in the background urging Fiona to finish the call.
“Regency hospital. You have to hurry— Awwk!” The call disconnected.
Madelaine turned to Troy. “I have to go there.”
“We so do.” Troy made a u-turn and headed back into town.