Page 51 of Suddenly Single

“That’s my baby boy!” I heard Mom’s voice through the phone, and the judge laughed.

“Gentlemen, take each other’s hands, please.” The judge commanded, and now we were facing each other. Asher reached over and wiped a tear off my cheek with his thumb. “Repeat after me, Mr. Yates. I, Asher Bartholomew Yates, take Carter Camden to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, to love and to cherish, from this day forward.”

Asher’s voice trembled as he spoke the vows. I heard faint sobbing and realized it was Mom and Granny. After I spoke my vows, the judge continued.

“Do you have rings?” She asked, and I realized I still had my old one on, and so did Asher.

“Do you want us to remove these and put them back on? We were married once before and…” I rambled, and the judge held up her hand.

“No, leave them on. It’s the words that matter most.” She said. “Let these rings be given and received as a token of your affection, sincerity, and fidelity to one another. Now repeat after me, Mr. Camden. With this ring, I thee wed.”

“With this ring I thee wed.” My voice was barely a whisper. Asher repeated the words, too.

“In as much as Carter Camden and Asher Bartholomew Yates have consented together in wedlock and have witnessed the same before this company and pledged their vows to each other, by the authority vested in me by the District of Columbia, I now pronounce the two of you married.” The judge sighed, and I heard more crying come from the phone. “Please kiss each other, or your family is going to lose it.” She laughed.

“I love you so much, Carter.” Asher’s blue eyes were wet, and a moment later his lips crashed into mine. I wrapped my arms around Asher, and when the kiss broke, I whispered in his ear. “I love you more than anything I’ve ever known, and more than I’ll ever love anyone else.”

Epilogue

Asher- One Year Later

“Mr. Yates, your mother wants to speak to you.” My secretary’s voice rang through the intercom.

“Send her in.”

A moment later, Mom strolled into my office, laying her briefcase on the edge of my desk. “Hello, darling.” She went to the mini-bar and fixed herself a cocktail. “Have you finished the Clemson deal? Because their merger with Manchester Ironworks is giving my client Joe Barclay a massive headache.” She settled in the chair in front of my desk.

“Yes, Mom. I signed the contracts yesterday afternoon.” I said, wondering why she was here. Mom knew the deal was done already, so she was probably using that as a pretense for something else.

“I know we’re saving money in this smaller office space, but I miss my old office. It had so much more room.” Mom sipped her drink, and I noticed she wouldn’t meet my gaze. There was something amiss. “Darling, I need to tell you something, and I need you to remain calm.”

Since I was the calmest member of the family, this had to be huge. “Sure. What is it?”

“Judge Gottwald has asked for my hand in marriage.” She finally met my gaze. “I’ve agreed.”

“Oh.” That was unexpected. Mom and the judge had been dating for a year now, and while I knew they got along, I never realized how serious it had become. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you, but there are several practical matters that must be addressed first.” Mom stood and began pacing around the office. “First, I hoped that Thom and I could live in your cottage. He doesn’t want to live in the home he shared with Elizabeth,” Mom was referring to Thom’s dead wife. “And I don’t want to live in the same home I shared with your father. Plus, Mother frightens him.”

I snickered, and Mom winked.

“If you are agreeable, we’ll pay you and Carter rent.” Mom drained her drink, then walked over to the bar and pulled out a bottle of water. Ever since she and the judge started dating, her alcohol consumption had dropped considerably.

“You don’t have to pay us rent, Mom. It’s on your land.” I grinned.

“There’s another thing. I was going to take you out to dinner to discuss this, but we might as well get it over with.” She sat again and twisted the bottle open. “I want to retire.”

“What?”

“Not completely, because I love the law. What I’m proposing is that I handle the firm’s pro bono work.” This was free work our associates performed for the community. “As it stands, each attorney just does the minimum one hundred forty hours a year. I want to organize it better, so that our legal talents actually do good work. And it’s time for me to step down and allow you to shine as the managing partner.”

“Wow, I don’t know what to say. Do you think I’m ready?” I held a hand up, then buzzed Gloria. “Please, hold all calls and visitors for the next hour. Thank you.”

“You are as ready as I was when I took over. Plus, it’s not like I’m going anywhere. I’ll still keep my office here, it’s just that my focus will now be on working with the community. I want us to be more involved with specific charities, ones that struggle to get decent legal representation. Plus, we can…”

As Mom told me her plans for the future, I thought of mine, too. Being the managing partner of the most successful law firm in the state was a massive career milestone. And now that Carter and the architects were busy designing our future home in Manakin-Sabot, I had a little more leeway with time.

“Darling, are you listening to me?” Mom waved her hand in front of my face.

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