Page 34 of Willing to Wed the Rancher
Mrs. Grover’s mouth dropped open, and she stared at Mr. Irving for several moments before turning to Clarabelle. “You’re married to Mr. Meyer?”
Mr. Irving cocked his head toward the store. “According to the children, there was even a kiss at the end of the ceremony.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so, dear?” Mrs. Grover patted Clarabelle’s arm. “That solves all the problems, and we have nothing to worry about.”
Drats. Clarabelle peered through the glass in the doorway again to find Dieter and Bianca browsing the shelves and behaving... except they were telling everyone about the pretend wedding yesterday.
Mr. Irving smiled, his eyes bright with what could only be described as relief. “I’m certainly happy to know the situation has resolved itself. I never did like the idea of you running the Meyers’ place by yourself.”
“I’ve been doing well.”
“Of course you have. But it’s only fair now that Franz should take over for his brother. Don’t you think?”
Mrs. Grover squeezed Clarabelle’s arm and smiled. “With Franz managing the farm, you can return to assisting me again at school sooner rather than later. And we needn’t worry about your reputation. Isn’t that lovely?”
Panic was closing its fingers around Clarabelle’s chest. She had to clear up the misunderstanding before everything spiraled out of control the same way it had when Eric had proposed marriage. “I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, but I can explain.”
“Tell Franz to stop by my office soon.” Mr. Irving began to stride away from the store toward his office. “I’ll need to add his name to the official documents.”
“That won’t be necessary,” she called, but Mr. Irving was already waving to another passerby and exchanging greetings.
“Now, dear.” Mrs. Grover patted Clarabelle’s cheek like she often did the students. “It’ll be for the best. That Franz seems like such a nice young man. And handsome too. I’m sure in no time at all you’ll grow to care for each other.”
For heaven’s sake. She had to set Mrs. Grover straight. “We did have a wedding yesterday, but it was just with the children—”
“That’s fine. Sometimes a small wedding is better anyway, especially when it’s more of a practical arrangement.”
“But that’s just it. It’s not practical.”
Mrs. Grover’s finger tapped against Clarabelle’s lips and smiled secretively. “It’s okay if you already have feelings for each other. But let’s keep that between you and him, shall we?”
Clarabelle clamped her lips closed. She was only making matters worse every time she opened her mouth. If only she could learn to be more forceful in saying what she meant.
But here she was again, unable to voice her true thoughts. Soon enough, everyone in town would believe she was married to Franz, and then what would she do?
As Mrs. Grover congratulated her again, Clarabelle’s mind reeled, and all she could think about was the need to get out of town. First she had to enter the store and at least gather the children. She could only pray that no one else would say anything to her about her supposed marriage to Franz.
She had no such luck. Every single person in the store wished her well in her new marriage. Mr. Worth even added a jar of pickles to her order as a wedding present.
By the time she exited the store, she was so mortified that she was speechless. All she could do was force a smile at the well-wishers and hurry the children along to the wagon.
Only after the wagon was loaded and they were well away from town and nearly home did she finally find her voice. The children hadn’t spoken the whole way home either, and she guessed they’d sensed that something was bothering her.
She wasn’t angry with them, but she did want them to know they’d been wrong to speak falsehoods. Unless they hadn’t realized the marriage yesterday was only part of their playacting. But hadn’t she and Franz made that clear enough?
As the wagon bumped along, she took a breath, then spoke as calmly as possible. “Children, you shouldn’t have told everyone that your uncle and I are married.”
On the bench beside her, Dieter exchanged a glance with Bianca, then hung his head.
“You do know the ceremony yesterday was only pretend, don’t you?”
“I think it was real,” Bianca said as if she were somehow an expert on the matter. “Reverend Livingston told us that it matters what’s in a couple’s heart.”
“When did you see the reverend?”
“While you were in the bank,” Dieter mumbled.
Clarabelle shifted the reins in her hands, directing the horse to turn down their lane. “I’m sure Reverend Livingston told you that he’s the one to officiate weddings.”
