Page 8 of Chloe's Christmas Escape
He shook his head; she certainly wasn’t bothering him at all. “Do you need to change your clothes or anything before we see the judge?”
She shook her head, her curls bouncing around her peach-colored cheeks. “I don’t think there are rules about this sort of thing. Unless I should wear something different.” He watched her suck on her bottom lip, working it with her teeth. “Or white. Suppose I should wear something white. What will the people say?”
“Does it matter? We won’t see them again, as we will only be here a night or two.”
He tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow and led her out onto the front porch of the boarding house. The sun slowly appeared through the clouds, and they lifted their faces to it, basking in its warmth.
“But don’t you have an opinion?” Chloe tilted her jaw up, her bottom lip still firmly pressed between her teeth. He longed to reach out and caress the plump flesh to stop her from worrying.
“Ma’am, I hadn’t really thought of having an opinion on what my wife would wear when we got married.”
“But you had to have some opinions.” She stomped one foot against the porch boards, then stared at her feet as if she was just realizing she had them. “I have to change my shoes before we go!” Chloe yanked her hand out of his elbow and fled back into the boarding house.
Jackson watched the woman walk away, baffled by what had just occurred. She was already wearing shoes. Scratching his cheek, he was still gazing at the doorway when Mac came out of the front door.
“How did you lose her already?” His uncle teased, looking around the rest of the empty wraparound porch. “Maybe having you take her wasn’t the best choice.”
Jackson ground his teeth. He knew Mac was teasing him, but now that he’d met Chloe, something in his soul told him that she was the answer to his hastily written advertisement for a bride.
“She mentioned something about shoes. She’ll be back.” Folding his arms across his chest, he eyed Mac for a minute before asking what was still on his mind. “What are the chances that she wasn’t just an innocent bystander?”
Mac glanced at the street close to them and back at the house before answering. “Miss Kingston has an uncanny ability to find trouble. Her father was saying she’s been like that since she was a child. If there was a dead animal in the fields, she’d find it before anyone else. He seemed less surprised than anyone else she’d moved onto finding people.”
“So, he sent her away?” Jackson couldn’t picture it. If it were his daughter with light brown hair and big blue eyes, he’d be hiding her away, but close by.
“She’s got three younger siblings to think about and Chloe’s of marrying age. But it doesn’t mean that when this is all settled, her father won’t be trying to talk you into coming back east.”
Jackson could hear hurried steps coming down the stairs inside and quickly changed the subject. “Guess we’ll see how she likes whatever Charlie and Silas have set up. Did you hear Charlie’s even got kids now?”
The door opened, and Chloe slipped back outside. He automatically offered her his arm, waiting for his uncle’s response.
“I hadn’t. I heard he married Jeffrey Crumb’s sister, though. That’s some irony.” Mac’s gaze shifted downward towards Chloe, and his voice changed with it. A look crossed his face that Jackson hadn’t seen since the day Mac had appointed him as a marshal, insisting he follow in his footsteps.
“Are you ready now?” Jackson glanced at Chloe, who bobbed her head.
The three set out for the quick walk up the street to the judge’s office. The clerk was quick to get the paperwork out of the way, and soon they were standing in front of Judge Heathcliff.
The judge studied them one by one, but none of them uttered a word as they awaited his assessment. “Two marshals and a girl that looks like she’s about to jump out of her skin, all in my office before nine o’clock this morning.”
Jackson knew it must have seemed strange, the three of them standing there together, Chloe in the middle while the two marshals waited for the judge’s decision if he would marry them.
Chloe stepped forward and tilted her head. “Your honor, I apologize for the inconvenience. We arrived on the coach this morning, and as neither of us have family in Chicago, we thought this made the most sense.” Jackson assumed she was smiling sweetly at the judge. “You will marry us though, won’t you, before the elder Marshal Masters must return to the east? Please.”
Uncle Mac sputtered, causing Jackson to let out a raucous laugh. Even the judge couldn’t resist a slight chuckle for a second or two.
“When you put it that way, my dear, I find it hard to resist.” Judge Heathcliff rapped twice on the desk and the clerk popped into the room from the side door. The judge beckoned him forward. “We need a second witness, Mr. Early. Will you please stand in?”
“Yes, your honor.” The clerk nodded sharply as he quickly moved next to Mac.
The judge’s eyes returned to Chloe, who bounced in place. “Thank you,” she breathed. Her small, delicate hand crept back toward Jackson. When their fingertips met, an electric jolt passed through his arm, and a warm flush of emotion filled his chest.
Here goes nothing,he thought, stepping forward to where Judge Heathcliff pointed and removed his hat, holding it to his hip.
Chapter Four
Chloe stood at the front of the judge’s office, overwhelmed with emotion. She thought back to the countless days she’d spent dreaming of this day—of the beaming smile on her mama’s face as she walked down the aisle in a white gown, of the little flower girls throwing petals ahead of her and the church full of love and family. Tears stung her eyes as she thought about being alone with her family back in Pennsylvania. She bowed her head and silently said a prayer.
The judge had agreed to marry them. She had to remember that for now, this wasn’t a proper marriage, but at least it wasn’t forced. It could have been one of her father’s wealthy business associates, or far worse.She shuddered at the thought of being dead.Marshal Jackson Masters was handsome, willing to help her in this time of need, and from the brief interaction she had with him, he was kind, too.
