Love's Sweet Surrender (23 page)

“Well?” Seth asked, directing his query to the two women as they walked in.

“She agreed,” Lily responded to his unspoken question.

“I’m happy for you, Seth. I think it’s wonderful you two are getting married.”

Raising a questioning eyebrow at Lily, he remarked, “She does understand what this is all about, right?”

“Yes, she knows.”

“Yes, I know all about your reasons behind this marriage of sorts, but I still think you two make a nice couple. Just let me know when, and I’ll be there.”

“Well, we should head over to the church to talk to the preacher. Thanks again, Madge, for understanding.”

“Of course, Seth.”

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Love’s Sweet Surrender

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* * * *

Seth stood for a moment looking at Lily. He hadn’t really thought how strange this would be, talking to the preacher about marrying someone other than Victoria. The marriage between them had been almost expected, but now here he stood, approaching the preacher about marrying someone else, and it felt outlandish, odd but right. Seth picked up her hand from where it rested at her side and folded her fingers into his own as they turned to walk toward the church.

When she looked at him with a wide-eyed questioning look, he just said,

“We need to keep up pretenses, of course. We can’t just ask the preacher to marry us without giving him the impression we want to get married, right?

Besides, the folks in town will start talking soon. See how those two women are spying on us from near the dress shop? It will be all over town by sundown that we were walking holding hands.”

“I see.”

Approaching the church, they took a deep breath, walked up the stairs and opened the door to go inside the cool interior. The preacher watched them enter with a curious expression. “Well, hello you two. Is there something I can help you with?”

They walked up the aisle toward the preacher. “Actually, yes there is.

We would like to be married.”

The preacher almost dropped the plate he was holding in his hands.

“Married?”

He and David had known one another for a very long time. In fact, they had attended school together right here in this town, so David had known both him and Victoria, and when the two of them got married, David was in attendance.

“Yes, David. Marry. Lily and I.” He was a little amused by the look he was getting from one of his long-time friends.

“This is rather sudden, isn’t it?” David shifted his look back and forth between them. “I mean, Lily, you’ve only been in town a few weeks.”

“I know, but Seth and I literally met before I even got here, on the train, and it was an instantaneous attraction, you could say,” Lily told him, which Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.

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wasn’t totally a lie, but it surprised Seth all the same to hear it come from her lips.

“Is there a problem, David?” He let go of Lily’s hand for a moment so he could pull her to his side and wrap his arm around her shoulder.

“No. I suppose not. I’m sure six months or so from now would make a lovely wedding.” David turned to grab his appointment book sitting on the pulpit.

“Six months? No, David. Two days. Or tomorrow, whichever is easier for you.”

David almost tripped over the stair as he moved back in front of the couple. “Tomorrow? You aren’t serious, Seth?”

“I’m dead serious, David. We want to be married tomorrow or the next day. What do you have open?”

“I… well… let me see.” He scanned the pages in front of him, shifting his eyes to look at Lily, and then back to his book. “I believe either day would be fine.”

“Which would you prefer, sweetheart?” Seth asked Lily.

* * * *

While they stood in front of the preacher discussing the ceremony arrangements, Lily felt a slight panic rising in her chest. Seth had asked her which she preferred, tomorrow or the day after, and when the endearment slipped so easily from his mouth, it gave her goose bumps.

“Why don’t we say the day after tomorrow? That will give us a little more time to get things together.” The realization of her upcoming marriage to the man standing next to her was becoming overwhelming, and she felt the panic rise further.

“All right then, the day after tomorrow. Shall we say about one o’clock?” Seth asked Lily, then David.

“That would be perfect, Seth. Thank you.” She flashed him a brilliant smile while she played the part of the blushing bride and then gave him a quick brush of a kiss on his lips before she turned back to David.

“Is that all right with you, David?”

“Yes. That’s fine. I’ll see you two then.”

Holding out his hand for David to shake, Seth said, “Thanks.”

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“No problem, Seth. Anything to help.” He returned the handshake before she and Seth made their way back out the door to the waiting wagon.

After they had left the church, they stopped by her house to gather her belongings. It made her pause when she realized all her possessions in life would now be in his home, soon to be her home.

With all of them dressed in their Sunday best and Lily wearing a very pretty white gown she'd brought from Boston, she and Seth soon stood in front of David saying their vows.

“Seth Allen Sanford, do you take Lily to be your wife, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health from this day forward,

'til death do you part?”

“I do,” Seth said, slipping the simple gold band on Lily’s left hand.

Here she stood in front of God and everyone taking marriage vows to a man she hardly knew, but one she cared about more than she wanted to admit. David turned to her, told her what to say, and panic set in.

“Lillian Elizabeth Backman, do you take Seth for your husband, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health from this day forward, 'til death do you part?”

Lily stood quietly for a moment. She looked deep into Seth’s eyes and realized she was marrying him and would stay married to him for the rest of her life, no matter what. She straightened her shoulders and took her vows.

When she slipped the band on his ring finger and said in a whisper, “I do,”

she realized she really did want to be married to him. She wasn’t going to give in to Victoria’s memory so easily.

“By the power vested in me by the State of Texas, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride, Seth.”

A sexy smile spread across Seth’s lips before the twinkle in his eye caught her attention. He slipped his arms around her, pulled her close, and his mouth came down on hers in a kiss that made her toes curl and her knees buckle.

David and Madge congratulated them with warm hugs while the

children cheered from their place in the pews.

“Shall we head over to the boarding house? I’ve got a small party for you two over there. Nothing fancy, just cake and some food,” Madge said with a twinkle in her eye when Lily gave her a look saying she shouldn't have. “Stop giving me that look. You know I couldn’t resist.”

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“Yay, a party,” Anne said clapping her hands joyfully as she jumped down and ran over to take Lily’s hand.

Even though the walk from the church to the boarding house was short, the obvious wedding party drew many an eye from the crowd nearby. There were several whispers as they made their way down the street, and protectively, Seth pulled her closer to his side.

Approaching the boarding house, the little party made its way inside.

Seth, Lily and the children were totally surprised to see so many people there who yelled, “Surprise!”

She and Seth both turned to look at Madge.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she grumbled good-naturedly before they were immediately swallowed up in the excited crowd. There were several of the students there with their parents, the mayor and his wife, the preacher who had followed them over from the church, and several of the other townspeople they both knew.

Madge had arranged everything from a nice cake to food for everyone as they all celebrated the unusually quick wedding.

* * * *

Making his way around the room, Seth noticed Daniel standing in the corner with a glass of whiskey, and when Daniel lifted his glass in a mocking toast, Seth scowled. He didn’t bother to respond to the gesture before he turned back around to look for his wife.

His wife.
Now that was odd to think of. When he’d first seen Lily on the train, the last thing he would ever have thought just a short month or so ago was that she would be his future wife.

He spied her across the room, chatting with several of the women, and he had to smile. She had to be explaining to them how they had become so enamored with one another; they just
had
to get married although they hadn’t known each other long. The smile she gave them when she placed her hand on her heart and told them the story was brilliant. When she saw him over the shoulder of one of the woman she was speaking with, her smile got a little wistful.

He held her gaze the entire time it took him to cross the room to her side, and then he bent to whisper in her ear, “Ready to go home?”

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She shook her head in agreement, turned to the ladies she had been talking with and said, “Ladies, you’ll have to excuse us.”

“Of course, my dear,” one of them said with a large smile.

Lily turned and slipped her arm through Seth's.

“Now go on, you two. I’ve taken care of everything, so don’t worry about a thing,” Madge said, ushering them out the door. As they walked out, the crowd pushed behind Madge to send them on their way.

Seth helped Lily onto the wagon seat and went around to the other side while the crowd yelled good wishes.

She waved from the wagon as they pulled out of town, until the throng of people disappeared around the bend in the road. A moment later, she turned around in the seat, and her smile faded.

“Anything wrong?”

“No. I’m just not sure what to expect from here, I guess, but that shouldn’t be anything new since this has been such a whirlwind anyway,”

she said, studying the gold band on her left hand.

“Nothing has to change, Lily. We can just keep on the way we’ve been.”

“I suppose you’re right. It’s just strange.”

“Strange? Why?”

“I don’t know. I just never imagined myself in a marriage of convenience. I know it’s done—it’s done all the time in Boston—-but I always thought that I’d be able to find someone that I loved, who loved me in return.”

He kept his eyes on the road in front of the wagon while he absorbed her words. A pang of guilt ripped across his heart, and he frowned. Silence surrounded them for the rest of the ride until they pulled into the yard at the ranch and he came around to help her down. Instead of letting her go right away, he stood there for a moment, holding her waist and looking into her eyes before he said, “You didn’t have to do this, Lily.”

“I know, Seth. I didn’t mean for you to think I didn’t want to.”

He searched her face—for what, he wasn't sure—before he said, “I’m sorry. I just don’t think that I can give you what you want.” He dropped his hands and turned on his heel to head to the house while Lily was left standing in the yard alone.

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The office door opened to the pressure of his hand. He grabbed the whiskey bottle and poured a hefty amount into a tumbler on the desk. He hadn’t felt the need to drink in a few weeks now, not since the night he had spent following the afternoon at Victoria’s grave, but tonight he needed one.

More than one, probably. The look in Lily’s eyes when she stood so innocently in the yard had told him all he needed to know.

God help us both.
He ran his hands over his eyes before he took another large drink from the glass. Sitting back in the big chair, he contemplated what the hell he would do now.

* * * *

Lily silently walked into the house and shut the door softly behind her.

When she passed the mirror in the front hall, she was stunned at her reflection. The dress fit her perfectly, with its beautiful skirt and scooped neckline, and the flowers Madge had put in her hair made her look like a real bride.

A bride who will never know her husband’s love.
She shook her head and turned from the reflection before she moved down the quiet hall toward her bedroom.

She didn't bother to shut the door behind her as she moved toward the window. She stood looking outside while the sun began to fade in the evening sky. A soft sigh escaped her lips, and she reached up to pull the pins from her hair, letting it cascade down her back. She put the pins on the top of the bureau, but when she set them down, she looked up to see Seth standing in the hall between his office and her room. He watched her with a hooded expression and a smoky gray color to his eyes.

Everything had happened so quickly that later she would wonder if she’d just imagined it. One minute he stood outside her room, and the next he was in front of her, his mouth coming down hard on hers, taking her breath away.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders while he ravished her lips with his, invading her with his tongue. His hands wandered down her back before he wrapped them in her hair. When he finally lifted his head, his lips traveled down her neck, licking and nibbling as he went, and she moaned under his touch. After a moment he cupped her face with his hands and Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.