Chapter Six
May Twenty-Seventh
Tucker
I climb out of my truck and walk over to where my brother is leaning against the brick of the courthouse walls. He is wearing a dark suit and a black tie. My tie is dark blue, but other than that, we look like fucking twins.
“Fuck, brother. You look like a waiter,” I say, pulling on my tie.
Major smiles, reaching up to brush his hair out of his face. “You look like a man about to get leg-shackled.”
It was hard as fuck letting Hadley out of my sight last night. But she refused to spend the night with me, even though she had my ring on her finger. She said her grandma wouldn’t care that we were getting married the next day. Either way, she claimed it was bad luck for me to see her before the wedding. Not that we’re having a real wedding. I didn’t want to wait around for all that church bullshit. I wanted her to have my last name right away, so we’re saying our vows at the courthouse.
“Are you sure Hadley is okay with doing this here?” my brother asks, as if he can read my thoughts. “Most women want a church and flowers.”
Hadley didn’t seem to be too happy about getting hitched at the local courthouse. She seemed even less happy to be getting married by Lacey’s father, Judge Kimbrel, but she didn’t complain. She knew I wanted to do this today, so she simply agreed without a word. I figure, if she gives me this, I can give her a real wedding on our first anniversary.
“She’s okay with it,” I reply, not going into detail. “As long as she has my last name by the end of the day, she’ll be happy.”
“You mean, you’ll be happy.” Major chuckles, slapping me on the back. “Did you get everything you needed to make this shit legal?”
I nod, patting my coat pocket. “Got the marriage license right here.”
Luckily, we live in Kentucky. If we had lived in another state, this shit could have taken days. Here, we just had to show up at the county clerk’s office with our driver’s license and a little cash. We had the marriage license less than five minutes later.
“I’ve been here for nearly twenty minutes and haven’t seen a soul pull up, until you,” he says, looking to the parking lot. “Aren’t her parents coming?”
Wish a shake of my head, I answer him. “They said they couldn’t make it.”
When she called her parents last night, I expected them to throw a fucking fit. Instead, they said they wouldn’t be paying for her to go back to school next year. It wasn’t a warning or a threat to get her to change her mind. Nope, her father just stated that shit and gave the phone to her mom. What her mom said was even worse.
When Hadley asked her if they could drive up here today, her mom claimed it was too far, as if the drive from Paris, Tennessee to White Chapel, Kentucky was twenty hours instead of two and a half. When my woman said that was okay, she would bring me down to meet her parents this weekend, her mom told her that they had plans with one of their new neighbors. Then, the bitch went on to say we could probably come down near the end of the summer. By the time Hadley hung up the phone, she was in tears, and I was ready to kick her parents’ asses.
“What about Mom?” Major asks, anger easily heard in his voice. “Did she get over her attitude and decide to come?”
I shake my head again, fisting my hands by my side. “Nope, she refused to even talk about it. She locked herself in her bedroom as soon as I told her and didn’t come out until Aunt Renee came to pick her up this morning. She’s staying the weekend over there, so Hadley and I can have some time alone.”
Mom has been in a hissy ever since the morning after I met Hadley. Over breakfast, I told her about my woman. I didn’t hide the fact that she was different than the chicks who came before her. Mom asked a few questions, some that were none of her fucking business, then started complaining that Hadley wasn’t the right woman for me. By the time she was done, we were both so pissed that we didn’t talk for the entire day.
That same day, I brought Hadley over to ride one of my horses. We never went in the house, and Mom never came out. When I mentioned having her come over for dinner, Mom went into a sulk and didn’t cook for days. Last night, when I told her about the wedding, she fucking bawled like a two-year-old.
“Have you told your girl you share a house with Mom, yet?” Major asks, a cocky smile covering his face.
“Yeah, Hadley knows, but Mom lives with me. I don’t live with her,” I growl, not willing to deal with his shit. “Maybe she should come live with you, now that I’ll have a wife.”
“Fuck you, brother.” He shakes his head and lifts his middle finger in my direction. “That shit is not gonna happen.”
This has been an ongoing argument that we’ve had for the last few years. When Dad died, both of my brothers inherited a quarter of the farm and enough cash to build their own homes. As the oldest, I got half the farm and the family home. With that, came my mother.
Dad made sure Mom was taken care of. He left her with enough money that she could buy herself a house and live comfortably for the rest of her life. Instead of doing what he intended, she pocketed her money and decided to stay with me. It’s beginning to look like she plans to remain in my home until she joins Dad in the graveyard.
“Fuck me,” Major whispers, letting out a low whistle.
I jerk my head in the direction he is looking, and my heart skips a beat. “No, she’ll be fucking only me.”
Hadley is walking our way, a beautiful smile on her face. I take her in as she gets closer, feeling my dick twitch in my pants. Without thinking, I reach down and give it a squeeze to force him to back down.
Still smiling, she walks right up to me and goes to her tiptoes. “Hey, honey.”
“Hey, darlin’.” I meet her lips, wrapping my arms around her.
As our kiss becomes carnal, someone slaps me on the back of the head. “Stop that shit. It took me forever to get her makeup just right.”
I pull away from Hadley’s lips and look over my shoulder. Willow is standing there with a smile on her face. I shoot her a wink and turn back to my woman. Stepping back, I look her over from head to toe.
Her dark hair is pulled over to one side, laying in loose curls over her shoulder. Tilting my head a bit, I see a sparkly clip is holding it in place. She isn’t wearing much makeup, but she is wearing just enough to make her dark eyes stand out and her plump lips shine.
Her dress is light pink, so light it’s nearly white. It fits her like a glove, ending just above her knees. The dress is made of a silky looking material, but it has a sparkly sheen to it. There are small pink roses lining the bottom of her skirt, and the neckline is just low enough to give me a glimpse of her luscious tits.
My favorite part is her shoes. Since I met her, Hadley has always worn either sandals, flip-flops, or her bright yellow Converse. Today, she is wearing a pair of heels that can only be described as FUCK ME! They are the same light pink as the roses lining her dress. They have tall heels and straps that crisscross over the top of her feet at different angles, allowing me to see her bright pink toenails.
“Are we gonna do this or what?” Major asks, reminding me there is something important that I should be doing.
“Hell yeah, we are.” I grab Hadley’s hand and drag her to the doors.
I lead her straight to the county clerk’s office and right to the counter. Looking around the room, I find a woman sitting at a desk in the back. Her eyes are locked on me, so I shoot her a quick wink and nod my head to the woman in my arms.
“She keeps begging me to marry her,” I say with a smile. “The minute I put my lips on hers, she couldn’t get enough.”
Hadley slaps me in the stomach and whispers, “Hush up.”
The woman stands up from her desk with a small smile on her face and walks to the counter. “Can I help you?”
Giving my woman’s hand a squeeze, I answer, “We’d like to get married.”
“Do you already have your marriage license, or do you need to apply for one now?” she asks, still smiling.
I pull it out of my pocket and hand it over. “I think we’ve got everything covered.”
She looks it over and nods her head, then looks to where Major and Willow are standing behind us. “What about you two? Are you getting married, too?”
“Fuck no,” Major growls before his cheeks start to pinken. “I mean, no, we are just here to stand up for them.”
Willow reaches up and slaps him roughly on the back of the head, exactly like she did to me earlier. “Is the idea of marrying me so bad?”
Before my brother can respond, the woman laughs and turns away from us. A second later, she is walking to the back of the room and entering a closed door that I know leads to Judge Kimbrel’s private office. A minute or two later, she comes back with the judge following her.
Judge Kimbrel walks over to us, his eyes locked on Hadley. “You must be the future Mrs. Tucker Brady.”
She nods, looking down at the floor. “Yes, I am.”
“What’s the matter, darlin’?” I ask, feeling the tension in her hand. “Did you change your mind?”
She looks up at me, and the smile on her face is completely fake. “I’m just a little nervous, but I want to do this.”
“It’s wedding day jitters. Everyone I marry has them.” The judge chuckles as he leads us back to his office.
I follow behind him, realizing that I don’t feel any jitters. Other than worrying Hadley will change her mind, I’m not nervous at all. My only thought is getting this over as quickly as possible, so we can find a bed.
As soon as we step into the office, the judge puts us all in our places. Hadley and I are in the middle, with my brother at my side and Willow by hers. He doesn’t waste time starting on the traditional marriage speech. As he talks, I grab my woman’s hand, not willing to let her run off now.
“Tucker Brady, do you take Hadley Walsh to be your wife?” He finally asks the question I’ve been waiting for.
I smile down at my woman as I answer, “Hell yeah.”
Judge Kimbrel chuckles before going on. “Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her?”
“I do,” I reply with a nod of my head.
The judge looks at her and asks, “Hadley, do you take Tucker to be your husband?”
“I do,” she whispers, her entire body trembling.
“Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect him, forsaking all others and holding only unto him?” he asks, looking right at her.
She smiles up at me as she answers, “I do.”
The judge looks toward Major and nods his head. My brother pulls the ring from his pocket and places it in my open hand. The judge tells me to repeat after him. I listen closely to his words and nod my head, only too happy to comply.
“I, Tucker, take thee, Hadley, to be my wife. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, and I promise my love to you. With this ring, I thee wed,” I finish, sliding the platinum band on her finger.
As I finish the words, I realize this is the first time I have ever told her I love her. I’ve been so fucking worried about making her mine; I haven’t even realized that I was feeling anything deeper than the need to claim her. Even now, I’m not so sure. But, if this is what love feels like, I hope I spend the rest of my life loving Hadley.
Willow hands Hadley the ring she bought for me. I see the gold band, and my heart starts to thump at a rapid pace. Something about the simple band sets my world off its axis. I’m not sure if it’s what it represents, or if the fact that Hadley bought it herself is what is causing my heart to pound.
“Repeat after me," the judge says, reciting my woman’s vows.
“I, Hadley, take thee, Tucker, to be my husband. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, and I promise my love to you. With this ring, I thee wed.” Her words are strong and sure, causing pride to fill my chest.
As she slides the ring on my finger, I notice my own hand is starting to shake. Not wanting her to notice, I pull away as soon as it’s in place and pull her into my arms. I look down at her flushed face and smile. I’ve never seen a prettier sight in my whole fucking life.
The judge drones on for a minute more and finally says the words I’ve been waiting for. “I now pronounce you Man and Wife.”
Willow lets out a strangled sob as Major slaps me on the back. Tears pool in Hadley’s eyes as she wraps her arms around my back. I just stare down at my wife and wait for what’s next.
Judge Kimbrel doesn’t make me wait long. “You may now kiss your bride.”
I do just that, making sure she enjoys every second of it.