Chapter Six
Aidan stood in his family's great room in front of the fireplace and waited for a bride he didn’t want.
The starched white linen shirt his mom asked him to wear scratched the hell out of his neck. She also had asked him to wear a neck tie with his suit, but that was where he drew the line. He might have been willing to make those sacrifices for a bride of his choosing—for Beth—but this was not a union he wanted to sacrifice for, and yet, that was exactly what he was doing.
Reverend Folger stood next to him, his bible in his hand, ready to bless this union. He faced his parents and Mary Jo Jackson sitting in the front row of wooden chairs lining his family’s great room. Some of their friends probably showed up just to see the circus show. His sarcasm must have shown on his face. His dad gave him a rather stern look he didn't think he deserved.
He pulled a finger around the front of his collar, trying to find some relief. Shouldn't this thing be going by now?
A low hum rippled through the small group of people. Aidan looked up and saw the woman he was going to pledge his life to—his soon-to-be wife—standing at the top of his family's winding staircase.
The reverend's wife played the wedding march on his mom's piano from the corner of the great room. Everyone stood, and Harvey Jackson walked his daughter down the stairs to the back of the room. Aidan watched his bride come toward him down the center aisle. His heart hiccupped against his ribs. He was nervous as hell.
Aidan hadn't seen or spoken to Maura since the day he found her standing naked on the bank of the creek. What did they have in common? Nothing. Except saving their families’ futures, he conceded.
She moved with a stilted gait. It almost looked as if she would bolt at any moment if her arm wasn't hooked through her father’s. A veil covered her face. Aidan wished it were Beth under that veil. He would have loved to gently pick it up and reveal her dark hair and dark eyes staring up at him. If only.
Too soon, Maura Jackson stood by his side, her hand in his. Reverend Folger spoke the words that would bind them and soon the deed was done. He was a married man.
"And now you may kiss your bride, Aidan."
Crap. He'd forgotten about that part of the ceremony. He hesitated and looked at his dad and mom. They were expecting him not to embarrass them. It wasn’t just that. His parents were kind and good people. They would be mortified if he embarrassed his bride as well.
Resigned to his fate, he turned to his bride and lifted her veil. What he found underneath was unsettling. Her eyes were the Ireland green he remembered surrounded by lashes so long and thick he swore they beat like the wings of a bird when she blinked. Her face resembled an angel—wait a minute. Hadn’t he thought the same thing when he first saw her standing naked by the water? And hadn’t his vision been dashed by her yelling at him—screeching at him?
"Stop staring at me like a simple-minded fool. Kiss me and get it over with. Everyone is watching us," she hissed at him.
And there it was. Again. The true nature of Miss Maura Jackson—now Mrs. Aidan Langley. Without a shadow of a doubt in his mind now, he knew he was marrying a shrew.
Thank the Good Lord Tommy had spent yesterday sneaking into his dad’s office and re-wording of that one particular little clause in the marriage contract his dad and Harvey Jackson signed this morning. Just that one little clause he was hanging his hat on. Just in case.
He roughly pulled his new bride’s body close against his; he had meant to punish her for snapping at him, but the minute Aidan's hands tangled in his wife’s wheat-colored hair beneath her veil, the moment her soft curves collided against his chest, he felt—a spark of something. He dismissed the notion. He was a healthy, red-blooded male. It was biology. Plain and simple. He’d get over it.
He turned his head just so and angled his mouth to fit perfectly over hers. And then, he kissed her.
Somewhere between his intention to give her a perfunctory kiss on her lips and the actual over-the-top, curl-your-toes kiss, a discreet cough from the reverend brought him back to the present. He saw the shocked look on his bride’s face and wondered what the hell just happened. This was not at all what he’d planned.
Tommy, standing up as his best man, gave him a look that left him no doubt he'd stepped out of bounds.
Well, she couldn't get pregnant from a kiss, so no harm no foul at this point. But he would have to be careful around this little miss and not get caught up in her charming curves. Aidan pulled away and faced the congregation, his new bride at his side. They stood side by side, hand in hand, smiling to the crowd showing a front of unity. He felt a twinge of guilt. He knew she thought they were marrying in every sense of the word and preparing to have a life together, regardless of how unconventional it started. Perhaps once he got to know her better, he could approach her with an offer she would be interested in. The sooner, the better.
"Aidan, darling. You look so handsome." His mom rushed to his side and hugged him, tears shining in her eyes. He knew they were happy tears mixed with sad ones at how this day came about. He only hoped she would be happy when he explained about the extra clause Tommy added to the contract. He pushed that unpleasant thought down deep. That was not a conversation he wanted to have today.
His dad shook his hand. "I'm proud of you, son. Seems like you and the Jackson girl might get along alright after all."
He shot his father a silent message. I wouldn't be here if you hadn't insisted. He could tell by the look on his dad’s face he received his meaning loud and clear.
He watched his mother hug his new wife. "I'm looking forward to getting to know you, Maura.
"Of course, Mrs. Langley. I’m sorry we Jacksons haven’t been more neighborly over the last two decades, but you know how these feud things go."
His bride's words were flippant and coy. Was she trying to be funny with that feud comment? He had the distinct feeling she would like to have said a lot more but refrained. A good thing. He wouldn't tolerate anyone’s disrespect of his mom. She was a sweet person, and she didn’t deserve whatever this was.
But in all fairness, he understood the woman's reticent behavior. Today was not of his choosing either.
"Let's all go outside into the front yard for refreshments and some dancing,” His dad declared.
"Aidan, why don't you and your new bride lead the way?" his mom encouraged. Her face an open book of emotions.
He offered his arm to the woman standing next to him. Correction. His new bride standing next to him, but he didn't look at her. He wasn’t ready to acknowledge this day was real.
She hesitated for a second, then took his arm, holding lightly to the crook of his arm. She seemed timid, but Aidan knew better. He had seen her in all her naked glory, uninhibited by social conventions. And she hadn’t been bashful about pushing him into the water either. No, she wasn't timid at all.
He looked around at the tables lining the inside of the fenced front yard in front of his parent’s house. He remembered not long ago every table would have groaned under the weight of home baked pies, cakes, and breads. Potluck dishes of every shape and size would fill in anywhere there was an opening. But now, it looked a little sparse in places. Everyone was doing their best to make ends meet, but—
Thank the Good Lord the rain was plentiful this summer, so every country family could have a plentiful garden with an abundance of fresh vegetables. And, his Dad had gone all out to provide the beef for the wedding party. It was a feast for a king, but he didn’t feel like much of a king today. He didn’t feel like anything at all.
Sadness gripped his heart when he looked around and thought about the possibility of losing The Legacy. It was so much more than a home. It was his family’s life blood. He felt a little better at being the sacrificial lamb to save it.
Smile fixed in place, Aidan led his reluctant bride to the makeshift dance floor underneath the twilight sky for their first dance as husband and wife.
Aidan held her away from him under the pretense of dancing properly with his new bride. But he was just being cautious. Still unsure what happened when he kissed her at the altar, he had no intention of having a repeat performance.
He looked down at her. “So, looks like we’re married. Not exactly the way I envisioned this day going, but I guess we both know why we’re here. No pretense is necessary, I assume.”
He watched the woman in his arms wrestle with her emotions. She inhaled several deep breaths and then pasted on a smile to match his own fake one. “No, there’s no pretense necessary. We both know why we are here. We are here to seal a deal between our families.”
His bride’s smile never slipped, but he could see the mist of tears in her eyes.
Aidan didn’t want to hurt the girl, so he tried a different tactic. "Look. Neither one of us has any delusions about why we are in this marriage. It’s a business arrangement, and it’s important to my parents we look like we are happy about all of this. And it’s important we put on that same show for that damned banker standing right over there by the punch bowl. So, the way I see it, dear wife, you have two options. You can dance with me and try to stay out from under my big, clumsy feet, or you can make a scene and embarrass everyone here. Pick your poison."
A look of determination crossed her face, but her shapely shoulders sagged. He was surprised at her easy surrender.
"Or, there's a third option."
Her sly look should have made him suspicious, but he missed the signs completely.
"And what would that be?" His cockiness was his undoing.
"You can end this dance yourself and allow me to dance with my papa."
"Now, why would I do that?" Aidan thought his little bride was acting a bit coy.
"Because you are averse to pain?" she questioned.
Before he processed the portent of her words, she drove that damn little heel on her damn little shoe into the top of his foot. He released her immediately, and with a flawless pirouette, his bride danced out of his arms and into the arms of his best friend, Tommy Hillman.