“Then let’s proceed. May I have the bride and groom step forward.”
I slowly take a step forward, side-eyeing Calder, my about-to-be husband.
The whole process takes a total of fifteen minutes, including the signing of the papers. Once the vows were said, Calder kept a hand laced with mine, which feels weird.
“Now that we have everything handled, we can sit down and work out logistics,” my father suggests the moment we step outside the courthouse.
“We’ll meet on Monday, next week. Give the newlyweds time to adjust to being together,” Grant Devore declares, though he makes it sound like a suggestion. I figured he was trying to control the situation while letting my father think it was him controlling it.
My father straightens, hands on the lapels of his jacket. He always has to seem like the smartest person in the room. “Of course.” He nods to Grant and looks to me. “I’ll have movers pack up the apartment for you and take it to your new home.”
“Send it to the Devore estate,” Calder tells him.
“I wasn’t aware you lived at the Devore estate,” my father murmurs, brows creasing.
“He has a room at the estate,” Grant confirms.
He might have a room there, but I’m sensing they’re not sharing the ‘but’ that’s at the end of that sentence.
“I’ll see to it that it’s taken care of,” my father remarks.
“I can go get my own things and pack them up myself,” I tell them all, allowing them to hear the annoyance in my voice because that’s precisely what they were doing, annoying me. “I don’t need anyone to do it for me.”
“Emerie,” my father starts.
“Sweetheart, if you want to pack yourself, then that is fine,” Calder says, hooking me around the waist and tugging me to his side.
My heart races in my chest at being so close to him. Why would he want to be holding me like this? It’s not like we’re actually a couple. The whole marriage between us is nothing but fake, a total shame. My being married to him is a farce.
But the way he holds me so close to his warmth, for some reason, I feel safe when I shouldn’t. I should be wanting to run for the hills. Instead, I allow myself to stand here, letting him keep his arm around me.
“How about I handle the moving of Emerie’s belongings, and you two can go get to know each other,” Grant Devore says with a smirk playing on his lips.
“We’ll handle it,” Calder grunts and motions me to start walking.
I don’t bother saying goodbye to my dad or speaking further to any of them, not even to Calder, as he walks me to the car that he and Grant had ridden in. I want to ask him when he opens the door for me how Grant was going to get home, but I don’t.
Calder closes the door once I’m in the passenger seat and rounds the hood. He gets in behind the wheel and presses the start button. Without a word to me, he puts it in gear and pulls out into flowing traffic. I thought he might ask me where my apartment is, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t even take me in the direction of my apartment. Instead, he gets on the on-ramp for the interstate, and we go flying.
I glance at the speedometer to read he’s going ninety in a sixty. The way he handles the car is swift and flawless, but it scares me with how fast he’s going.
“Can you slow down, please?” I ask.
Without a word, he backs off his speed.
“Thank you.”
This earned me a grunt.
Thirty minutes pass by, and he exits into what I’ve always called tourist town, but in reality, it was downtown Lanche.
Lanche is a city right on the outskirts of the mountains. We don’t get a lot of tourists that are looking for snow, but the scenery around here is beautiful this time of year. From fall through the end of winter, they’re packed with people wanting to hike the trails, visit the landmarks, and so on.
Calder maneuvers us through the traffic until we’re in front of the Hillside Hotel and Resort, where he parks.
“Ugh, what are we doing here?”
My question goes unanswered as he gets out.
