And Ruthann . . . His new bride bit her lip before giving him an encouraging smile. He wondered if she was thinking of that moment by the river, six years ago.
The seconds stretched out, and Nate didn’t think he could take one more moment of everyone staring at them expectantly. Best to get it done with.
He leaned down and pressed a short, chaste kiss to Ruthann’s lips. She sighed, ever so slightly, and he had to force himself to lift his head instead of wrapping his arms around her and kissing her thoroughly, the way he’d dreamed of almost daily for years.
“Congratulations,” the minister said, reaching out his hand.
Nate took it and thanked the man as Norah joined Ruthann. They whispered among themselves, and he strained to hear the words.
As the minister went to speak with Ruthann, Stuart stepped between Nate and the ladies. “Now onto a more pressing matter. Where precisely do you intend to live with my sister?”
Where did he intend to live?Nate grimaced. Surely he couldn’t bring Ruthann back to his room at the boardinghouse. Not only wasn’t it fit for ladies, it was only one room.
“There is an apartment built over top of my studio,” he said, trying to remember what it looked like the one time he went up there. He quickly fetched a few items for the studio and then ran from the mess upstairs. It was probably best not to convey how dirty it truly was to Stuart. “It’s furnished. It isn’t much, but it’s more amenable than the boardinghouse.”
Stuart nodded as Ruthann and Norah joined them.
“Nate has decided that the rooms over his studio will be suitable lodgings,” Stuart said to Ruthann.
Nate wasn’t certain how he expected Ruthann to react, but she nodded. Of course she wouldn’t complain. She was far too level-headed, and besides, this was only a temporary arrangement. And as Ruthann looked up at him with her generous smile, he knew he’d need to remind himself of that fact again and again.
“Norah will help me pack my things. I suppose you’ll need to return with us too, in order to convey the news to my parents? Then we can return to your studio.” Her voice was even, and—although Nate was sure he was imagining it—almost eager. As if she couldn’t wait to join him.
He dug his fingertips into his palms. Thinking like that would get him nowhere but disappointed. Or in a heap of trouble.
He agreed to her suggestion although he did not at all look forward to informing Mr. and Mrs. Joliet that he’d married their daughter without their knowledge or consent. They’d been almost like second parents to him, and he cringed as he imagined their reaction to the news.
As they left the church and turned toward Ruthann and Stuart’s home, Nate drew in the fresh, outdoor air to clear his head. Ruthann was as beautiful as ever, and kinder than he deserved. She was willing to do him the greatest favor ever granted him—as afriend. He repeated that word, the one she’d used back in the parlor at her parents’ home, over and over as they walked.
To read anything more into her actions or those looks she gave him was folly. Besides, even if she did harbor some feelings for him that were more than friendship, he’d do her no good with returning them. No woman, particularly not one as charitable as Ruthann, deserved a man like Nate. He’d seen too much, and it would never,neverleave him.
Upon arriving at the Joliets’ home, he didn’t have any more time to worry on how Ruthann’s parents might react. Because they were both waiting in the parlor.
Theyknewsomething was afoot, that much was clear from the rigidity of how they sat and the suspicious look Mr. Joliet gave the lot of them. The man stood immediately.
“Miss Parker,” he said, nodding at Norah. “Nate Harper. It’s good to see you back in town.” He extended a hand, and Nate shook it as rivers of guilt traveled through him from head to toe. The Joliets had always been so kind to him, letting him stay for dinner and sneaking extra bits of venison and biscuits into a basket that they insisted he bring home to his mother.
And now he was repaying them for those years of generosity by running off to marry their daughter.
“I am happy to see you again, Nate,” Mrs. Joliet said with a warm smile. “But I would like to know what’s behind all of these whispers and sneaking off.”
Mr. Joliet raised his eyebrows as he looked at each of them in turn.
“Nate was in a—” Stuart began, but Nate stepped forward and cut him off.
“Miss Joliet—Ruthann—and I have married.” There was nothing to do but to be as honest as possible. He extended a hand to Ruthann, who gave him a tentative smile even as her eyes flicked toward her father.
Mr. Joliet stared at them while his wife clasped her hands together.
“You knew about this?” Mr. Joliet asked Stuart.
“Yes, sir.” Stuart shifted uncomfortably. “I—well, I—”
“We couldn’t wait another moment,” Ruthann said, gazing up at Nate with an expression of pure joy. Was it real? Or was it only for show? He’d be a fool to assume her true feelings were reflected in that radiant look she gave him.
“I’m afraid Stuart and I were so delighted with the news that we suggested they not delay a wedding,” Norah added. She was clearly trying to pull some of the blame for the hasty marriage off of Ruthann and Nate, and Ruthann gave her a grateful look even as Stuart frowned.
“Oh, Mama.” Ruthann dropped Nate’s hand and took up her mother’s, who looked on the verge of tears. “I’m sorry. I know you would have wanted to be involved. But that would have meant a long engagement, and we, well . . . we . . .” Her eyes found Nate’s, begging for help.
