Regardless of whether it was night or day, Ruban women did not sneak around to get married, and Harmon knew it.He stared at the man near his living room window, then glared at Casey.
“Not to him?”
She gritted her teeth, preparing herself for a fight.
“Yes sir, to him.We have blood tests and the license right here.”She thrust the papers into the judge’s hands.
When he noted the dates he frowned, staring at her hard and long, from her head to the middle of her belly.Like Ryder before him, Harmon was assuming the only reason a woman would rush into marriage was to give a bastard child a name.
“Hell, girl, the ink is hardly dry on this stuff.What’s the big rush?”
“You can get that look off your face,” Casey muttered.“I’m not pregnant.I haven’t even been exposed.”
Bushy eyebrows lowered over his prominent nose as Harmon Harris laid the papers to one side and took Casey by the arm.
“I’ve known you a long time, Honey, and this isn’t like you.Before I perform any ceremony, I want an explanation.”
Casey’s gaze never wavered.“If Delaney were alive, you could ask him yourself.All I know is, I had forty-eight hours to find myself a husband or forfeit my inheritance to Miles and Erica.”
The judge’s eyebrows rose perceptibly.“You’re joking!”
Her shoulders slumped.“I wish I were.”
He glanced over her shoulder to Ryder.“I don’t understand.”
Then his voice lowered.“Why not marry Lash Marlow?You’ve known him nearly all your life.Why this man?”
“Because he’s not Lash.”
The judge didn’t comment.He didn’t have to.Casey’s answer pretty much said it all.
“Who is he?”
“His name is Ryder Justice.”
“I know that,” the judge said.“It says so on the papers.What I’m asking iswhoare his people?”
Casey shrugged.“I haven’t the faintest idea, and quite frankly I don’t care.What I do know is I will not be coerced, especially by a dead man, into marrying someone I do not even like, never mind the fact that I don’t love him.Do you understand that?”
Suddenly Casey and Harmon realized they were no longer alone.
“Is there a problem?”Ryder asked.
There was something about the look on the big man’s face that made Harmon Harris release his grasp on Casey’s arms.
Harmon sighed.“No, I don’t suppose there is.Casey is of age and enough of her own woman to do as she chooses.”He turned.“Sudie, go next door and wake up Millard Shreves.We’re gonna need ourselves another witness.”
Casey relaxed as Judge Harris’s wife hurried to do his bidding.It was going to be all right.
“It will take Millard a bit to get out of bed,” the judge explained.“If you two want to freshen up before the ceremony, the guest bath is down the hall on your right.However, you’re going to have to excuse me for a bit.I’m going to be needing some coffee.”
Having put the wheels in motion, he left Casey and Ryder alone in the Harris parlor with Sudie’s crocheted doilies and silk flower bouquets.
Casey put a hand to her hair, feeling the disarray.She started to the bathroom for a quick wash then remembered Ryder.Was it safe to leave him alone, or would he bolt at the first chance he got?She glanced back at him, and to her dismay realized he was watching her.It was almost as if he’d read her mind.
“Go on,” he said.“I’ll be here when you get back.”
There was something compelling about this man, something she couldn’t quite name.There was a strength within him that a couple of days’ worth of whiskers and a faded T-shirt and jeans could not hide.Right now his eyes seemed blue, although at first they’d seemed gray.Their color was as changeable as the weather.She hoped his disposition did not seesaw as well and knew she was staring, but she couldn’t help it.Although she was afraid of what he might tell her, there was something she needed to know.
