“I’m so sorry, Francine.”
“Don’t worry about me, Lucy. I’ve made my peace with my choices. I’d rather be single forever than to trust another man with my heart. But right now, our parents can’t force me to wed for any reason. So, you go marry your true love and we’ll just worry about everything else later.”
“Thank you so much, Francine.”
“Be happy, Lucy. You deserve it.”
Valene handed each of them their veils and helped straighten them and get them in to place.
“We’re running a couple of minutes late, ladies. Let’s get going before our big plan is discovered and thwarted. Remember, come back to this room right after the ceremony. They’ve added the signing into the ceremony, so Axel will have the scroll in hand when you walk down the aisle. The photographer will already be in here, but most importantly, we can lock the door from the inside.”
“Then we can both live happily ever after,” Francine said.
Lucy could hear her sister’s smile even from beneath the heavy, difficult-to-see-through veil. She pressed her thumbs together hard as nerves roiled through her. She was about to marry Axel Grey. He wouldn’t know until he lifted her veil for the obligatory Earther kiss.
Wouldn’t he be surprised?
Chapter Twenty
The butterflies in Axel’s belly started truly swarming at dangerous speeds, as he hoped beyond hope that Lucy and Francine didn’t have the same nervous tic. The officiate was speaking, but he didn’t hear a word, he was so focused on watching his bride’s thumbs press hard together over and over again.
Soon his anxious belly settled and he thought about what would happen when her veil was lifted. He had to pretend it was Francine. He had to play along so no one would be able to stop the ceremony.
The officiate stopped speaking and gestured to the scroll on the small table beneath the second archway of flowers toward the back of the platform.
With his arm still looped in his bride’s, they moved forward together. Axel signed first above the word groom. He then handed the ornate pen to his bride and she signed her name beneath the word bride. The butterflies were back, but they were happy bugs instead of nervous ones.
The officiate signed his name, rolled the scroll up and tied it with a red leather strip. They moved back into place next to the maid of honor and his best man.
“As per Earther tradition,” the officiate said, “You may kiss your new bride.”
Axel carefully lifted the front of his bride’s veil to keep her identity semi-hidden from the guests. He couldn’t contain his joy.
Lucy. His love. His bride. His forever.
It was all he could do not to dance a happy jig right on the small platform, clicking his heels together as a delighted finish, but he controlled himself. He also didn’t kiss her like he wanted to. No one would expect a passionate kiss between him and Francine. He played his part, barely pressing his lips to hers in a quick peck just as he would have done if ithadbeen Francine beneath the veil.
He glanced at the bride’s parents. They were not even watching them, so assured that Francine wouldn’t do anything against decorum or perhaps to display their opposition to any Earther traditions, included in the ceremony. Either way, the Duvall parents had miscalculated. Obviously, Francine had orchestrated this bride switch with Valene’s help. He and Lucy owed their sisters a great debt.
Only last night, Valene had implored him to trust her and that faith had been rewarded a thousand times over.
Axel gazed down into Lucy’s eyes, trying to convey his love and gratitude for what was surely the greatest illusion of all time, making this the perfect wedding after all.
The officiate handed him the scroll and they were officially married forever. Axel looped his arm through hers and turned to face the audience.
Behind them, the officiate announced, “I now introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Grey. Axel and Lucinda.”
Space potatoes.The officiate had just outed them.
Lucy couldn’t believe they’d gotten away with it. She was married to Axel! The joy in her heart was immediately dashed when the officiate announced her name to the assembled guests. Axel, clutching the official wedding scroll, pulled on her arm and together they leapt off the small platform and raced up the aisle. The crowd burst into gasps of shock and surprise.
She glanced at her parents. Their very evident wrath made her legs move even faster. It didn’t matter, she told herself. It was too late, they were married.
Now she understood why Valene had insisted they go back to the bride’s dressing room with the lock on the door for pictures, instead of straight to the reception. Her new sister-in-law understood there might be people chasing them, trying to undo what had been signed into permanence with the official scroll containing their names.
