Wyatt walks in like he belongs everywhere.
I walk in like I’m pretending my heart isn’t trying to kick through my ribs.
We reach the counter.
The clerk looks up, eyes flicking from Wyatt to me, then to the flannel like she’s deciding if she should ask questions.
Wyatt slides his ID across the counter.
The clerk taps at her keyboard, then looks at me. “Name?”
I give it, voice steady enough.
She prints forms, pushes them toward us. “This is a legal marriage. Not a symbolic one.”
“I know,” I say, mouth dry.
Wyatt’s hand lands on my lower back, light but commanding. “She knows.”
The clerk’s eyes narrow slightly, like she’s seen a thousand impulsive couples and can smell panic.
She looks at me again, softer now. “Ma’am… are you sure?”
My throat tightens.
I open my mouth.
Wyatt answers before I can.
“Yes,” he says, calm as a vow. “She’s sure.”
Fifteen minutes later, I’ve signed my life away to Wyatt Cooper.
Or saved it.
Only time will tell.
We walk out of the courthouse shoulder to shoulder, my stomach twisting in knots with each step.
Yesterday my future was bright, filled with hope, but my ex stole all of that, and now today, I amhis.Wyatt Cooper’s wife. God help us all.
Chapter 6
Wyatt
The storm doesn’t arrive politely.
It comes in like it owns the mountain—wind punching the trees, snow coming sideways, the kind of weather that makes sane people lock their doors and pray the power holds. I’ve seen blizzards swallow roads and turn cabins into coffins if you’re stupid enough to underestimate them.
Ellie is sitting on the couch, Jake’s head in her lap, with my flannel wrapped around her like she’s trying to pretend she isn’t cold. She’s stubborn like that—won’t complain, won’t ask, won’t give anyone the satisfaction of seeing her need something.
Her hair is down now, falling over her shoulders in messy waves. She looks too soft in my living room. Too tempting. Too much like something I should not have.
I toss another log into the stove and shut the door with a hard click.
“Power’s going to flicker,” I say.
Ellie lifts her eyes from the mug in her hands. “That supposed to calm me down?”
