Page 52 of A Cowboy's Convenient Marriage

Because, she was almost certain, that the woman who was now standing in front of Cash, warmly shaking his hand, was Abby, his ex-fiancé.

Ada’s mouth was suddenly dry, and she swallowed hard.

She did not hold a candle to that woman in beauty. Or an ability to dress the part. She didn’t really give a whole lot of thought to her clothes, as long as they were clean and modest. But, seeing Abby made her feel like maybe she should do more.

She watched her husband, as the woman clasped his hand, and put her other hand over top of his in an extra warm handshake. A familiar handshake. A handshake that said that she knew him very well.

Her husband didn’t yank his hand back, but he also didn’t try to hold onto her, the way he did with Ada. Everywhere they went, he held her hand. And she had just been thinking about how much she appreciated it. And now that woman’s hand was in his. Had they held hands when they had been engaged?

Of course they had. A person didn’t get engaged without holding a man’s hand. They’d probably exchanged several passionate embraces as well.

While she had a peck on the cheek, and one on the forehead.

She tried not to be upset about it. But, it bothered her a bit. Although, she knew that Cash was moving slowly out of consideration for her. Not necessarily because he didn’t want her. Unfortunately, she had to continuously remind herself of that. It was not a comfortable thing.

Finally, the woman stepped back, and Cash seemed to come to himself.

“Ada?” he said, looking around, and finally his eyes landed on hers.

He walked toward her, and the crowd parted for him.

“Ada. I’m sorry. Somehow we got separated.”

She allowed him to take her hand in his, and put out of mind the fact that he had just been shaking Abby’s hand. It was a dumb thing to think about. She put a smile on her face, the friendly, normal smile that she had for her family and strangers alike. She didn’t have airs to put on, she just had herself, so when he introduced her to the crowd as Ada, his wife, it was all she could do. Just be herself. She smiled, accepted the congratulations, and shook the hands that were offered.

She noticed that Abby stayed back, her eyes not exactly narrowed. She wasn’t glaring at Ada, but there was a calculating look in her gaze, almost as though she were assessing Ada, and finding her wanting.

Or maybe not. Maybe that was just Ada’s feeling.

Still, they were ushered inside the church, and Ada lost track of Abby. If it actually was her, which her women’s intuition definitely told her was, but she had had no formal introduction.

Unsurprisingly, Cash led her to a spot in the front row, and she sat down beside him. He stood back up when someone came over to talk, and that’s the way it was until the music started to play, and Cash finally sat back down beside her.

“It feels so good to be home,” he leaned over and said into her ear.

“It’s a beautiful sanctuary. Just made for worshiping God.” It was true too. She’d been sitting there soaking in the ambience, with the stained-glass windows up high, and the light that sparkled down. The feeling that she’d gotten could only be described as heavenly.

It definitely made her want to stand up and sing, and she was ready for the first song. They didn’t use a hymnbook. They had the words on the screen, and it was a song that was unfamiliar, but easy to pick up because there weren’t a whole lot of words to it. Just a chorus basically that was repeated over and over again.

Singing to the Lord on Sunday morning was something that Ada had done all her life, and it felt right and natural, even if the song felt unfamiliar.

The service progressed, and soon, they called her husband up to the platform.

They had given an introduction, explained what happened, and reminded the congregants that the girl had apologized, in case they had missed it or forgotten. Which, Ada found rather unbelievable.

Then, her husband was behind the microphone, looking out on the people he loved. Ada almost felt like her heart would burst, because, thinking about the sins he had forgiven, the slights against him, the way they treated him, she couldn’t be prouder to be with him.

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