Page 25 of Sweet Beginnings

“Getting married is out of character for us too,” Preston almost snapped at his brother, “but I see your point.”

“If you ask me,” Rachel turned to Preston, “you’ve been at this for a whopping three days. No way anyone is going to believe y’all just upped and ran off to get married.” When Preston opened his mouth to protest, his sister held her hand out at him. “I know we’re in a hurry, but you need to give it at least a couple of weeks to make it something akin to plausible.”

“One week, two weeks.” Carson shook his head. “No matter how you slice it, this is going to be pushing our luck.”

“What about Oklahoma?” Rachel suggested. When everyone turned to her with confusion, she continued her train of thought. “Unlike Texas, there is no waiting period in Oklahoma. Y’all just drive up to the nearest county seat, pay the fees, and find a judge.”

“Mom’s going to throw a fit.” Jillian sighed. “But Rachel is right, Oklahoma is more believable.”

“And who is going to believe that a newly married couple is going to want to rush home and live with their mother?” Carson gaze darted from one sibling to the other.

“Face it.” Preston stood. “All of this is a stretch, we have no choice but to go with the flow and pray the bank believes us. In the end, that’s all that matters.”

“And Mom,” the siblings chorused.

“And Mom,” Preston repeated, before facing Sarah Sue. “Got any thoughts?”

“I think Oklahoma is more practical than Vegas. We can drive over in a couple of hours and be done with it.”

Preston really wished she’d phrased it any other way.

“Maybe stay the night too, make it seem like you at least tried for a honeymoon.” Jillian glanced at Sarah Sue for that one.

Sarah Sue turned to Preston. Her gaze seemed to be asking his thoughts. At least he thought that’s what she was doing. When he didn’t say a word, she sighed. “I’m up for whatever we have to do to save the ranch.”

All Preston knew right now is that for someone without a drop of Sweet blood in their veins, or a claim to the family ranch, Sarah Sue was putting an awful lot of her life on the line. The woman was beyond any doubt amazing. “So, it’s settled, one week from today, we head off to Oklahoma for a Friday afternoon wedding.”

“One week?” Rachel echoed.

Preston eyed Sarah Sue, then faced his sister. “We really can’t afford to wait any longer. We can’t risk the bank moving forward on foreclosure while we wait to convince the town this is legit.”

Jillian sighed. “At least that gives y’all some time to come to your senses.”

There was little doubt in Preston’s mind that playing husband and wife with Sarah Sue might be too close for comfort to playing with fire. If the last three days had shown him anything, it was that their sweet girl-next-door neighbor had grown up to be one fine woman. And somehow he was going to have to figure out how to keep his hands off of her.

One week.Sarah knew this whole whirlwind courtship would have to be fast, but somehow setting a date made it even more real for her. Almost frighteningly real.

“You’ll need witnesses.” Carson pushed to his feet. “Even though this isn’t technically your big day, it wouldn’t look right if at least one of us didn’t stand up for you.”

A finger in the air, Rachel nodded. “I’ll come too.”

“Well, foo.” Jillian looked ready to stomp her feet and pout. “I can’t close the shop on a Friday. Unless I can get Aunt Vicki to cover, but she’ll want to know why.”

“It’s okay.” Preston patted his sister’s arm. “When I get married for real, you can be a witness.”

“Deal.” Jillian spun around and hugged her brother.

The sound of someone’s cell broke the silent moment. Carson reached for his phone and hit speaker. “You have cell service.”

A familiar voice came through the phone. “Came into town for supplies, have a slew of texts from everyone except Kade. Haven’t felt this much love since I borrowed your good luck Polo shirt for my date with Mary Jean Gibbons.” Their brother Garret chuckled under his breath before shifting to a more serious tone. “What’s going on over there?”

Wasn’t that a loaded question? If Garret only knew. Carson’s gift for brevity had their brother up to date on their mom, their crooked foreman, the money problems, and Preston and Sarah’s imminent wedding plans pretty quickly.

“And Mom is definitely okay?” Concern crept into Garret’s voice.

“Still sore and slow, but better,” Carson kept his voice steady. Their mom would be fine but truth was, everyone was still worried about her—if not her physical health, her emotional state, the one she was trying so hard to hide behind a stiff upper lip.

“You’re not lying to me? I could be on a flight home in a couple of hours.”

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