Page 37 of Seven Minutes In Heaven
Chapter 12
The season was warm enough that time of year to drive to Vegas with the top down and nothing but a thin sweater to keep Claire’s shoulders from the chill. She knew that this was insanity. Eloping in a Vegas wedding chapel was the kind of stupid shit she made fun whenever she saw it in the news. One of her high school friends had eloped with her sweetheart the week before graduation and was now divorced twice over. Nobody eloped with the expectation of staying together forever.Maybe they do, but deep down they know the truth.Even so, Claire knew that there was no time to plan a thoughtful wedding. They needed to beat her wedding date to Arthur. They needed to beat the baby’s arrival.
Their witness at the first nice chapel they found was a sweet old lady who declared them the most beautiful couple to come by in the past month. Turned out she was a “professional witness” who happened to live in the Vegas area. For twenty bucks, she would watch Claire and Jake say their vows and sign their papers. According to the owner of the chapel, this woman went up and down the street finding couples to witness for, and the money was a nice complement to the meager social security payments she received. On a good day, she would witness up to five marriages. The average was two, and Jake and Claire were the first on that random Tuesday.
The only fuss anyone put up was the lack of a decent dress on Claire’s part. She had rushed home to find the nicest white dress she still fit into, but the best she could do was a silver shift dress that looked more like a glittery sack than a proper wedding dress.
Nevertheless, she married Jake and became Mrs. Carter on a warm June day. Butterflies rose from her stomach and claimed her heart as they shared their first kiss as husband and wife. The little old lady clapped in the front row of the chapel pews. The man who married them brought forth the marriage license for them to sign.
It didn’t feel real. Not even when they hopped back into Jake’s car and headed straight to their honeymoon suite on the strip.
Jake promised his bride that they would have a proper honeymoon soon, but for now, they would spend the night in Vegas. Maybe they would take in a show if anything looked good. But Claire was perfectly content to spend the whole night in the suite with her husband.
She knew she would be married by the summer’s end. She didn’t think it would be to this man, likethis.
“Any regrets yet?” Claire asked when the suite door closed. Evening had yet to fully set in Vegas, so the view of the strip outside of their window was not as lustrous as she hoped it would be. “Now’s your chance to get this annulled.”
“Never any regrets.” Jake took her hand and brought her to the window. “How can I regret marrying the woman I love, and the mother of my child?”
“I know I’m technically a mother now,” Claire said with a droll voice, as Jake poured himself champagne and her some sparkling cider, “but let’s not go there right now. I’d prefer you to see me as your beautiful bride and the sexy woman you fell in love with, first.”
“Who said I didn’t?”
“Not me.” Claire toasted to their future happiness, but could barely swallow her cider. “What are we going to tell our families, Jake? My mother doesn’t even know I’m pregnant. My mother! I’ve been hiding it from her this whole time…”
He took her drink and placed both his and her glasses on the table. “Let’s not think about that right now, Claire. Tonight isn’t supposed to be about our families. It’s aboutus.It’s about me being with the woman I loved enough to marry. And it’s about you… however you feel about me. Hopefully, nice things.”
It’s about me marrying the man who stole my heart and soul. And put a baby in me.It was still romantic, even when she thought about it. “What families?” she said. “I don’t have a family. Certainly not one I have to tell anything when I get home.”
“Exactly.” Jake brought her in for a kiss. “We’ll discuss it tomorrow on the way home. For now, let us simply be husband and wife. There is nothing shameful in what we’ve done.”
How nice was it for him to absolve her of guilt and shame! Because that’s what lurked deep within Claire’s heart even after she signed the marriage license.This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not with him. Not like this.She was supposed to have a proper, public relationship that turned into a nice, long engagement and ended with a lovely wedding attended by their friends and family. Instead, they eloped in secret.Can we still have a wedding one day?Claire would appreciate it. Even a humble ceremony with her family present. Some of her friends. His mother and industry buddies. Was it too much to ask?
Even after she was legally wedded, Claire still had her girlish fantasies. She supposed they never died. They would keep her forever young.
“I love you, Jake Carter,” she said, inhaling the starch of his shirt and the aftershave on his face.
“And I love you, Claire Carter.”
Damn, that has a wonderful ring to it.That sounded like an actress’s name. Funny. She had been adamant about not taking Arthur’s last name, but had no problem changing it after marrying Jake. It was the same name, yet held a completely different connotation depending on the man.
Claire hadn’t just married the better Carter, however. She had married the father of her child. A man who would live long enough to see his baby grow up and possibly be by Claire’s side as she forwarded through her own life. Those weren’t pipe dreams she could indulge if she married Arthur – even if she had loved him.
“You’re not afraid of what will happen tomorrow?” Claire didn’t only mean going back to LA and facing what they had done in front of their families – hell, thepress!Their own names were mere footnotes in Hollywood, but Arthur Carter was a name that commanded the potential for scandal. As evident when a group of women knew they could bring him down a few pegs for what he had done to them. “Or the day after?”
Jake shook his head, hands pressing firmly into the small of her back. It brought her petite pregnancy bulge closer to him. “I’m not afraid of anything. I’m ready to face the consequences of our actions. Because I know it will be worth it.”
“You mean that?”
Their lips gently met between words. “Yes. I can’t imagine making a family with a worthier woman.”
“You put a lot of pressure on me to be worthy.”
“No pressure, since that’s how you already are.”
Claire shook her head, the top of her head brushing against his jaw. “I can’t believe this actually happened.”
“Believe it. Considering how the past few months have gone, I think it’s safe to say that it was meant to be.”
