Page 58 of Marrying the Accidental Groom
“Do you need me to give it to him? I’m headed back there after this.”
Relief flooded the woman’s face. “Yes, that would be amazing. It’s very simple. At this point all you and Gideon have to do is sign the papers, and it’ll be like the marriage never happened. You can both go back to your normal lives. And you can tell Gideon that he owes me one. Trying to research the laws from Tealua took forever.” She laughed like this was a cute little errand instead of a nuclear bomb.
Juliana’s heart dropped so fast it felt like it might hit the stone bench beneath her. She forced a smile, even as her stomach twisted and her pulse started doing sprint intervals. The woman handed her a manila folder.
“I’ll make sure he gets it. Have fun on your vacation.”
“Merry Christmas to you both!” the woman called over her shoulder as she walked away.
Juliana sat frozen, the folder cold in her hands. The woman paused halfway down the block, turned back, and said, “I know this isn’t my place, but I feel like I have to say it. I know it waswhat you asked for, but you don’t have to sign those papers. Neither of you.”
Juliana managed a stiff nod, and then the red coat disappeared into the crowd.
She stared at the folder for a long moment before sliding a fingernail under the clasp.
Annulment paperwork. Even though it was exactly what she’d expected, it still hurt.
The folder felt heavier than it should have, edges cutting into her palms as she gripped it. For one dizzying moment, she considered tearing the whole thing in half as confetti for the wind to scatter down Main Street.
Her chest tightened, heat rising to her cheeks even as the cold air bit at them. A moment ago, she’d been debating Gideon’s gift, imagining his half-smile when he opened it to discover tickets for both of them to Thailand or a cruise to the Arctic. Now.. . now she couldn’t stop picturing him sitting in some stuffy office, desperately asking Ruby to draw up the paperwork. Planning their ending while she’d been inching toward a beginning.
The urge to march straight to the barn, shove the papers into his hands, and demand answers hit hard—so hard her foot actually shifted toward the curb. But the other urge, the one that told her to disappear into her cabin and lock the door, was just as fierce.
She’d spent weeks trying to untangle her feelings, and for the first time this morning, she’d thought she might actually be getting somewhere. That she might be ready to choose this...choosehim.
But what if he’d already chosen otherwise?
Her mother was right. No man would ever want her or her over-the-top need for control. She’d certainly let herself go while she’d been on the ranch, foregoing makeup and trading herslacks and blouses for jeans and hooded sweatshirts emblazoned with the Redemption Ranch logo.
Was that the problem? Or was it that she’d snapped at him for interrupting her yoga with the sound of his four-wheeler?
Her eyes burned. She blinked fast, refusing to let tears fall where anyone might see. Her grip on the folder loosened just enough to slip it into her tote bag, burying it under tissue paper and the bag of spice mixes like she could smother the reality inside.
She drew in a slow breath, the peppermint from her mocha now sharp and sour in her mouth. She’d thought she was ready to stay. To see where this detour could take her. But staying only worked if Gideon wanted her here too. And suddenly, she wasn’t so sure he did.
Laughter spilled from across the street, where a group of bundled kids darted between lampposts strung with garland, chasing the scent of cinnamon-roasted almonds from a nearby cart. The air itself felt dipped in sugar and cinnamon, festive and warm in a way Juliana might have let herself sink into if not for the manila folder burning a hole in her lap.
She pulled her coat tighter, trying to shut it all out, but the cheer just pressed closer. Someone across the way called out “Merry Christmas” to her with the kind of easy joy she couldn’t quite return.
Headlights swept over the bench, breaking her focus. Cassie’s SUV slowed to the curb, the passenger window rolling down as Bing Crosby floated through the opening.
“Hey, you ready?” Cassie called, leaning over the passenger seat with a grin. “Hope you found something good for my brother. He’s impossible to shop for.”
Juliana’s fingers curled tighter around the tote bag in her lap, feeling the sharp corner of the manila folder pressing throughthe canvas. She forced a smile, the kind that felt glued in place. “Yeah. I... think so.”
Cassie’s gaze flicked to her face, like she might ask something, but the honk of a car behind them made her shift back to the wheel. “Hop in. I need your opinion on something. Mom wants to do this over-the-top hot chocolate bar at the Christmas Eve service. Have you been up to the Triple R Chapel yet?”
Juliana shook her head and was grateful when Cassie kept talking unprompted.
“Oh, it’s totally gorgeous. Honestly, I wish I would have had a real wedding there. I need to convince Jason to do a vow renewal or something. Anyway, we always have a Christmas Eve service there for anyone on the ranch who wants to come. It’s at sunset and the glass that overlooks the mountain shows off the whole valley. Then it gets dark, and we do the whole candlelit carols thing.”
“Sounds lovely,” Juliana managed to add.
“Totally is. And Mom wants to do this hot chocolate bar too. I want to show it to you this week and see if you think we can swing it in the space.”
She nodded and stared out the window for the drive back to the ranch, clenching her fists as though she could hold herself together with a grip on her palm. She had come to Redemption Ridge brittle and guarded, convinced she could keep her distance and just wait it out. But somewhere between the trail rides, the barn dance, and the quiet moments when Gideon saw past all her defenses, she’d let hope sneak back in.
Hope that maybe God wasn’t finished with her story.
