BROKEN (28 page)

Hank released her when they reached the end of the aisle and took his place beside Del.
 
She handed Liz the bouquet then took Mitch’s hands and faced him, her heart racing madly in her chest and her knees so weak she wasn’t sure she
would
be able to stand through the entire ceremony.
 
Then minister began to speak and she got lost in the depths of Mitch’s eyes and the enormous love she felt for him.
 
When it came time to exchange rings, she experienced a moment of panic.
 
Liz, bless her heart, leaned forward and pressed a man’s gold
en
wedding band into her palm.

“You owe me a prize bull for this,” Liz whispered.

Jessie was still trying to suppress a giggle when Mitch took her hand.
 
“Oh, Mitch,” she gasped when he started to slip the sparkling diamond ring over her finger.

Mitch pushed the ring snuggly in
to
place.
 
“With this ring, I take you as my wife, my friend, my partner.
 
I promise to love you always, to be faithful in both mind and body, to care for you, laugh with you, cry with you.
 
I give you my heart, Jess, for all eternity.”

Jessie blinked back the tears
,
knowing the words were his own and not something the minister had given him to memorize.
 
She took the ring Liz had given her and placed it on his finger.
 
“With this ring, I take you as my husband, my friend, my partner.
 
I promise to stand by you, to trust in you always, and be a good and faithful wife.
 
I love you, Mitch.
 
I’ve loved you from the moment you first took me in your arms and kissed me and I’ll go on loving you forever.”

Mitch slipped his arms around her waist and drew her into him.
 
He lowered his head and stopped just before their lips touched, waiting impatiently for the minister to pronounce them husband and wife.
 
When at last the words were spoken, he claimed her mouth with a searing kiss that caused quite a stir from their guests.
 
Then with a rakish grin, he lifted her up into his arms and carried her down the aisle amid happy smiles and hearty congratulations.
 
Outside the church, he paused long enough to kiss her again.

“Mrs. Kincaid,” he said huskily.
 
“God, I thought this day would never come.”

Jessie buried her face in his neck.
 
“I want you, Mitch.
 
I want to go home and make love for hours and hours.”

A low groan vibrated deep in his chest.
 
“Don’t tempt me woman, I’m very, very weak at this juncture.
 
There’s a reception at the Bed and Breakfast in town
,
but thanks to
doctor’s orders it won’t last long.
 
If we hurry, we can beat the guests there and make out in the parking lot for a few minutes.”

Jessie giggled as he hurried to his truck and settled her in the seat before rushing to the driver’s side.
 
She was gloriously happy
,
and even the prospect of having to be on bed rest for the next two months couldn’t dispel her good mood.
 
Stealing a glance at her husband, she thought being confined to bed might not be so bad after all.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                      
***

“Oh, Mitch,” she exclaimed when they entered the room where the reception was to be held.

“Do you like it, sweetheart?”

She left his side to wander through the room.
 
How could she not like it?
 
She
had
dined at the Bed and Breakfast more times than she could count but never had she seen it look so beautiful.
 
The tables had all been draped with white table clothes and each was adorned with bouquets of flowers and white candles.
 
Soft music played in the background and the tables had been arranged to allow room for dancing in the center of the room.
 
Streamers decorated the walls
,
and in one corner was a three tiered wedding cake.
 
Jessie gaped at it in wonder.

“How did you…I mean, the church and the decorations and the cake…”
 
She shook her head slowly.
 
“How could you possibly have done
all of
this in one day?”

Mitch came up behind her and wound his arms around her waist.
 
“After you fell asleep last night at the hospital
,
I went and had a talk with the boys.
 
They were all in the waiting area, every one of them looking as haggard as I felt.
 
I told them the truth, Jess.”

She turned in his arms, not at all sure she wanted to hear how they
had
taken the news.
 
“What did they say?”

“Nothing at first.
 
Then I told them how much I loved you and wanted to marry you.
 
I asked how fast they thought they could help me throw a wedding together.”
 
He chuckled at how quickly they
had
jumped on it.
 
“I think they were just so happy you and the babies were okay they would have agreed to anything.
 
I left the arrangements for the reception up to them and incorporated Jill and Liz’s help for the church and minister.”

“But the cake couldn’t have been ordered and delivered that fast.
 
How on earth did you manage that?”

“That was easy.
 
All it took was one call to my mother.
 
She throws some pretty lavish parties to raise money for charities so I was certain she
would
know someone who
could whip it up in one day.
 
Mom and Dad flew in with the chef this morning so he could use the facilities here to make it.”

Jessie stared at him in amazement.
 
“They flew a chef here just to make the cake?
 
That must have cost a fortune and…oh
,
my God, your parents are here?”
 
 

Mitch laughed.
 
“Yes, darling, and they’re dying to meet you.”

“But I’m
as
big as a barn door and I look…”

“Exceptionally beautiful,” he said with a soft smile.
 
“Jess, they know what you did for Adam, and they know what you’ve done for me.
 
They’re delighted about the babies and the marriage.”

“Are you sure?
 
I mean, they must think I’m just horrible for falling in love with you so soon after Adam’s death.”

“They don’t think anything of the sort.
 
Jess, they loved Adam just as much as I did
,
but none of us was blind to his faults.
 
For whatever reason, he never wanted marriage or children, though you might have changed his mind about both if he
had
lived.”
 

Jessie slipped her arms around his neck.
 
“No, Mitch, not even I could have done that.”

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“I know this is hard to talk about.
 
It was Adam’s death that brought us together, and
I’ve had the same feelings of guilt you have about our relationship.
 
But I honestly believe he would have been happy for us.
 
He wasn’t in love with me and I wasn’t in love with him
,
so marriage was completely out of the question.
 
As for children, it would have been impossible for Adam and me to conceive.”

“Why, because you were on birth control?”
 
He gave her a wry grin.
 
“That didn’t seem to stop me from getting you pregnant.”

“Mitch, I was never on any kind of birth control.”

He stared at her blankly.
 
“I…I don’t understand.”

“There was no need with Adam.
 
You see, he had a vasectomy a year before we met.
 
He never wanted children.
 
He thought it would be unfair
,
given the life he
had
chosen.”

“He never told me.
 
Is that when you became suspicious that I wasn’t Adam?”

“At first I was just scared.
 
Knowing about the vasectomy
, I
thought you wouldn’t believe the baby was yours.
 
That’s really when I started to put it all together.”

Mitch hugged her to him.
 
“I’m glad everyone knows the truth now.
 
As much as I wanted to be with you, I wasn’t sure I could do it if I had to keep pretending to be Adam.”

There wasn’t time to say any more because the wedding guests had started to pile in.
 
She wanted to finish the conversation, to learn more about what made him do it in the first place, but that would have to wait.
 
They
would
stay for the reception and then go back to the ranch, but she doubted they would have any further discussions tonight.
 
Tonight all she wanted to do was make love with her husband and dream about the future.
 

Jessie stood on her toes and gave Mitch a kiss before turning to greet their guests.
 
She was surprised to see that even more people had come for the reception than had attended the wedding
,
and imagined the boys had something to do with that.
 
But as they filtered in, she was met with an even bigger surprise when they all addressed Mitch by his real name.
 
She and Mitch exchanged curious glances repeatedly until the town gossip from the CO-OP clued them in.

Orin and his wife, Sally, entered the room carrying several packages with white wrapping and bright red bows.
 
Sally beamed at Jessie.
 
“We wanted to be the first ones to give a gift to the bride and groom.
 
It’s mostly baby things, but I couldn’t help myself once I started picking them out.”
 
She gave Mitch a knowing glance.
 
“And just for the record, I suspected right from the beginning you weren’t Adam.
 
You can ask Orin, he’ll tell you.
 
And then when Hank told us the little trick you two had played, I couldn’t help but gloat about the fact I
had
known all along.”

Mitch and Jessie kept the smiles pasted on their faces
, al
though they didn’t have a clue what Hank had said to the woman.
 
“So you weren’t fooled at all?”
 
Jessie couldn’t help asking.

“Not after he gave you that rather steamy kiss in our store,” Sally laughed.
 
“I’m just sorry you felt we wouldn’t understand, Jessie.
 
I mean, I’m sure Adam had some very good qualities or you wouldn’t have been with him for so long, but it’s quite obvious that Mitch is the man you were meant to fall in love with and marry.”

Orin congratulated them and shuffled his wife into the room so the other guests could have their turn.
 
There seemed to be a never ending stream of people and she was grateful for the supporting arm Mitch wound around her about fifteen minutes into it.
 
She was just beginning to worry that his parents had decided not to come to the reception after all when Jill shuffled in, sandwiched between an older version of Mitch and a stately dark haired woman who could only be their mother.
 
Jessie was immediately intimidated by the woman’s refined elegance but when Jill introduced them, Catherine Kincaid’s face broke into a smile that was both welcoming and sincere.