Wed By Necessity. Karen Kirst

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СКАЧАТЬ made her feel—jumpy and awkward and strangely empty—and prayed she was right.

      Louise breezed inside the bedroom. “It’s time, Caroline.” She appeared to have acquired dozens more wrinkles about her mouth in the hours since that morning.

      Jane gave her hand a final squeeze. “You’re going to be fine. You’re God’s beloved child. He’s allowing this for a reason.”

      Caroline worried over that tidbit the entire trek down the stairs, through the main floor and out into the sweltering July afternoon. The heavy air closed around her like a wool glove. The heat, combined with nerves, caused her palms to grow damp. While she considered herself a follower of Jesus Christ, she’d never felt like a beloved child of God. She’d never felt like anyone’s beloved.

      The yard was blessedly empty of most of the morning’s onlookers. As she made her way into the shade of a multitude of oak and maple trees, her gaze swept those in attendance. Their out-of-town guests, including Isaiah and Theo, congregated on her left. Theo’s expression was inscrutable, his light eyes intent on her. The group on her right was comprised of her friends and their husbands. Tom was there waiting for Jane to rejoin him. Shane stood with his arm around Allison, his wife, who shot her a reassuring smile. Caroline’s gaze fell to Allison’s unmistakable pregnancy, and she stumbled. Panic clawed its way to the surface.

      “Miss Caroline.” Wendell stood shyly off to the side, wearing his finest clothes, his wispy black hair slicked off his face. He held out a bouquet of white and yellow blossoms plucked from the gardens. “For you.”

      Her fingers closing around the stems, she brought the flowers to her nose, hoping the rush of emotion would pass.

      “How thoughtful of you, Wendell,” she murmured. “Thank you.”

      He dipped his head. The affection in his brown-black eyes made her want to weep. Since the day they’d arrived in Tennessee, the older man had taken a shine to her. He’d been kind. He’d invited her to help him with the flowers, and she’d accepted, mostly because she’d known Louise wouldn’t approve. But then she’d started to enjoy his company and the work, and an unlikely friendship had flourished. He’d become like a benevolent grandfather.

      Unable to linger, she took a single step and encountered the reverend standing with a striking, somewhat forbidding stranger. Caroline halted. She scanned the manicured lawns. Where was Duncan?

      She peered at the stranger a second time. His expression had gone grimmer than before, his familiar cobalt gaze searing her like a branding iron. She hadn’t recognized him at first. His auburn hair had been cut military short on the sides and back, the top locks left slightly longer to spill over his forehead. The beard was gone. The planes and angles of his face were uncovered for her inspection. His jaw was square and firm, his chin unyielding, his full, sculpted mouth softening the noble beauty of his features. His tan was uneven, but a few days in the sun would fix that.

      Caroline’s lungs squeezed every last drop of air out. In his crisp black suit and snowy white shirt, her husband-to-be was elegant and refined, his bearing that of a king assured of his subjects’ loyalty. His new appearance couldn’t hide the untamed part of him that fascinated her, however, and she knew then and there she was in big trouble.

      * * *

      “Please join hands.”

      Duncan automatically obeyed the reverend’s directive, reaching for Caroline’s and enclosing them in his. Her skin was smooth and cool, the opposite of his work-worn hands. He thought his heart might fail him. As the words rolled from the older man’s lips, Duncan stared at the woman who was about to pledge to love, honor and obey him. She didn’t love him. Didn’t respect him. As for heeding his wishes? He doubted she’d do that without a fight.

      She didn’t look like any bride he’d ever seen. Brides were supposed to wear flowing white gowns and appear serenely happy as they met their groom at the altar. Caroline may as well have been attending a costume ball or an opera. And she didn’t look serene in the slightest. Gone was the haughty disdain. She looked as if a single tap of his finger would shatter her into a thousand pieces. Not an auspicious start to any union.

      Unfortunately, the garish ensemble didn’t lessen her outward appeal...an appeal he would have to fight against. He’d seen her reaction to his polished appearance. He’d assumed, wrongly, that she’d prefer him shorn and shaved. But the moment she’d spied him, she’d glanced about for a way of escape. He repulsed her.

      She wouldn’t even meet his gaze. Her luminous blue eyes, dark and tumultuous, were fastened on his collar. Every few seconds, she’d moisten her lips and pull in slivers of air. Because her hair had been pulled into a tight roll at the back of her head, he could see the rapid pulse in the curve of her neck. Duncan had the inane urge to place his fingertips there, to soothe her anxiety, to make her feel better about what was happening.

      Who was he kidding? She wouldn’t welcome his touch.

      “Do you, Duncan McKenna, take this woman, Caroline Turner, to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

      He didn’t speak. All he could think was that his parents and his brothers were missing the most momentous day of his life. He pictured his kilt hanging in his wardrobe and his great-grandmother’s ring that had been kept in the family safe for his future bride. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to have gone.

      At his prolonged silence, Caroline finally lifted her eyes to search his. The whirlwind of emotions there punched him in the gut.

      “Aye.”

      Her throat worked, and in that moment, her disquiet was palpable.

      “Do you, Caroline Turner, take this man, Duncan McKenna, to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

      “I...” Her hands were trembling now. “I do.”

      Her lids slid down, blocking his view.

      “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

      Duncan stood there, numb to the core. He was locked in a marriage he hadn’t asked for, all because of this woman’s willful behavior. A fresh shock of anger pulsed through him.

      He released her hands and adopted a casual air. “We can skip that part, Reverend. We all know ’tisna a love match.”

      Several of the women gasped. Louise, his new mother-in-law, latched on to Albert’s arm. The reverend frowned, uncertain how to proceed. Caroline kept her gaze on the grass at their feet. Was she paler than she’d been a few moments ago? Did that mean she was relieved at having been spared his attentions or was she merely annoyed at his rude behavior? At the moment, he couldn’t find the energy to care.

      His father-in-law saved the day. Lifting a hand above his head, he invited everyone to join the bride and groom in the parlor, where refreshments had been set out to mark the momentous occasion. Conversation joined the birds’ song as a few came over to offer awkward congratulations. A dark-haired man approached Caroline, and she edged closer to Duncan.

      “Theo. Meet Duncan McKenna.”

      He shook hands and murmured the proper pleasantries, but his eyes were hard and his smile predatory. Disregarding Duncan’s presence, Theo rested his hands on Caroline’s shoulders and bent his head.

      “Congratulations, Caroline,” he murmured. СКАЧАТЬ