Platinum Grooms: Pregnant at the Wedding. Sara Orwig

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СКАЧАТЬ a heavy heart she stared at the keys in his open palm. She could walk away and her father would give her his support. Did she want to escape this marriage to Ryan? Because here was her last chance before taking a vow.

      Had something gone wrong? Ryan knew time was passing.

      While he stood at the altar, he reminded himself to be patient. Maybe it was something with Ashley’s dress or hair that had delayed her.

      The bridesmaids were in place and the organist was improvising, playing the same music repeatedly.

      Right now, their wedding night seemed a thousand hours away instead of the end of the day. Ryan’s father stood beside him, and Nick and Jake were lined up beyond his dad and brothers. Ryan glanced over the large crowd. His church was beautiful, with rock walls, a vaulted ceiling and a huge pipe organ. The carpet was a brilliant blue and sunshine poured through the stained glass windows, which glowed like multicolored jewels, but he barely noticed his surroundings. He wanted to glance at his watch. Ashley was late, which was uncharacteristic of her.

      Where was she? Had something happened? Was she having cold feet at the last minute? Worries plagued him and he thought about the moment this morning when he had been seized by the feeling that he had pushed Ashley too hard into this wedding. But then he’d come to the same conclusion he always had, that marriage was the best for all concerned.

      Should he have waited and courted her, and married her after the baby’s arrival?

      Too late now, unless she had run out on him. He shifted his weight slightly, wanting to leave and go find her. He’d heard of runaway brides.

      And then he saw her appear in the narthex and take her father’s arm. They stood talking, and Ryan wished they would begin. Finally, the organist received the signal that the bride was ready.

      As Ashley walked toward him down the aisle, all of Ryan’s worries and apprehensions vanished. His mouth went dry and his heart pounded. He remembered the first hour he’d met her at a party, and how he’d been drawn to her easy smile and open friendliness with everyone. The attraction between them had been instant and intense.

      Today she looked stunning, incredibly beautiful, and he didn’t have a qualm or doubt that he was doing the right thing. He couldn’t imagine that they wouldn’t fall deeply in love.

      She was ravishing, sexy, independent. So far as he could discover, she had great qualities. He liked her family. Reassured they were doing the best possible thing, he watched her. He wanted her to himself, and knew this would be one of the longest days of his life until he could get her away for their honeymoon.

      As she drew closer, he frowned. She was pale as snow and wouldn’t look at him.

      Surely this wasn’t her anger stirred up all over again. Last night at their rehearsal dinner, she had seemed to have a great time, and had kissed him thoroughly before she’d told him good-night. Yet as her father placed her hand in his, Ryan knew something was dreadfully awry. Her father’s expression reinforced his suspicions.

      When they turned to repeat their vows, Ryan clasped Ashley’s icy hands and glanced at her bare throat. Where was the diamond-and-pearl necklace he had given her the night before? She had seemed thrilled with it, and said she’d wear it today, but no necklace adorned her throat now.

      Ryan couldn’t wait to talk to her, and tried to concentrate on their wedding, knowing he should pay attention. Yet there was no way that Ashley was enjoying one minute of it. What had happened?

      Finally the minister pronounced them man and wife. He introduced them to the crowd and they swept up the aisle. Ryan held Ashley’s arm and motioned to an usher. “Tell the photographer that we’ll be right back for pictures,” he said, before turning to her. “Come here,” he ordered, and tugged lightly on her arm. She went with him down a long hall, and the first empty room he could find, he stepped inside. Closing the door behind them, he gripped her shoulders and leaned down to look directly into her eyes.

      “What’s wrong?” he asked.

      She gazed at him with a glacial expression. “I don’t know why I thought I could count on you. This marriage isn’t built on respect and trust.”

      “What are you talking about? Trust me about what?”

      “To be faithful. To not announce that I’m pregnant and that you have to marry me.”

      Shocked, he frowned. “What on earth are you talking about? I haven’t done any such thing. There hasn’t been another woman in my life since you came into it. The only people I’ve told about your pregnancy were our families, when you were with me.”

      “Please!”

      “That’s the truth! Where’s all this coming from?”

      “Kayla came to see me before the wedding—”

      “Dammit!” Fury boiled in him over a woman from his past that he couldn’t shake out of his present. “You listened to her?” His anger intensified, hot and swift and blinding, but was followed instantly by common sense and relief. “Ashley, there’s not one shred of truth in anything she said to you. I swear, there isn’t. I wish I’d never met her.”

      Ashley’s eyes widened as she searched his gaze.

      “Kayla is over and out of my life, whether she likes it or not,” he insisted. “There hasn’t been anyone—”

      “How’d she know that I’m pregnant?”

      Surprised, he slid his hands down Ashley’s upper arms. “Darlin’, I don’t know what she said to you, but I’d say that she was guessing. If you’d denied being pregnant, she would’ve shrugged it away. Knowing you, I doubt you contradicted her. I swear to you that I didn’t tell her that you’re pregnant, nor have I been unfaithful to you.”

      “She said I wasn’t in your class, and the only reason you’d marry me was out of pity, since I’m pregnant.”

      “Dammit, forget all that rubbish about class. I’ve told you about my past. I came from nothing. I’m not of one class and you another. That’s absurd. It sounds feudal. You have a great family. I like them and I’m not marrying you out of pity or sympathy or any such thing. Kayla guessed the pregnancy. Did you confirm it?”

      “No. I was stunned,” Ashley replied quietly. “Her accusation of your being unfaithful isn’t true. Or am I being naive to ask?”

      “Hardly. I told you, there hasn’t been anyone for a long time, definitely not since you’ve been back in my life. Nothing Kayla said was the truth,” he insisted. “I promise you.”

      Her gaze searched his and he waited quietly, knowing she was weighing what he’d said against what Kayla had told her. “I almost left this morning,” Ashley admitted.

      “Thank heavens you didn’t!” he exclaimed. “Okay, now?”

      While silence again stretched between them, he gazed into her eyes, until she nodded. “Okay. I may be the most gullible woman on earth, but I’ll accept what you’re saying.”

      “Ashley, time will show you that I’m truthful. C’mon, let’s go enjoy our wedding.”

      “All through the ceremony СКАЧАТЬ