Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21161 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 106(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21161 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 106(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
“How are the roads?” North ignores her question and asks his own.
“Plowed.” She smirks as her gaze lingers on me in a knowing way. I want to fall into a hole because obviously there’s something giving away what happened last night. I fight not to glance down at myself to see if I missed a button. Not that it matters because my face is flushing, and it’s telling Tinsel all she needs to know.
“Good.” North straightens his tie. “Judge Banks said he'd be down once the roads were cleared.” Both Tinsel and I give North a puzzled look. Why is Judge Banks coming here right now? He’s actually a retired judge, but everyone still calls him Judge Banks.
“Wait.” Tinsel holds her hand up. “First off, why is Donna telling everyone you’re dating Joy?”
“We’re not dating,” North says without missing a beat, and I try not to flinch at the quickness of his response.
“Not dating?” she asks again, and her eyes narrow on her brother. I think she might be getting pissed, but I’m not sure why.
“Nope.”
“Why is Banks coming here then? Is there something I need to know? I am the sheriff in this town.” She puts her hands on her hips.
Tinsel is in full uniform, and it’s so strange. Out of uniform, she can be sweet and unassuming at first glance. In uniform, she’s intimidating because she gets that same irritated expression North can put on. In some ways, they are a lot alike. In others they are total opposites.
“Did you think I called you here without a reason? Where’s Jack?”
“I’m here.” Jack pokes his head in the office like he’s been there the whole time. I guess he wasn’t visible from where we were standing.
“What’s the reason?” Tinsel asks, still glaring at her brother.
“I need witnesses.” North walks over to his desk.
“Bro, when you’re going to commit a crime, you don’t want witnesses or a judge. You’re the worst at being bad. You should leave it to me.” She throws her hands up.
“Tinsel, I’m not sure that’s the way an officer of the law should speak,” a deep, gravelly, familiar voice says as Judge Banks walks in. I glance down at myself to make sure nothing is out of place while everyone else is distracted with his arrival.
“This was a sting operation, Judge Banks. You just blew my cover,” Tinsel responds quickly with a straight face.
“Right.” Judge Banks chuckles as he strolls in. What is happening here? “Joy.” He gives me a warm smile that reminds me of my grandfather.
“Judge.” I smile back.
“Have you got the paperwork?” Judge Banks asks North as he walks over to where he’s standing. North hands him something, and Judge Banks nods. “All right, come on over, dear.” Judge motions to me, and I move toward him as he places the paper back down on North’s desk.
“Do you need me to sign something?” I ask, trying to steal a peek at whatever it is.
“We’ll get to that, but first…” Judge Banks clears his throat. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the joining of two lives.”
Tinsel and I both gasp, but that doesn’t stop Judge Banks. He goes on with the ceremony, and before I know it, North is pressing a chaste kiss to my lips and then having everyone sign on the dotted lines.
“Where the hell is Grandma’s ring?” Tinsel speaks first after Judge Banks says his goodbyes and leaves the four of us alone. I’m still in shock. He really did it. We got married. “Seriously?!” she snaps.
“This was last minute. I’ll get our rings as soon as we’re out of here,” he tells his sister.
Tinsel cocks her head to the side, and I can tell she wants to say more, but she doesn’t. I bet North will get an earful from her later on. Whatever it is, she doesn’t want to say in front of me. I’m guessing Grandma’s ring is something that’s passed down in their family and now belongs to North.
North didn’t say he’d get me a ring. He said he’d get us rings because the truth is, this isn’t real. It’s the smack of reality that I need because for a moment when I’d stared into North’s eyes and repeated my vows, it felt real, and I let myself get lost in the moment.
I even brushed off his quick kiss because I didn’t think North would be one for PDA. I never thought I would be either, but the idea of North openly showing me affection leaves a longing deep inside my heart. No, I suspect he would only do that for the woman he’ll give his grandmother's ring to. Maybe.
“We should host a celebration at the lodge.” Jack drapes his arm over Tinsel’s shoulder, trying to cut the tension between brother and sister. If anyone can wrangle the two of them, it’s him. Jack is North’s best friend, after all.