When he turned back, he wore a forced casual smile. “And what kind of groom would I be? Temporary? Part-time?”
I laughed. “Lifelong. Full-time.”
His eyes lit with unrestrained joy. “Yes. Yes!”
As if afraid I’d change my mind, he pulled me into his car and told the driver, “Get us to the County Clerk’s Office as fast as you can!”
I looked at him in surprise. “Do you even have your documents with you?”
Daniel nodded seriously. “I’m always ready to marry you.”
At the County Clerk’s Office, Daniel Walker finally let out a sigh of relief only after we had completed the registration and received our marriage certificate.
The entire way there, he had been worried I might change my mind.
As we stepped outside, I looked at the burgundy-covered certificate in my hands, a wave of emotion washing over me.
“My father liked you a lot,” I whispered. “He mentioned you to me several times. If only he could see this.”
Daniel’s voice was low. “No word from Mr. Bennett yet?”
I nodded faintly. “It’s been three years since he went missing.”
Three years ago, my mother, Julia Bennett, died in a car accident overseas.