The Maverick's Wedding Wager

Chapter Three

They had decided to take his black decked-out GMC truck for the thirty-minute trip to Kalispell. Was Knox bluffing or was he truly pleased that they were on their way to get married? She had watched the man put away scrambled eggs, bacon, three biscuits with butter and honey, grits and two large glasses of orange juice. She had no idea how he could eat at a time like this! Her stomach felt like a washing machine on a spin cycle; the coffee she had drunk at the diner was just adding to the acid backing up in her throat. She felt miserable while he hummed contentedly behind the wheel.

“You played me pretty good, Knox. I have to admit it.”

For two people who normally had a lot to say to each other, the first half of the ride to Kalispell had been a quiet one.

“How do you figure?”

“You knew I wouldn’t be able to turn down a wager. You knew my weakness and you exploited it.”

“That’s true. I did.”

“That’s a move right out of my own playbook. I don’t like it but I have to respect it,” she admitted grudgingly.

After a moment of silence she added, “I’ve never lost a wager before.” She had her arms crossed in front of her body as she stared out at the pastureland dotted with grazing cows on either side of the highway. “It galls me to lose to a Texan of all things.”

“You didn’t lose,” Knox said with an easy smile turned her way. “I’d call this one a draw.”

“Draws are for losers.”

“That’s not how I see it. We’re both winners, as far as I can tell.”

“The only way I win is if you back out. I can still win. There’s still time.”

He laughed. “I’m not backing out of this wedding wager, Gen. If someone’s gonna back out of this deal, it’s gonna have to be you.”

Genevieve glanced over at Knox’s profile; she took in the strong jawline and the straight nose. Had she finally met her match? Was this cowboy crazy enough to really elope today? Was she so pigheaded that her ego wouldn’t let her back down for a bet? She suspected the answer to her first two questions, but she absolutely knew the answer to the last. Her ego wouldn’t ever let her back down—not when she was racing, not when she was bungee jumping and not even when she was about to elope with one of the Crawford cowboys on a dare.

“Then,” she said with a pensive frown, “I guess we’re really going to get married today.”

“Darlin’, that’s music to my ears.”

“Quit being so darn cheerful,” she snapped at him. “And quit calling me darlin’.”

* * *

Genevieve had hoped for a long line to apply for their marriage license. There was a line, but it seemed to be the swiftest moving line she had ever seen. How did it even make sense that two people could just walk up to a counter and get a license to get married? But that’s what they did. They went to the third floor of the Flathead County Justice Center, showed their driver’s licenses, paid fifty-three dollars and left with a state sanctioned “permission slip” to become husband and wife.

“This is why there’s so much divorce in this country,” Genevieve complained as they stepped out into the sunshine with their marriage license in hand. “They make it too darn easy for just anyone to say I do.”

“Lucky for us.” Knox carefully folded up their marriage license and tucked it into his wallet.

Genevieve had stopped waiting for the cowboy to back out—she could see that he was full-steam ahead on this deal while her mind was whirling with a thousand consequences. What were her parents going to say? What was his family going to say? Of course, she could hear her mother now. Genevieve, when will you ever learn to look before you leap?

“We aren’t exactly dressed for a wedding, are we?” Knox asked as they walked to the sidewalk outside of the Kalispell courthouse.

“I didn’t expect you to show up,” she admitted. In fact, she had only stuffed some things into a backpack at the last minute before she headed to the Gold Rush on the off chance he did show. In her backpack she had a toothbrush, a hairbrush, her laptop and a Swiss Army pocketknife. Not exactly the most practical of wedding trousseaus.

“Well, I did.” He kept on smiling at her like the cat that ate the canary. “So, why don’t we find some wedding duds? There’s got to be a place where a man can get a suit and a bride-to-be can find a dress.”

She wasn’t quite sure why Knox wanted to make such an event of a civil ceremony for their marriage-in-name-only, but the thought crossed her mind that her family, particularly her two sisters and her mom, would want to see pictures. Her family would totally buy her eloping in her barn clothes—they almost expected that kind of behavior from her—but what about Knox’s kin? Would they believe their elopement was the real deal if they didn’t look like a head-over-heels couple sneaking off to make their secret romance official?

“I suppose,” she said, looking up the main street of Kalispell to a row of shops. “If we’re going to convince your father that we eloped because we’re crazy in love, we had better look the part.”

After a quick search on her phone, they headed toward the Kalispell Center Mall on North Main Street. They found their way to Herberger’s department store for one-stop shopping. First, they purchased simple white gold wedding rings, just plain bands without any embellishment. After all, those rings were just costume props and would be discarded once Viv Shuster managed to get the last three Crawford cowboys engaged.

Knox hadn’t wanted to scare Genevieve off, but it could take a while for Viv to make matches for the final three brothers. His brother Finn, older by only one year, might be the easiest to pin down with a bride. Finn didn’t seem to mind their father’s plan all that much and he was always falling in and out of love anyway. But, his one younger brother Wilder was going to prove extra challenging for Viv—he was a busy bee that loved to pollinate all the lovely flowers of Rust Creek Falls and it was going to be a neat trick to get Wilder to dedicate himself to one special rose. And, Hunter, well, he was a single father who wasn’t focused on finding love in the least. Hunter’s heart, mind, and soul were all wrapped up in six-year-old Wren.

Knox pocketed the wedding rings as they parted ways—he headed to the men’s clothing section, while she headed for women’s dresses. They agreed to meet back at the jewelry counter in one hour. Genevieve wasn’t much of a shopper but she was quick to make decisions, so one hour suited her just fine.

“Hi! Welcome to Herberger’s.” A petite salesclerk with a blond bob and bangs popped out from behind a tall rack of dresses. “How may I help you?”

“I need a dress.”

“Special occasion?”

“My wedding,” Genevieve said. “I suppose.”

“You suppose?” The salesclerk’s name tag read Kimber. “That’s a first. Don’t you know?”

She didn’t have any intention of sharing the details of her wedding wager to Knox Crawford with a stranger in Herberger’s department store, so she ignored Kimber’s question and focused on the dress.

“Do you have something you could show me? I’m in a bit of a time crunch.”

“Of course, I do.” Kimber beamed with pleasure. “I love dressing brides. White, off-white?”

“White.” That was for her mom—it was a small token but it was the least she could do.

“Indoors or outdoors?”

Not wanting to say “I don’t know,” she just took a guess. “Outdoors.”

Kimber marched her over to a section of white dresses that could be worn as a casual-ceremony wedding dress.

“You are short-waisted and petite like me,” the salesclerk said as they sifted through the rack. “If we aren’t careful, we’ll have you looking like you’re a little girl playing dress-up in your mama’s clothes. What size do you wear?”

“In a dress? I have no idea.” She hadn’t put a dress on her body since high school graduation. “A four maybe?”

“Ooooh, look at this!” Kimber pulled a gauzy white dress off the rack. It was a high-low dress with spaghetti straps and a sash at the waist. “What do you think?”

Genevieve felt the material—it was light and airy and it wasn’t too fussy or girly. “I think, yes.”

The moment she saw herself in the mirror with this flowing hippy-girl dress skimming over her body, she knew. This was her wedding dress. Kimber’s beaming face was further confirmation that the first dress she had tried was the only dress she needed to try. They found a pair of cowgirl boots in white in the shoe department, which worked perfectly with the gauzy dress. Kimber insisted that Genevieve go over to see her friend at the makeup counter just for a touch of mascara, blush and a light lip gloss. By the time she left the makeup counter in her new dress, her hair wavy and loose, Genevieve saw a bride in the full-length mirror.

“Thank you.” She hugged Kimber. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”

“You look absolutely, positively gorgeous, Genevieve!” the salesclerk gushed. “Congratulations.”

* * *

Knox was early to the jewelry counter, feeling slightly awkward in his new dark gray suit, crisp white shirt and a bolo tie. The suit wasn’t a perfect fit—it was a little tight in the shoulders and the pants and the jacket sleeves were almost too short—but it was the best the store could do. He checked his watch before he tugged on his shirtsleeves and adjusted his bolo tie for the sixth time. He couldn’t remember ever feeling this nervous to see a woman before, yet Genevieve wasn’t just any woman. She was about to be his wife. At the moment, it didn’t matter that it wasn’t a genuine marriage—in the eyes of the State of Montana, their families and God above, they were about to be husband and wife.

One minute to the hour, Knox looked up from checking his watch and saw Genevieve round the corner in a filmy white dress with thin straps that showed off her tanned arms, toned from years of working with horses. Genevieve always presented herself as a confident, assured woman. Today, there was hesitancy in her cornflower blue eyes—a fleeting vulnerability that touched him. She wanted his approval; he could see it in her eyes. He didn’t have to fake what he was feeling in the moment—he had never seen a more beautiful bride.

“Gen,” Knox said, his eyes drinking her in. “You’re a vision.”

A pink blush stained her cheeks, so lovely and sweet that it made him want to reach out and touch her, but he resisted that urge.

“Thank you,” she said. He had never seen this almost shy side to this woman and he had to admit that he liked it.

“I like that tie.”

Knox looked down at the bolo tie. He hadn’t been too sure about that fashion choice, but the salesman swore it was the item of choice for many Kalispell grooms.

“When in Kalispell...” he said, making yet another attempt to adjust the tie to make it less tight around his neck. Giving up, he held out his arm to his bride-to-be. “Shall we?”

Genevieve looked at his extended arm and he could almost see her thoughts as she stood there considering. A shift occurred on her pretty oval face. He witnessed the exact moment she decided, once and for all, to be his wife.

“Okay,” she finally said. “Yes.”

When Genevieve tucked her arm through his, a calm flooded his body. He had never felt so comfortable with a woman on his arm before. It was as if having this petite, strong-willed woman beside him made him feel more at home with himself. He didn’t understand it exactly, but he knew that it meant something more than he could figure in this moment. All he knew was that Genevieve was special and she was going to be his bride.

“Where are we going to do the deed?” she asked him as they left the mall.

“It’s a surprise.”

“I have to tell you, I’m not a huge fan of surprises.”

“This one you’ll like.”

* * *

“Lawrence Park.” Genevieve read the sign at the public park entrance. She had been to Kalispell many times in her life, but she had never known that there was a park that shared her last name.

“There’s a walking trail that leads to Stillwater River. I know you like the outdoors, so I thought that would be a good place to get married.”

Knox’s thoughtfulness caught her off guard. She had always gotten the impression that he was a hardworking man—a good man—but he had never really come across as an overly romantic or thoughtful man. This gesture showed her a different side of Knox Crawford—a side that she had to admit that she liked very much.

“There’s Sonny.” Knox nodded through the windshield at a heavyset man with a long white beard standing in faded overalls by an antique Ford truck. Beside Sonny was a woman in a long flowered dress and tennis shoes, her salt-and-pepper hair in a single thick braid down her back. In the woman’s hands was a simple bouquet of Montana wildflowers.

“Is he officiating the wedding?”

Knox nodded. He came to her side of the truck and helped her out. “He goes way back with my dad. I knew he would be willing to help us out on short notice.”

“Hello, young man!” Sonny raised his hand in greeting. “You picked a mighty fine day to get married.”

Knox clasped hands with Sonny, then hugged his wife, Cora, before he introduced them to Genevieve.

“Knox wanted me to bring these for you.” Cora handed her the flowers. “He’s always been such a thoughtful boy.”

Genevieve took the flowers, with a quick glance up at Knox who was watching her closely. She smiled down at the bouquet. Wildflowers were the perfect flowers for her.

“Young love is always in such a hurry.” Cora smiled at her. “We were so surprised to get Knox’s call.”

“You’re father’s not gonna be too pleased with me, what with all of this secrecy,” Sonny said as he thoughtfully tugged on his beard.

“I appreciate you doing this for us.” Knox put his arm around her shoulder and she had to force herself to stand still and plaster a smile on her face. From this moment forward, she was Knox Crawford’s blushing and loving bride and she had to act like it.

“Yes,” she said. “Thank you. This all happened so fast for us.” She met her fiancé’s eyes. “We just want our first moments as husband and wife to be ours.”

“My Cora and I eloped, so I can’t really say I don’t understand your thinkin’,” Sonny said, still tugging on his beard. It seemed to Genevieve that there was a possibility that Sonny wouldn’t agree to marry them after all. But, in the end, Cora gently persuaded her husband to go forward with the ceremony.

The four of them walked along the narrow path to the edge of the Stillwater River. They picked a spot where a small group of tall trees lined the bank of the river, shading them from the afternoon sun. With the sound of the water rushing over the rocks, Genevieve held her wildflowers tightly in her hands and stood before Knox, facing him, as Sonny began the intimate ceremony. Cora moved around them with her camera, capturing candid moments as her husband opened his bible to read a suitable verse from Corinthians on the patience and kindness of love.

It was difficult for Genevieve to keep her focus on Knox’s eyes. It did not escape her that she was getting ready to commit herself to him on a dare—on a wager. Her parents had been married for over thirty years and they took their marriage vows seriously. They would be so disappointed in her for taking a vow, saying that she intended to love Knox for life knowing full well that the marriage would end sooner rather than later. That thought of her parent’s disappointment and the sad expression on her mother’s face when she found out that she had missed the moment her daughter took her wedding vows almost made her turn away and bolt down the path back toward the truck.

Sonny closed his bible and added his own thoughts to the occasion. “The commitment you made here today will be the foundation upon which your marriage will be built. Don’t ever go to bed mad. Forgive each other and move on. Say I love you every day and never get too old to hold each other’s hands.”

Sonny smiled at his wife for a brief moment before he continued. “You’ve got to give each other room to grow because, in the end, it will be the two of you, standing together, facing the challenges of everyday life. If you always remember this moment and the love you have for each other right now, this sacred union will last you a lifetime and beyond.”

Cora stepped quietly forward and took the bouquet of flowers from Genevieve as Sonny prepared for the ring exchange. Knox took her hand in his and it flashed in her mind that she liked how strong, large and rough this man’s hand was. It was the hand of a working man.

“With this ring, I thee wed.” He slid the simple white gold band onto her ring finger. She detected the slightest tremble when he did so, and realized that, beneath the seemingly calm exterior he was presenting, Knox was feeling as uncertain, off balanced and flustered as she was. A split second later, it was her turn. She didn’t look up at him as she slipped his wedding band over his knuckle until it was snugly seated on his ring finger. Then Knox squeezed her hand and when she looked up into his face, he was smiling at her kindly with his eyes.

“Knox and Genevieve, you have come to this beautiful place to vow to love each other for the rest of your lives. You have exchanged rings as a symbol of this commitment.”

“Genevieve, do you take this man to be your husband? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health—and, forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?”

It took Genevieve several seconds to make the words “I do” come out of her mouth. The moment the words finally did come out, Cora snapped a close-up photograph of her face and she hoped only that her internal turmoil wasn’t captured for everyone to see.

“I do.” When she said those words, there was a waver in her voice that she didn’t recognize. It wasn’t her way to be uncertain about anything in her life; she lived her life as she raced off-road vehicles—pedal to the metal and full steam ahead.

“Knox, do you take this beautiful woman to be your wife? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health—and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?”

Knox lowered his head so she could see his eyes—eyes that were so steady and intent on her face. “I do.”

“Well, then,” Sonny said as he rolled back on his heels a bit, “by the power vested in me by the glorious State of Montana, I am tickled pink to pronounce you husband and wife. Knox, my boy, you may kiss your lovely bride.”

She couldn’t get her heart to stop beating so fast. Her chest was rising and falling in the most annoying way as Knox, still holding on to her hands, with a question in his eyes that only she understood, leaned down and lightly kissed her on the lips.

It was their first kiss; it was their only kiss.

It occurred to her in that moment, as she stood there with her eyes closed, focusing her attention on the first feel of her husband’s lips pressed gently upon hers, that she didn’t want that kiss to end.

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