Free Breakwater Beach by Carole Ann Moleti Page B

was emptied of all emotion, like a hollow shell scrubbed clean by rough surf and washed up on the beach.
    “Okay, Mom. But let’s just bring it downstairs. We can take it outside in the morning.”
    They dragged and pushed the heavy mattress, and then the box spring, down the steps and stacked them by the front door. Jay hugged her and went back to bed. She fell asleep sitting up on the living room sofa.
    The warmth of the sun coming through the windows woke her. She made coffee for Jay and even had a cup herself, just for the caffeine jolt. As she cooked bacon and eggs, Jay ambled downstairs, fully dressed.
    “It smelled so good in here, I had to get up. Are you sure you’re okay, Mom?” Tiredness clouded his eyes, and concern still softened his touch on her shoulder.
    “I’m fine, Jay, really.” Liz forced that smile again, wishing he’d stop staring at her like she was a time bomb about to blow up.
    After breakfast, he helped her take the bedding out for the trash collection. Seeing it piled next to the curb felt better than looking at it naked and empty in her bedroom. The decision to move was the right one.

Chapter 8
    Spring 1873
    Berkshire and London, England
    “Miss Baxter is twenty-seven, and I am twenty-eight.” Edward handed over their baptismal certificates.
    The civil registrar in Berkshire puttered about the office. “Where are those spectacles?” He held the forms so close to his face that his nose brushed the paper.   
    “No need for parental permission then. Mr. Barrett, your father was a farmer here in Berkshire. Deceased. Miss Baxter, your father is a . . . What does that say? Ah, a Lather. From? We must establish place of residence.”
    Elisabeth glanced at Edward. He shook his head to warn her not to correct him. The man’s misinterpretation was of no consequence. She hadn’t lied, and they were of age. But this was too good to be true.
    Elisabeth looked back at the registrar. “Surrey.”
    “You’ve traveled a good bit then. No family attending?”
    “Just my brother—as witness.” Edward handed the registrar his assignment letter from Somersell Shipping and The Sea Mist ’s bill of lading. “He’s all the family I’ve got, and I’m leaving in two days’ time.”
    While the fellow again pressed his face to the page, Edward’s brother smiled and winked. Edmond had been right. The man was half-blind and too good-natured to refuse any reasonable request for an expedited ceremony.
    Edmond now lived in their old farmhouse. He’d agreed to allow Edward to stay there to meet the residency requirement and even offered to hide Elisabeth until Edward could send for her. But the disruption to his family would have been too great, especially if His Lordship tracked his daughter down and found out where the ceremony had taken place and who was in attendance.
    The registrar abandoned the search for spectacles and waved his hands in surrender. He studied the paperwork. “Protestant and Catholic, eh. No religious ceremony planned then?”
    “When I return we’ll have the vows solemnized in a church.” Edward wanted the questions to end and it all to be done before something went amiss. No matter how fortuitous the registrar’s visual problems were in transposing Lord into Lather, too many questions were likely to lead to answers, which would confound the whole deal.
    “Step over here.” The registrar’s lips curled into a benevolent smile. He raised his hands like a priest, obviously enjoying this part of the job.
    Edward had given Edmond the out-of-date suit he’d bought when he first met Elisabeth. He sported his full dress uniform. With the brass trimmings he for once outshone Elisabeth in drab green wool, with no jewelry. Katherine had abandoned her maid’s attire, and the two women looked like villagers out for a day of marketing. Edward took Elisabeth’s hand. Katherine and Edmond stood behind them.
    The registrar handed Edward a copy of the vows to read. Edward turned to