Free The Accidental Bride by Denise Hunter Page A

licensed or ordained minister may perform ceremony . Check.
    Do not have to be a resident of Wyoming . Check.
    â€œThe girls don’t know either, Travis. Oh my, this is all my fault.”
    â€œI’m sure it’s a mistake. The license is fourteen years old. It can’t be any—”
    License is valid indefinitely .
    Gulp.
    â€œWhat is it?”
    Travis cleared his throat. “A Wyoming license has no expiration date.”
    â€œOh my.”
    He kept reading, looking for something. There had to be something. “This is not good.”
    â€œNot finding anything?”
    â€œNothing. I’ll call the clerk’s office in the morning and explain.”
    â€œOf course. I’m sure they’ll understand it was all just a silly mistake.” Her confident tone was reassuring. “That is what you want, isn’t it?”
    â€œOf course that’s what I want.”
    He wanted this to go away. To make the call, explain the mistake, and have their records incinerated. Poof! Marriage over. And everything would be back to normal. He and Shay would be officially single. She would hate his guts. She would keep seeing Beau Meyers.
    That was what he wanted.
    Right?
    â€œTravis?”
    â€œI’m here. I’ll call the clerk’s office in the morning. Thanks for your help, Miss Lucy.”
    â€œI’m sure it’ll all work out just as God intends, dear.”
    â€œI’m sure you’re right.”
    Travis hung up, then went upstairs and went through all the motions of getting ready for bed. But instead of sleeping, he stared at the wood beams running across the ceiling. His mind traveled back two months.

    He and Seth had just won the team roping competition, and they were celebrating at Clive’s with their buddies from the circuit. This year had been his biggest windfall yet, and his others hadn’t exactly been shoddy.
    Travis took a chunk from the southwestern nachos the server had delivered minutes earlier along with a flirtatious smile. Ella Reynolds was with him, a pretty cowgirl and decent barrel racer in her own right.
    She leaned over and kissed his cheek, her blond hair tumbling over her shoulders. The sweet scent of her perfume filled his nostrils, killing his appetite. She had green eyes almost the same color as Shay’s. But something about Ella’s seemed flat, like a mirror with nothing inside, only a reflection. Shay’s eyes were like a mountain stream, deep and mysterious.
    But why was he thinking about Shay? She was some other man’s wife and had been for years, since about two seconds after he’d left her in Cody.
    â€œYou were something tonight, Trav,” Ella said over the din of chatter. “You and Seth make a great team.”
    â€œHere it is!” one of his friends called, pointing to the big screen in the corner where the replay of today’s rodeo was being broadcast. The air was so smoky, it cast a fog over his view.
    Travis watched the screen, watched himself and Seth work together to take down the steer, Travis heading and Seth heeling. Cheers went up when the event ended with their quickest time ever, and his friends raised their mugs to them.
    He had everything he wanted. Fourteen years of hard work, and he was practically set for life if he was careful. He had money, a touch of fame, and a pretty filly on his arm.
    And yet something was missing. He felt it often, lying in bed after a date, when his apartment was quiet, his body still. But now the emptiness filled him with an ache that spread wide enough to engulf him, almost taking his breath away. Strange that he felt it now, when the din of celebration and the excitement of reaching the record win should’ve left him high and heady.
    What is it, God? You’ve blessed me like crazy. I have everything I ever wanted. Why do I feel so . . . alone?
    He wasn’t alone. He had God. He had buckets of friends and no shortage of women.
    But as soon