Free The Manning Brides by Debbie Macomber

have left it to the last minute like this, but she hadn’t known who to ask.
    “Of course.” The gray-haired woman returned Jamie’s smile. “Let me know as soon as your young man shows up.”
    “I will, thank you.”
    Jamie tried his cell again, and again he didn’t answer. She resumed her pacing. She’d made the mistake of asking for the whole day off. If she’d only taken half a day, she wouldn’t have all this time to contemplate what she was doing. In the last five minutes she’d vacillated between thinking marriage was the best solution and feeling convinced that it was the most foolish decision she’d ever made.
    “Jamie.” Breathless, Rich came around the corner at a half run.
    “Where have you been?” she cried, her voice cracking under the strain. She was caught halfway between abject relief and total fury. Halfway between hope and despair, trapped in a world of nagging questions and second thoughts.
    Rich pulled her into his arms and hugged her close. His breathing was labored, as though he’d raced up several flights of stairs. “I got stuck in traffic.”
    Jamie was about to chastise him for not allowing enough time, but she swallowed her irritation. What did it matter? He was there now. Suddenly she felt a relief so great all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him and weep.
    “JudgeWebster’s secretary said we should go into his office as soon as you arrived,” she said, composing herself.
    “Just a minute. We have to wait for my witness,” Rich said, smiling down at her. His beautiful blue gaze was filled with a teasing light.
    “You actually brought someone with you? Who?”
    “Me,” Jason Manning said, hurrying around the same corner Rich had a moment earlier. He, too, was out of breath. “Rich left me to park the car,” he said, pressing his hand over his heart. “Said if he was late for his wedding you’d skin him alive.”
    “He was right, too.”
    Jamie’s gaze flew to Rich, whose expression was both tender and amused. He’d brought family! They’d discussed the subject at length and had agreed not to let any of their immediate relatives in on their plans. Not until it was necessary, which they’d calculated would be when Jamie entered the fifth or sixth month of her pregnancy.
    “Bringing Jason seemed like a good idea at the time,” Rich said with a chagrined look. “He spent half the morning arguing with me. According to Jason, we’re both candidates for the loony bin.”
    “We weren’t going to tell anyone, remember?” They’d decided that the fewer people who were in on this, the better. But at the rate Rich was telling people, Jamie wouldn’t be surprised to see her picture splashed across the front of a grocery store tabloid.
    “Don’t worry,” Jason inserted smoothly, “I’ve been sworn to secrecy.”
    “I’ll explain everything later,” Rich promised in a low voice. He draped his arm over her shoulder and inhaled noisily, as though he still needed to catch his breath. “But right now, we’ve got a wedding to attend.”
    Jamie knew the ceremony itself wouldn’t last more than a few minutes; she’d taken comfort in that. They’d be in and out of the judge’s chambers in five minutes, ten at the most.
    They stood before Judge Webster, their backs stiff and straight. The judge attempted to reassure them with a smile.
    Jamie needed to be reassured. Her knees were shaking, her hands trembled and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to go through with this.
    When it came time to repeat her vows, she hesitated and raised her eyes to Rich. How could she promise to love him and honor him for the rest of their lives, knowing full well their marriage wouldn’t last the year?
    Rich must have read her confusion and her fears. Some unfathomable emotion flickered in his eyes, and she wondered if he was experiencing the same doubts. When his hold on her hand tightened, Jamie was grateful. She felt the need to be close to him. She didn’t know why, any