Chapter 13

Cy worked like a fiend to get the two crooks squared away at the jail and his report written that night so that his part was finished for the weekend. He was getting married the next day and he’d be damned if he would let anything interfere. It surprised him how much he was looking forward to marrying Leigh. Yes, he desired her, but it was more than that. He’d been thinking about what she’d said to him about being a confidant and a true partner in life.

Cy had never had that before, not even with Daphne and his cousins. And certainly not with Valerie. He realized that neither of them had known all that much about each other because their profession demanded it. The more Cy thought about it, he was sure that wasn’t what true love was all about.

Leigh was a smart woman who’d had that powerful, intimate connection with someone before. She understood what marriage entailed and was much more knowledgeable about emotional issues.

As he went home that night—more towards morning, really—he felt as though he was standing on the precipice of the unknown and it scared him. Laying his heart bare was a new, frightening experience and he wondered if he had the courage to face it. Then he thought about the brave woman he was marrying and figured that if she could come all the way across the country to wed a stranger, that he could do this.

Resolve flowed through him as he walked through the door of their house, and he mounted the stairs quickly as the dogs followed him. He laid down to get a couple hours of sleep, but although he closed his eyes, sleep didn’t come. He was too excited about what would take place later that morning.

He’d reserved the honeymoon suite at the Riverview Hotel for the weekend, and he was anticipating spending a lot of quality time with Leigh. They were going to go to Benny’s to celebrate after the wedding, and he was eager to introduce Leigh to some of his friends there. Yes, he was looking forward to getting married, something he never thought he’d do. But as he lay there in the dark, there was no denying the rush of happiness it brought him.

Across the hall, Leigh still sat up against the headboard. She’d heard Cy come in but hadn’t gone to talk to him since you weren’t supposed to see the groom before the wedding. They’d arranged for him to leave for the church first so that she could get ready and come there once she was finished.

Looking at her left hand, she played with the wedding ring she still hadn’t been able to take off. She’d been talking to Walt the whole night, explaining things and trying to talk herself into taking off the ring. When she did it would signify that her marriage to Walt was over once and for all. Her feelings over it were torn. On one hand, it made her sad, but on the other, she was looking forward to the future.

As she turned the ring again, anger took hold of her. “You’re being asinine, Leigh. Take the dang thing off! Walt, I’ll always love you, but I have to move on now.”

She kissed the ring and slowly removed it from her finger, putting it in her nightstand drawer. Looking at her naked finger with the indentation of where the ring had been, Leigh felt lost, as though there was nothing there to anchor her.

Leaning her head back against the headboard, she forced herself to think about the man she was marrying and not the lack of a ring on her finger. Smiling now, she wondered if Cy was as nervous as she was, or if he was calm and collected.

She was going to have to learn to read his moods until she could get him to talk more. In a strange way, she was looking forward to the challenge. Thinking about unraveling Cy’s mysteries calmed her and Leigh was able to doze a little until she heard Cy come out of his room.

She held her breath, wondering if he would knock, but she heard him speak quietly to the dogs and then go downstairs. Looking at the clock, she saw that there was plenty of time to get ready, so she let her mind drift. Then she heard a knock at the door.

Cy said, “Coffee,” through the door and then she heard him go back downstairs.

She smiled at his thoughtfulness and rose from the bed. Hesitantly, she cracked the door open. The hallway was empty, so she retrieved the coffee from the floor. Taking it over to her bed, she sat down and thought about the day ahead.

Cy tried to hide the fact that he was jumping out of his skin as he stood at the altar in the Chance City Methodist Church late that morning. He could face danger and death without the kind of fear he felt at the moment. Why did marrying Leigh feel so much scarier? He’d been fine, but now he was a wreck.

Daniel put a hand on his shoulder. “Relax. This is your wedding day. Be happy.”

“I am,” Cy said. “But nervous, too.”

“That’s the way you’re supposed to be,” Daniel joked. “Leigh is a good woman. You two make a good match. I suspect that you’ll make a good match behind closed doors, too.”

Cy grinned. “I agree with that statement.”

Daniel chuckled. “Let me know.”

“Like heck I will. I don’t kiss and tell.”

While the cousins joked back and forth up front, Sly sat next to his parents, wanting to be anywhere but in that church, watching a wedding take place. How many times had he dreamt about marrying Catherine? How many times had he envisioned how beautiful she’d look on their special day? At least a thousand. He’d also longed to watch her grow heavy with their child and had imagined what their children would have looked like.

A wave of anger and grief washed through him, and he closed his eyes against it. He felt a hand close around his and looked over to see his mother giving him an understanding look. Although he squeezed her hand back, he couldn’t muster up a smile for her. Instead, he gave her a little nod and took a deep breath.

He wanted to be there for Cy and Leigh’s sake, but it made the pain in his ravaged heart so much worse. Pulling his cloak of stoicism around him, Sly stared straight forward and prayed that the service would soon be over.