“There’s honestly no way I’ll be able to go anywhere today.” Carlie groaned. “Maybe Rylie could stand in for me.”
His heart skipped a beat. “Rylie?”
“She can take my driver’s license and stand in for me at the courthouse and then use my passport and fly to Puerto Rico. No one would know the difference.”
“Do you think she’d do it?”
“You’ll have to ask her yourself,” Carlie said, weakly. “I don’t have the energy to go downstairs. I’m so sorry, but I can’t talk anymore.”
The call disconnected, and Jarrett stared at his cell phone. He really didn’t have a choice. Asking Rylie to substitute for her sister was his only chance at getting the adoption finalized tomorrow. And Gabe’s life hung in the balance. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and dialed Rylie’s number. She answered on the second ring.
“Hey, Jarrett. I’m not late, am I? Didn’t you tell me to come at noon?”
“No, you had the time right.”
“Oh, good. Because Carlie’s sick. I just got back from the pharmacy with some medicine.”
“Actually, that’s why I was calling. I kind of need a big favor. I just got word that I’ve been approved as a guardian on the adoption track.”
“That’s great!” Rylie said. “But what do you need from me?”
“I have to fly to Puerto Rico to sign the papers. With my wife. And the plane leaves at one.”
It took a few seconds for the information to sink in. Then he heard Rylie gasp. “Carlie’s sick! And you’re not even married yet! What are you going to do?”
“I thought maybe… Carlie suggested you might stand in for her.”
“Oh. I guess I could do that. Isn’t that what they do when a soldier is serving overseas? They have a legal stand-in?”
“Yes. Right,” he said, as if he’d been thinking that all along. Why hadn’t he remembered there was a legal way to do it? “But then I’ll need you to bring Carlie’s passport and come with me to Puerto Rico. I don’t think they’ll accept a stand-in. So you’ll have to pretend you’re her and sign her name on the forms. If you don’t feel comfortable, I understand.”
The answering silence was deafening. When she spoke at last, her voice was small and shaky. “I want to help you, Jarrett, but if I pretend to be Carlie, isn’t it illegal or fraud or something like that?”
His chest went tight. “I shouldn’t have asked. I was just…”
“Desperate,” she finished for him.
“Yes. I’m not even thinking clearly. I don’t want to break any laws.”
“I know. Look, I’m going to get Carlie’s driver’s license and passport and come up there. We can at least get the marriage part done. Maybe Carlie will feel well enough to go by one o’clock.”
“That’s a good idea. Just meet me at the Denver Clerk and Recorder office.”
It was nine thirty. Carlie had three and a half hours to get well.
Rylie’s stomach turned as she stared at the glass doors at the clerk’s office, working up the courage to step inside. She hoped it was nerves and not a sign that her sister had a contagious stomach bug instead of food poisoning.
But she knew the sick feeling in her gut was in anticipation of the ceremony to come. How could she stand and listen to Jarrett speak marriage vows to her, knowing the words were meant for her sister?
“Having second thoughts?”
Her shoulders jerked at Jarrett’s voice behind her.
“Do you take special pleasure in making me jump?” Rylie asked.
“Not at first, but it’s getting kind of fun. You’re so easy to startle.” An easy grin slid onto his face.
“Because I have great powers of concentration.” She tilted her chin in the air.
“Or because you’re oblivious to your surroundings.”
“Maybe I know what’s really important and ignore everything else.”
His expression sobered. “Speaking of what’s important, thank you for doing this. Have you got Carlie’s ID?”
“Yes. I have her passport and her driver’s license.” She’d also stuck her own passport in her purse. If Carlie was too sick to go, Rylie would probably go along with Jarrett’s plan. Surely it was justifiable to save a little boy’s life, right? But that would only be as a last resort, so she kept the information to herself.
“Okay. First, we go get the marriage license. Then we can find a justice of the peace to marry us.”
“You mean, to marry you and Carlie.”
“Right. That’s what I meant.”
Poor Jarrett was so stressed he wasn’t even thinking straight. Rylie wished she could offer to give him a shoulder rub. She’d been told she was pretty good at them. But it certainly wouldn’t be appropriate to massage her soon-to-be brother-in-law’s shoulders.
She sucked in a sudden breath. “Are you sure we don’t have to wait a few days between getting the license and getting married?”
