“Not in Colorado,” he said.
A man exited the courthouse and stopped, holding the door open. “Are you coming in?” he asked.
“Thanks,” Jarrett said, as his hand grasped her elbow and urged her inside.
Her arm tingled at the warmth of his touch, but she held her composure. When they walked, she could feel the slight difference in his gait as he moved from his flesh-and-blood foot to his prosthetic one. It reminded her of the reality of his cancer. No doubt it was a driving force in his deep desire to adopt Gabe. If Jarrett could be that altruistic, so could she. If she concentrated on the fact she was helping a little boy get the cancer treatment he needed, she would stop worrying about her own feelings.
Once inside, they took the elevator upstairs to the clerk’s office and Jarrett waited his turn to speak to the woman behind the counter.
“Can you tell me the procedure to get a proxy marriage license?”
The woman answered in a monotone that matched her expression, as if she’d repeated the same words a thousand times. “You’ll need the notarized absentee affidavit. The forms are online, along with all the instructions and requirements.”
His jaw dropped, and panic took over his face. “An affidavit? Notarized? Before we can even get the license?”
Her sigh sounded like a tire releasing air. “It’s all spelled out in the instructions online. You’ll save yourself a lot of time if you fill out your application in advance.”
“But—”
Rylie grabbed his arm and dragged him backwards.
“Next,” called the bored woman, and the couple behind them stepped forward.
“We don’t have time,” Jarrett said, the fingers of both hands upending his hair. “It won’t work. I’m going to lose Gabe.”
“You’re not going to lose him,” Rylie said. “We’ll get a notary and drive them out to the house so Carlie can sign the form.”
But Jarrett was already shaking his head. “It’s too far. It’s twenty-five minutes from downtown to the house. That’s a fifty-minute round trip. Plus the time it takes to find a notary.”
“If we hurry—”
“This is a stupid idea.” He slumped into one of the chairs lining the wall and bent forward with his elbows on his knees, his face buried in his hands. “The whole thing is hopeless. Even if we got it done in time, Carlie won’t be able to go. I was trying to force it to work, but it’s not going to happen.”
“There’s got to be a way.” Her mind raced as she perched in a chair beside him. She couldn’t bear watching Jarrett suffer. “Why don’t you call your attorney and ask him what to do?”
Jarrett jerked his head up. “You’re right. Matthew might be able to think of something.”
In a flash, Jarrett was pacing the floor in front of her, talking on the phone in a low voice. Meanwhile Rylie battled between her ethics and her guilt. The easiest solution was for her to pretend to be Carlie. She and Jarrett could get the license, get married, fly to Puerto Rico, go to the hearing, and fly home with Gabe. Was it really wrong when they were doing it for the right reasons? Did the end justify the means?
Her eyes followed Jarrett’s path as he moved back and forth, like the bottom of a huge, swinging pendulum. Then his feet stopped directly in front of her. She looked up as his wide-eyed gaze locked with hers, his face the color of cauliflower. Matthew must’ve given him bad news. She ought to tell him she would fake being her sister, but her mouth was full of mud.
His lips moved a few times, but no words came out. Watching his agony was painful.
Lowering himself onto the edge of his chair, his gaze never faltered.
“What did Matthew say?” She waited for the answer, all the while fighting her overgrown sense of morality.
“Mostly what I was expecting.” His words were deliberate, as if he were choosing them carefully. “That even if we could do the proxy marriage, you can’t fly to Puerto Rico and pass yourself off as Carlie.”
“This is terrible,” she said, her chest aching. “We shouldn’t have called him. We should’ve just done it. We still can. We can fake the whole thing. We won’t tell Matthew until it’s over and we have Gabe here in the US. What can they do? Even if they catch us, we won’t go to prison, right?”
“This part only approves the guardianship. If they caught us doing something illegal, they might refuse to finalize the adoption when the time came.”
“Oh.” At least she was off the hook. He wouldn’t pressure her anymore.
“Matthew said I only have one choice to keep everything legal.” Jarrett twisted toward her and his hand reached out to clasp hers, drawing it toward him. “He suggested we leave Carlie out of it, for now.”
“Leave her out? How will that work?” She stared at her hand, sandwiched between his large ones. It felt like it belonged to someone else.
“He said the simplest solution was for me to marry you, instead.”
She peeled her tongue from the roof of her instantly dry mouth like ripping it from a frozen metal pole. “Me?”
“I know I’m asking a lot.”
Her vision narrowed, all a blur, but for a single button on his white dress shirt. She pulled her hand away and gripped the arm of the chair. “What about Carlie?”
“The way I see it, nothing would change between Carlie and me. The public won’t ever find out you and I got married.” His voice rang in her ears with a weird hollow sound. “In fact, it might be better for Carlie and me. We could date without any pressure. We might have a better chance of making the relationship work if we don’t have a fake marriage hanging over our heads.”
“You’ll date Carlie while you’re married to me?” Pure nausea swirled in her abdomen. “Won’t that be weird?”
“It’s not like you and I will have a real marriage. Matthew’s in the middle of a deposition, and he didn’t have time to talk about all the details. But I assume we can get a divorce as soon as we get back. Maybe we could even get the marriage annulled.” Big puppy-dog brown eyes regarded her with hope. “We wouldn’t be doing anything illegal. What do you think?”
She already knew what her answer was going to be. God had provided a legal and ethical way for her to help him adopt Gabriel so the boy could get lifesaving treatment. How could she say no? She ignored the pain radiating through her chest. He wouldn’t have asked her if there were any other way. With every word he confirmed his lack of affection toward her. She was a fool to love him, but her stupid heart wouldn’t listen to reason.
“Okay,” she whispered, as the room tipped on its side. “I’ll marry you.”
CHAPTER 6
