Chapter 6

It wasn't twenty minutes after his proposal that Jarrod slipped a ring with a beautiful, rich diamond onto Beth's finger. The clerk in the jewelry store grinned from ear to ear, and not because he had just sold one of the higher end diamonds, plus a gold wedding ring. He was just tickled to see two people so much in love. Jarrod gave him a wink as he and Beth left.

"And where to now?" Beth asked.

"Someplace I suppose I'd better make sure you want to go," Jarrod said. "The courthouse, for our marriage license and the justice of the peace."

Beth's mouth fell open again. "Jarrod, are you sure you don't want to wait until we get to your home in California? You have family, after all."

"I don't want to give you a chance to change your mind," Jarrod said. "You might do that once you meet my brothers."

They began to walk down the street. The courthouse wasn't very far away. "I can't imagine your brothers would make me change my mind."

"They might tell you what a difficult big brother I am, bossy and ornery – "

"And I don't believe that for a minute," Beth said.

"So you will marry me today?" Jarrod asked.

They stopped. Beth nodded and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I don't think I can wait to marry you, Mr. Barkley."

She didn't wait long. To the courthouse, to the justice of the peace in the same building, and within an hour and half, she was Mrs. Jarrod Barkley.

"I can't believe it," she said as they left the courthouse together. "I can't believe this is really happening. I'm a married lady!"

Jarrod chuckled. "I can promise you, you won't regret it. I intend to treat you like a queen, and I know my family will, too. After all, they've waited all these years for me to find the right girl and get married. They'll probably get down on their knees and worship the ground you walk on."

"What are we going to do now?" Beth asked.

"We're going to the Palace, and we're going to get rid of one room."

Now Beth shivered a bit. The honeymoon. She was nervous. She didn't know what to expect, of him or herself. She wondered if she had made a big mistake, marrying him so fast, and she caught her step for a moment.

Jarrod stopped her, making sure she hadn't stumbled, but then he realized what she might have been thinking. He kissed her, softly, as lovingly as he knew how. "You won't regret a thing," he whispered into her ear. "Trust me."

She did. She knew it just by looking at him. She nodded.

They checked her out of her room and had her bag taken to his – now theirs, as the desk clerk gushed over their new status and wished them good luck all over the place. Jarrod nearly grabbed her up in his arms and took her straight there, but there were still things to do. Instead, he ordered dinner to be brought there at seven o'clock, and they headed across town to the Board of Education.

The clerk there was startled to hear his brand new teacher was not going to be coming to work for them, but he smiled anyway when she told him why. "Well," he said, "it's hard to compete with a new husband and a life in California," he said. "I wish you the best of luck, Miss Rand – " He caught himself. "Mrs. Barkley."

From there, they went to the boarding house Beth had arranged to stay and gave the woman there the bad news. But Mrs. Noonan broke into a smile. "Well, that's not bad news – it's wonderful news! Congratulations, darling, and the best to both of you."

From there, Jarrod took Beth to a photography studio the clerk at the hotel had recommended, and they had their wedding photograph taken. The photographer promised to have it ready the next day. By this time, it was nearly four o'clock and the newlyweds were actually getting tired. They went back to the hotel and to their suite.

Jarrod took Beth inside to the bedroom and there they were, together for the first time alone in a room, with a bed, as husband and wife. Jarrod knew Beth had to be nervous – heck, he was nervous himself – but somehow, when he took her in his arms and kissed her, she liked the shiver it gave her. She smiled and kissed him again.

They made love softly, gently, then more intensely, over and over until they couldn't anymore and they actually fell asleep. Until there came a knock on the door.

Jarrod woke up, his lovely new wife in his arms, wondering what he'd heard. He heard the knock again and remembered – he'd ordered dinner for seven o'clock. Beth stirred as Jarrod climbed out of the bed and grabbed his robe he'd left over a chair. "Just a moment!" he called, grabbed his wallet from out of his pants, and held a hand up to his wife in the bed. "Stay right there!" he whispered.

Beth ducked under the covers and laughed.

Jarrod went out to the door and had the waiter bring the food in. Then he tipped him and got him out of there fast. Beth was giggling under the blankets in the bedroom. Jarrod took a moment to lift the cover off of their meal, to assure himself it was what he ordered. Then he put the cover back on, went back into the bedroom, dropped his robe on the floor, and fell back into bed with his wife.

Beth laughed when he kissed her, and shivered like crazy when he kissed her over and over.. "I don't think I need to eat," he said.

They made love again, eagerly, happily, until finally Beth said, "I think I do need to eat. I'm all out of energy."

Jarrod got up, put his robe back on and handed Beth her own robe from her bag. Then he led her to the living room, saying, "All right, my love. Welcome to our honeymoon feast! We have chateaubriand for two with baked potato and roasted vegetables. We have a lovely red wine – oh, look! It's from the Barkley vineyards!"

"Is that one of your businesses?" Beth asked.

"It is indeed and this is one of our best vintages," Jarrod said. "I chose it just for us." He removed the cork and poured the wine.

Beth kissed him again.

"I thought you were out of energy, Mrs. Barkley," he said.

"Somehow the thought of chateaubriand gave me an extra boost," Beth said.

Their dinner sat on a small table in the corner of the room, with two chairs there. Jarrod pulled one out for Beth and then sat down himself and served dinner for the both of them.

As she began to eat, Beth suddenly stopped and said, "I don't think I can believe this. Am I still dreaming?"

"How so?" Jarrod asked.

"I'm married to a handsome attorney, who can afford the best suite in a big Denver hotel and chateaubriand, and lovely wedding rings – and it's all happened in only four days!"

Jarrod leaned toward her and kissed her. "I've been wondering how hard God had to work to make sure we met," he said. "I came so close to staying in Washington one more day, and if I had been only three seconds later, I wouldn't have bumped into you."

"I'm glad it happened the way it did," Beth said. "I think I was always meant to be Mrs. Jarrod Barkley. I'd have hated to miss it."

"After we eat, you know, we'll both have more energy. What do you think we should do with it?"

Beth laughed softly. "I think you know exactly what to do with it, Mr. Barkley."