Gulf Coast Wedding by Maggie Miller

Chapter One

With his phone to his ear, Levi Parker stared at the computer screen in front of him without really seeing it. He’d been handling a couple of work tasks when Sam had called. Now his focus was on her. Hard not to be after what she’d just told him. “You want to get married tomorrow? As in Sunday?”

“Yes,” Sam said. “It’s my only day off.”

This wasn’t even remotely something he’d expected. They’d only just gotten engaged. Although to be honest, he hadn’t been expecting that either. Life in Blackbird Beach sure was interesting. “Can it actually happen that fast?”

“I have no idea. But it needs to.” She sighed with such effort that he could sense the weight she was under.

He braced himself. There had to be a serious reason for this development. “Okay, what happened?”

“My grandmother happened. She came into the salon, saw the engagement ring you gave me, and freaked out. Although she already knew about the engagement because the first thing she asked me was if it was true. It being us getting engaged. I told her it was and then she said that you and your whole family were trouble, and she wouldn’t let this happen. I don’t know what that means specifically, but I understand very well that she intends to stop us from getting married.”

“Wow.” Lavinia Major never stopped causing problems.

“Yeah, well, we’re not letting her screw things up.”

“Do you really think she could stop us from getting married?”

Sam snorted. “You actually have to ask that? She’s a relentless lunatic. And I’m done with her nonsense. She’s not going to win this one. We’re going to get ahead of her and get married now. Unless you don’t want to?”

He laughed. “Sweetheart, we’d already be married if I had that kind of power.”

“Good.” Her voice held a smile he could hear. “So can you figure this out? Because I’m sure we’re going to need a license at minimum, and I’m at the salon until five. Although Trudy understands what’s going on and is being so good about it, I am still at work. I also know you have Clayton’s game at three this afternoon, so I don’t want to interfere with that either.”

“No worries, I can totally figure out what we need to make this happen. Just give me a couple minutes to make some phone calls and see what I can do. In the meantime, you should probably call your dad and fill him in. He might be able to help us, too. That is if he doesn’t freak out about us being engaged.”

“He won’t. At least, I don’t think he will. Doesn’t matter, I’ll handle it. Text me if you find out anything.”

“I will. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

She hung up and he shook his head, trying to absorb the news she’d just given him. Lavinia just couldn’t abide anyone being happy without her express consent. Sam was clearly upset and that made him upset.

He’d promised Sam things would be different this time, and he’d meant it. That included taking care of Lavinia. But first he had to call the courthouse and see what could be done about a quickie marriage. He had a feeling getting a license on a Saturday was not about to happen, but he prayed that he was wrong.

After looking up the number, he made a call to the courthouse. A quick conversation told him that a fast wedding was not about to happen. After getting the license, there was a three-day wait. And the license office was in the town hall which was only open until one P.M. on Saturday. That gave them about an hour to get over there and get the paperwork filled out, otherwise it would have to wait until Monday.

That meant if they were going to get the license today, they had to act fast. He sent her a quick text filling her in on the town hall closing in about an hour and what she’d need to bring, which was just her driver’s license. She responded almost instantly that she’d meet him there.

Good thing Sam’s boss was the understanding type.

He grabbed his keys and his wallet and headed for the door. He hadn’t told Sam about the three-day waiting period. He figured that could all be explained there while they were filling out the forms.

She wasn’t going to be happy about that, but three days wasn’t the end of the world, was it? And once they’d applied for the marriage license, there wasn’t much Lavinia could do. Wasn’t like she could get it revoked.

Could she? He hoped not. He hoped there wasn’t some kind of crazy, archaic law that let town council people decide who could and couldn’t get married.

As he punched in the town hall on his GPS, he tried not to think about that being possible, but this was Lavinia, the only woman who’d ever intimidated Levi’s bull of a father into submission. And from what Levi had been told by Sam and her dad, Travis, Lavinia was still very much a force to be reckoned with.

At least for another two days.

He pulled out of the driveway and followed the map on his screen. Two days from now was Monday. That was the day of the town council election and if things went the way everyone was hoping, Lavinia would lose her seat to Travis. And all of her power right along with it.

Levi’s only regret was that he wasn’t a resident of Blackbird Beach and couldn’t vote, but the victory would still be sweet.

And while it would absolutely be incredible, Monday night’s victory wasn’t going to help him now.

He made it to town hall in under ten minutes. There were definitely some perks to living in a small town. Sam was already there, waiting by the front door. Her brow was furrowed and there was an anxious look in her eyes.

He parked and hustled to her side. “Nice of your boss to let you come.”

“She’s as interested in beating you-know-who as we are.” Sam smiled, the look in her eyes still tentative. “Trudy really is a great boss, though.” She took a breath. “You sure you’re okay with all of this?”

He kissed her. “I am. Are you? This is moving pretty fast.”

She nodded. “I am.”

“Did you talk to your dad?”

“I did and I don’t think he’s over the moon that we’re doing this so quickly, but he also understands.”

“About that…we can’t actually get married tomorrow. Sorry.”

Her smile disappeared. “We can’t?”

“No. There’s a three-day waiting period after we get the license, so the earliest we could make things official is Wednesday.”

She thought about that a moment. “I’m okay with that. In fact, it’s probably better.” She took his hand. “That way, your mom and my dad can be there.”

“My mom would love that. It would mean a lot to her.”

Sam nodded. “Good. Then Wednesday night, after I get home, we’ll have a little ceremony at my dad’s. Or maybe Georgia would let us use the inn. I’m sure she would. Of course, we have to find someone to actually marry us now, because the Justice of the Peace will be closed by then.”

“Do you know a notary? The person I talked to said a notary could do it.”

“I don’t, but I’m sure my dad does.”

He held onto her hand. “You know what? We can figure this all out later. Right now, we need to get in there and get this license.”

“You’re right. I just suddenly have a million things on my mind.”

He did too. They were about to embark on a new life together. It was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to him. And he wanted everything to be just right. Or as right as they could make it in three days.

He held the door for her, and they went in. They checked the directory, quickly finding the license office. Once there, they showed their driver’s licenses, filled out the form with all of their information, and turned it back in with the fee, which Levi gladly paid.

He’d used his mom’s address because that was all he had, but it got him to thinking. If they were going to be married, they were also going to be living together.

And right now, they were both sharing space with their parents.

Not exactly a great way to start life as newlyweds. Renting an apartment would probably be the easiest thing, but that wouldn’t give Clayton a backyard to practice his football in. Not to mention, Clayton needed to stay in the right school district.

Levi exhaled. He needed a realtor. And fast.