Read Love Is Elected for Free Online

Would it be selfish and ridiculous to stand in his way? Torn between her warring emotions, she sank down weakly in the kitchen chair and put her head in her hands.
    "All right, go ahead and arrange the wedding," she capitulated in a barely audible voice.
    The next few hours were a blur of confused sensations. Once she had given in to Uncle James' arguments, the older man had immediately sprung to action, issuing staccato orders at his female companion and his driver. He made arrangements for a pre-dated marriage license and for a local justice of the peace from the village to come up and marry the reluctant couple.
    When Kara realized that her uncle meant to hold the ceremony almost immediately, she protested, "But I can't get married in blue jeans. You're making a mockery of this whole thing. It's nothing more than a charade," she cried, throwing up her hands in despair.
    But James brushed her objections aside. "Come on now, Kara," he chuckled, "your generation doesn't bother much with white satin nowadays. And if you wanted to march down the aisle in virgin white you should've thought twice about spending the night wrapped up with Jordan here," he teased. The fact that her uncle was getting his own way had put him in a good humor.
    But his light tone did not make Kara feel any better. Up until yesterday she had been in command of her life, but now she was being swept up in a flood of events over which she had no control. She blinked away the tears that were stinging the backs of her eyes.
    Unexpectedly, Matt Jordan, who had been watching the scene in silence, moved toward the small figure. Taking her cold hands in his, Matt searched her tear-filled eyes for a long moment and then said in a gentle voice, "Kara, I know this isn't what you wanted—it's not exactly what I had in mind either. But the circumstances have forced our hands. We have no choice. We have to be married as quickly as possible. You'll be a more beautiful bride in blue jeans than most women are in white satin." He leaned over and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. "And I promise you that after we're married your closet will be filled with silk and lace."
    His unexpected kindness unleashed the tears Kara had fought so bravely to hold back. She sobbed helplessly against his shoulder. But Matt Jordan lifted her chin and looked down into her clouded eyes. "Okay?" he inquired softly. All Kara could do was nod and look away from his steady gaze.
    He led her to the door of the bedroom. "You need to relax for a while. Why don't you lie down and rest until the justice of the peace arrives," he told her. She nodded again, went into the bedroom and closed the door.
    Images flashed before her—Matt Jordan's handsome face and her uncle's look of agitation, the tree branch in the ceiling of her bedroom, the catlike eyes of the redheaded reporter. But she couldn't get them in focus. One merged into another and it was impossible to interpret any one of them accurately. As the pictures whirled through her mind, she grew dizzy and sat down heavily on the quilt-covered bed.
    It seemed like only a few minutes before Matt was rapping firmly on the door and then leading her out into the main room of the cabin where everyone stood waiting.
    They were married in front of the big stone fireplace. The justice of the peace, a small, bespectacled man with thinning sandy hair, cast curious, surreptitious glances at the blue-jeaned couple standing dazedly before him.
    "Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?" he read from a printed sheet of paper, frowning slightly and looking up questioningly at Matt. "To honor in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"
    "I do," Matt replied in a steady voice.
    The official then turned to the distracted Kara and repeated the question. There was a long pause while she stared wildly at the man's bewildered face. She had never felt so alone. She cast a desperate look at her bridegroom who nodded reassuringly back at her.