“No, Julia. You’re the breath of fresh air Donovan and this house needed.”
I reached for her hand. “Thank you.”
With my birth certificate and passport in hand and my feet covered in boots, I hurried down the stairs toward Van’s office.
Van
Julia’s smile shone through the window of my truck as I closed the door behind her and walked around to the driver’s side. Despite the cold air and waning sunlight, Ashland was alive with people and cars. The courthouse parking lot was still relatively full. A man who worked at the coffee shop waved as he got into his car. Before I was barely seated, Julia leaned across the seat, kissing my cheek.
“We made it,” she said as the engine roared to life.
“We did.” We’d made it in time to the courthouse. There was little doubt I could have gotten us an exemption, and with the logjam of work I left behind, I should have insisted we wait until next week. But after listening to the voicemail Phillip left Connie, Julia’s arrival to my office door was the distraction I couldn’t resist.
And her damn smile beaming my direction.
“I wonder why they make you wait six days,” Julia mused as I drove the truck back toward the house and away from town. Her blue eyes widened. “You don’t think they could decide not to issue the license because I have other licenses in Illinois, do you?”
“You have no weddings, only the purchase of the licenses.”
“How did Phillip get a license for us in Illinois?” she asked. “Skylar and I applied together. You and I just applied together. We needed our birth certificates. I have mine and you have yours. I didn’t go with anyone to apply for the Illinois license. I don’t understand how they could have applied.”
The setting sun was below the trees, causing a strobing effect as the heater blew warm air into the cab of the truck.
“That’s a good question.”
“I have another good question,” Julia said as I drove us toward home.
“Do I have a good answer?”
“I don’t know. Is your work done for the day? Do we need to go back home?”
I grinned as I turned her way, my gaze narrowing. “That was the plan. What are you thinking, beautiful?”
“I was talking to Margaret about the wedding next weekend…and it got me thinking about the cabin.” She shrugged. “I miss it.”
“You miss the cabin.” I looked at the outside temperature on the dashboard. “It’s only twenty-two degrees. I know this area well enough to know it will drop even colder during the night.”
It wasn’t that I didn’t see the merit in Julia’s idea. It was more about keeping her at the big house with the increased security. A cabin without electricity wasn’t exactly easy to equip with sensors and cameras.
A sexy shimmer shone in her blue eyes. “Hmm. I wonder how we could keep warm.”
Fuck.
I knew exactly how we could keep warm.
“Security—”
Julia reached for my arm. “Van, I promise to get used to having them around, but didn’t you say that Phillip is still in Chicago? You said your PI saw him.”
I had told her about my conversation with Rob and the picture of Logan and Phillip at the hotel restaurant.
“Yes, I did,” I said. “We still don’t know if someone else has your phone.” I’d been giving credence to the idea that Phillip and Logan weren’t working alone. Before I worried Julia with that idea, I wanted proof.
“My dad promised to have my old number disconnected today. It probably already is.”
While I was happy no more false messages could be sent, part of me wanted to keep tracking the phone.
Julia squeezed my coat sleeve. “Mrs. Mayhand had only begun the cooking when we left. She said she’ll be at the house until late this evening. She was busy this morning cooking at the guesthouse.” She sighed. “After all we went through yesterday, I’d love for it to be the two of us tonight, no security, no one cooking. Just us.”