Judy Christenberry - The Last Bachelor

“Harvey, slavery was abolished a long time ago. Ginger has some rights. Now, she’ll be back at work on Monday, and that should be enough to satisfy you.”

With that, he hung up the phone. He didn’t even worry that Harvey might fire Ginger. Joe didn’t want her to work, anyway. However temporary their marriage, she would be his wife. And he would take very good care of her. For a little while, at least, Ginger would not be alone.

Ginger stared out the window of the plane, her brow furrowed. “Are we still in the United States?”

“Of course, honey. Why would you think we weren’t?”

“When we flew to America, it was a long flight. Is America really this big?”

“It’s a lot bigger. Didn’t you fly to Texas when you ran away?”

“No. I—hitchhiked,” she said carefully.

“Lord have mercy, that’s dangerous. You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

“No, the people were very nice.”

“Don’t ever do that again. There are some evil people out there.”

“No, Joe, they were very kind.”

“I’m glad, honey, but you’re my responsibility now. I don’t ever want you doing that again.”

“But we are not really—”

Joe covered her mouth with his hand to stop her from finishing her sentence. He leaned closer and whispered, “We don’t ever tell anyone, even strangers, that our marriage isn’t, uh, normal. Okay?”

Her eyes big over his hand, she nodded.

He released her and sat back, drawing a deep breath.

After a moment, Ginger leaned closer to Joe. She whispered, “Won’t everyone think it strange that we came to this place to marry? They will wonder why, won’t they?”

He took her hand in his, realizing he had a lot of questions to answer. Clearly, Ginger had concentrated on her work and her classes at the junior college, but knew very little about American culture. “You’ll see when we get there. A lot of people go to Vegas to marry. No one will think anything about it.”

He believed that, as long as she didn’t say the wrong thing. But he’d be on his guard. Maybe if she said something inappropriate, he’d stop her by kissing her. That would make everyone believe they were newlyweds.

His heart rate tripled just thinking about kissing Ginger. She was so beautiful, so naive and unprotected. He loved the idea of protecting her. He’d never seen himself in the hero role, but it was enticing, especially when he saw that emotion in her gaze. He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her smooth skin.

When she jumped in surprise, he leaned closer. “People will expect me to touch you, Ginger. Try not to act so surprised. In private I’ll leave you alone.”

She frowned. “You will?”

“Yes, of course. I promise.”

“But I will be your wife.”

His heart beat faster. “Yes, but not—” He stopped himself. Great. Now he was the one having problems with their secret. “We’ll talk later.”

The pilot spoke over the loudspeaker. “We’re now approaching Las Vegas airport, so please be seated and fasten your seat belts. Thank you for flying with us today.”

Joe leaned over and snapped her seat belt.

“I can do it,” she protested gently.

“I know, but I like to help you. In a few minutes we’ll be on the ground. Are you excited?”

She met his gaze briefly, then looked away. “Of course.” She thought that was the answer he wanted. But she hated the idea that she was trapping him into marriage.

Joe was a kind man, offering her his protection. She must try not to take advantage of him. Some of the men at the club, especially when they were in the Men’s Grill temporary facilities, where their wives never appeared, were eager to take advantage of her, not to protect her. But she’d always turned them down. She’d never had to turn Joe down. He had never seemed interested in her in that way.

She sent up a small prayer that she would never shame Joe, that she would repay his kindness with loyalty and patience.

The pilot set the plane down smoothly, and when they were parked at the gate, Joe stood in the aisle to gather their luggage from the overhead bin.

Her cloth bag looked shabby beside his sleek leather one, but he showed no concern about what people might think. “Come on, Ginger. Time for us to go.”

She slipped out of her seat and stood beside Joe, ready to go where he led her.

Much to Ginger’s surprise, they didn’t take a taxi when they exited the airport. A man was standing on the sidewalk with a sign with Joe’s name on it.

“Does he know you?” she whispered to Joe as he waved to the man.

“No, honey, I hired him to meet us.”

“Oh.”

The man opened the back door to his limo and waved for her to enter. She slipped onto the seat and stared, then scooted over as Joe followed. “Joe, there’s room for many more people,” she whispered as the car began to move.

“Yeah, but it will just be the two of us. So we can have privacy.”

“But everyone is staring.”

“Don’t worry, they can’t see us. Now, we’re going to go to fill out papers and then find a marriage chapel. They’ll have a room where you can change. Is that all right? You have your dress ready?”

“Yes.” Her dress was a simple sheath in pale blue that her mother had made her for her own marriage to Harold, Ginger’s stepfather.

Something in her voice must have worried Joe. “Should we go shopping first and buy you a new wedding gown?”

“No! It would cost a lot of money. It’s not necessary.”

He gave her a strange look. “I have plenty of money, Ginger. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“The bride is supposed to pay for the wedding.”

“No, you have that wrong. The bride’s family is supposed to pay. And since you don’t have a family, I’ll take care of everything.”

She said nothing else, but she determined to keep down the cost of their wedding. After all, he was doing her a favor.

By the end of the evening, Joe was frustrated. All he’d bought her was a small bouquet of flowers. But he had to admit Ginger looked beautiful in her simple dress. The pale blue color complemented her auburn hair and blue eyes. And the ceremony, although brief, achieved their goal.

Afterward Ginger was ready to get back on a plane and return to Texas.

“No, honey, I made us a reservation. We have the honeymoon suite at the Bellagio.”

“What is that?”

“It’s one of the hotels on the strip.”

When she discovered the suite consisted of a huge space with a tub big enough to hold half a dozen people and several bedrooms and a living area, she told him they should ask for a smaller place so they could save money.

He refused. He needed plenty of room so he could handle the desire to put his arms around her. Especially as the sun went down.

“Will we leave in the morning?” she asked anxiously.

“Our flight’s around noon.”

She frowned and said nothing.

“We’re going to dinner in ten minutes. Okay?”

“Why don’t we eat here? Look at all this fruit.” She gestured to the delicious-looking fruit basket on the cocktail table. “That would be enough for dinner.”

“Not for me. Besides, a wedding dinner is traditional.”

She kept frowning.

After dinner, Joe took her to the casino. He changed dollar bills into coins and handed her some, explaining she should put one in a slot machine. She slipped the coin in. He told her to pull the handle.

She did so and waited.

With a kiss on her smooth cheek, he said, “Sorry, you didn’t win. Here’s another one.”

She stared at the coin he held out and then at him. “Why?”

“To try again. To see if you win.”

“But I didn’t.”