“Very well.I’m finished with Mr.Pearson.Colt, please release him outside of the courthouse while I talk to Sydney.”As soon as Rob has exited the room, Jefferson motions for Sydney to approach the stand.
They have a quiet conversation that has a smile spreading across both of their faces.Sydney turns back towards me and waves me over.
I stand slowly, never taking my eyes off of her.I'm not sure what she’s up to, but I'm not sure I care if she keeps smiling like that.
“How do you feel about getting married right here, right now?”She nibbles on her bottom lip, clearly unsure of how I'm going to respond.
“You want a courthouse wedding?”I arch a brow.
“I just want to be married to you.I don’t care about anything else.We can celebrate with the kids and our friends and family later.”
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
“Yes… I was also thinking maybe we could fill out whatever paperwork we need for you to adopt the kids today.I’d like to get it all finalized as soon as possible, if you’re sure you want to adopt them.”
“I’ve never wanted anything more.”
Chapter 28
Sydney
I'mmarried.Ican’tbelieve I'm actually married to the man of my dreams!
When I asked Judge Jefferson if we could get married today, I wasn’t sure he’d say yes.He was surprisingly excited to do it.He said we deserved some happiness in our lives and Maverick and I seemed to truly love each other.
Now, we need to break the news to the kids.I know they’ll be happy about the marriage, but I'm not sure if they’ll be upset they weren’t around for the wedding.
“What the…” Colt scowls at one of the houses on our way home and slowly pulls his SUV over to the curb.“You have got to be kidding me!”
He scrambles to unbuckle his seatbelt without looking away from whatever caught his attention.He doesn’t even bother to turn off his car as he slams his door shut and stomps around to the other side.
“Oh, jeez.This is going to be good.”Maverick chuckles and opens our door so he can see what’s going on.I don’t hesitate to follow him.
“What are you doing, Mr.Raven?”Colt folds his arms over his chest and stares at the old man who just launched a roll of toilet paper fifteen feet into the air to cover one of his trees.
“Colton!”He turns around, shock written all over his face.“What are you doing here?Isn’t it a little early for you to be making your way around town?”He glances at his watch and frowns.
“Well, I think you forgot about daylights savings.We jumped forward an hour yesterday.So, it’s nine-thirty, not eight-thirty.But the real question is, what are you doing with the toilet paper?”
“Oh, I was going to call you about the teepeeing, but I wanted to get a head start on cleaning it all up.”His cheeks heat, knowing he got caught.“I don’t know how this hooligan keeps getting away with this!You have to do something, Colton!”
“Cut the crap!I can’t believe you’ve been teepeeing your own house!How long has this been going on?Have any teenagers done this, or was it you all along?”Colt narrows his eyes, watching Mr.Raven's every move.
I can’t help but giggle.He’s such a sweet man.Even his prank on Colt is harmless.He’s the one who has to clean up the mess every month and he’s the one paying for the toilet paper.Though I wouldn’t be surprised if Tucker or Maverick funded some of it.Anything to mess with Colt.
“I seem to remember a certain sheriff teepeeing my house one Halloween.”Mr.Raven arches a brow at Colt.
“That was over a decade ago!”Colt throws his hands up in the air and lets them drop down to his sides again.
“Well, when you became the sheriff, it seemed like a good way to get back at you.I drove you crazy for over five years with my prank.”Mr.Raven smiles proudly.
“I can’t believe you!”Colt huffs.I don’t think he’s mad, I think he’s putting on a show for the old man.“If someone ever teepees your house for real, don’t call me.I'm not coming to deal with it.”
He stomps back to his car and gets in, waiting impatiently for us to follow him.Maverick says something to Mr.Raven that has him laughing before he leads me back to Colt’s SUV.
“Are you mad?”I ask as soon as we pull away from Mr.Raven's house.
I watch as the crease in his brown and the frown on his face instantly vanish as soon as we’re far enough away from the house.
