“I was right, you know.” They turned their heads back in unison to look at her. “Didn’t hurt you a bit to stick around for a few days. Did you some good.” She nodded once at Sam humorlessly then resumed her typing.
Jenny locked her eyes with Sam’s for a moment, and she could see the pain there. She knew differently. It had hurt him to stay.
***
The witnesses were already seated in room 303 when Jenny and Sam entered. It was a very small room sparsely furnished with a rectangular conference table and six chairs. No artwork adorned the walls; they were blank except for a functional black and white clock fastened to the wall above the doorway.
Sam sat down in an open seat on one side of the table and Jenny took the seat opposite him. The female witness sat beside Jenny and the male witness beside Sam. They exchanged handshakes in greeting then the witnesses resumed their quiet conversation while Jenny stared down at her hands on the table, the seriousness of this ceremony and her part in it turning doubt into panic.
Wedding vows should only be said once to one person. You have no business doing this.
Her heart started pounding and she couldn’t seem to take a good, deep breath. She breathed in, closing her eyes, and then opened them while she breathed out, but it didn’t help. Still staring down, she saw Sam’s hand move toward her before she felt it take hers.
“Jenny!” he whispered sharply and she looked up to see tender concern etched on his handsome face. Then gently, “Just look at me. Just look at me.”
She swallowed and nodded at him once, holding his warm, confident eyes in her nervous, frightened ones. She breathed in slowly until her diaphragm was finally full and let out her breath slowly. He mouthed it again slowly, with a calming intensity, releasing her hand. “Just look at me.”
The door opened and a white-haired man in his seventies entered, sorting through papers. He took the chair at the head of the table between Sam and Jenny.
“Thanks for being on time, folks.” He rifled through the papers, and Jenny handed him the sheet the secretary had given to her. “Ah, yes. Okay. Here it is.” He put on glasses, reading the paper briefly, then turned his glance up to greet the witnesses.
“Mary, John, good to see you both. Thanks for witnessing today. Ummm. Sam?” He turned to Sam, absentmindedly scanning the paper before him. “And Jenny?” She nodded once, still holding Sam’s eyes. “Have you folks ever stood proxy before?”
“No,” Sam answered for them.
“Okay, well, it’s painless and quick. Jenny, I’m going to ask you Ingrid’s vows, and you will simply answer twice with the words ‘I will.’ Sam, then I’ll turn to you on behalf of Kristian and you’ll do the same. Then I’ll declare them husband and wife, and you’ll be free to go.” He signed something on the bottom of the paper, scooting it to Mary, who signed and scooted it to John. John scooted it back to the judge with practiced efficiency. “Shall we get started?”
***
“We are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses to join in holy matrimony Ingrid Nordstrom and Kristian Svenson, who have applied for and received a marriage license from this state.
“Jenny, first to you. Will you have this man by proxy to be your lawful wedded husband, and with him to live together in holy matrimony pursuant to the laws of God and this state?”
Jenny heard the judge say her name, but otherwise his voice was a faraway baritone of sound. Sam held her eyes fiercely, and she stayed focused on his beautiful face. His reddish-blond hair was tousled and wavy, and his brown eyes held her blue ones with unwavering care. Finally he mouthed, “I will,” encouraging her to whisper the words.
“I will.”
He nodded imperceptibly as she spoke, and the corners of his mouth twitched up for the barest moment.
“Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him both in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others keep you only unto him, so long as you both shall live?”
Her heart pounded as she really listened to the words, glancing down at the table in a moment of pure panic. A short tap-tap on the table in front of her made her look up into Sam’s eyes again, which reached out to her, his lips turning up in an encouraging smile. She lost herself in his eyes, allowing him to hold her up above the water line so she could breathe, so she wouldn’t drown. He mouthed the words.
“I will.”
He smiled at her then, and she knew her part was finished. She broke their eye contact and stared down at the table before her, exhaling raggedly, shoulders rolled forward in defeat.
“Now, Sam. Will you have this woman by proxy to be your lawful wedded wife, and with her to live together in holy matrimony pursuant to the laws of God and this state?”