Caden's Vow by Sarah McCarty

smiling with all the sweetness he remembered,
and said with perfect clarity, “You don’t have a choice.”
    * * *
    A FUCKING SHOTGUN WEDDING .
    Caden jerked at his bound hands as he stood in front of the
preacher. Maddie stood beside him, soft and sweet in her yellow dress, smiling
up to him as if there weren’t men pointing guns at him from all directions and
Culbart wasn’t standing over there looking like a cat that just ate the cream.
They’d dragged Ace out to clean him up when Maggie declared blood bad luck at
the wedding.
    He tugged at his bonds again. Culbart’s smile widened. Maddie’s
finger brushed over his.
    “I told you, you shouldn’t have picked those flowers for me,”
she said. “There’s poison ivy there.”
    He hadn’t picked any flowers, he hadn’t done shit, but Maddie
was off in her dreamworld, and nothing he said seemed to make any impression. He
tried again. “I’m not itching. I’m struggling.”
    “It will be over soon.”
    That sounded suspiciously sane. He looked down at her, but all
he could see was the top of her head. Dammit!
    “Maddie, you don’t want to do this.”
    She looked up then. Her expression was the perfect mix of hurt
innocence. Right down to the hint of moisture in her eyes. Maybe too perfect.
Even when Maddie was at her most distant, there was always that hint of
confusion as if she wasn’t quite sure where she was supposed to be. A confusion
that was completely missing now. And had been since he’d arrived.
    “You’ve changed your mind?” she asked.
    “I never made it up in the first place.”
    Her fingers wrapped in the sleeve of his shirt but didn’t slide
down to his wrist. Maddie always slid her fingers down to his wrist.
    “You can’t change your mind.” She looked over at Culbart.
    “He’s not going anywhere, honey.”
    As if on cue, three sets of guns tightened their aim.
    That woman has a powerful affection for
you. Caine’s words came back to haunt him. Was it possible Maddie had
set him up? He looked down at her. There was no guile in her face, but a lot of
women could make pretend seem real, and Maddie was real good at pretend.
    A knock came at the door. Dickens yanked it open. Ace stumbled
into the room, his hands bound behind him, his hair dripping. Blood still
stained his shirt, but his neck and chest were clean.
    “Here’s the best man,” Dickens said, shoving him into the room.
Ace tossed his head, flipping his hair out of his eyes. He didn’t look any
happier than Caden felt.
    Shit. Ace pulled up short, taking in the preacher, the
arrangement of the furniture, Maddie standing by Caden.
    “Shoot, boys, if you’d have told me it was a wedding, I’d have
dressed better.”
    “If we’d have told you it was a wedding, you’d have hightailed
it.”
    Ace flashed that smile of his. “I like weddings as long as they
aren’t mine.”
    “Your friend doesn’t feel the same.”
    “Caden’s always been ornery.”
    “Shut up, Ace,” Caden snapped.
    “Well, he can be ornery and hitched,” Culbart interrupted.
    Caden yanked at his bonds. “And you can be dead.”
    “Marriage is good for a man.”
    “Then you marry her.”
    “Caden!” Maddie gasped.
    She could gasp all she wanted. It didn’t change the facts. He
was being forced into a marriage with a woman he didn’t want.
    “I asked, but she’s got her heart set on you.”
    Fucking hell. “Then she’s going to be disappointed.”
    Culbart smiled. “No, she’s not.”
    “You have to marry me,” Maddie said, her fingers gripping his
sleeve. He waited. They still didn’t drift down to his wrist.
    Certainty lodged like lead in his stomach. Maddie was faking
pretend. “Why?”
    “Because.”
    He laughed. “Because? Is that what you told Culbart?”
    She nodded.
    “Hell,” Ace said. “Even if advances were made, it’s not like
she was a vestal virgin.”
    For the first time ever, Caden didn’t come to Maddie’s
defense.
    Dickens elbowed Ace in the stomach.