The Marriage Pledge Read online

  The Marriage Pledge

  Jean Oram

  Contents

  From the Back Cover

  A Note from the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Epilogue

  Sneak Peek from Mail Order Soulmate

  More Books by Jean Oram

  About the Author

  From the Back Cover

  Sometimes platonic friends make the best spouses.

  Years ago ex-lovers and coworkers Amy and Moe agreed on a marriage pledge—if they’re not married by thirty, the jaded duo will head down the aisle and start a family together.

  And tomorrow Amy hits the big Three-Oh.

  The problem is, neither of them can afford help from a fertility clinic which means they’re going to have to start their family the old-fashioned way. Can the two friends withstand the pressures of baby-making as their minds begin to turn down avenues that are anything but platonic? And what will Amy do when she does the unthinkable and begins to fall for her husband of convenience?

  Find out in Jean Oram’s irresistible fifth novel in the Veils and Vows series.

  The Marriage Pledge

  Book 5 (Veils and Vows)

  By Jean Oram

  © 2018 Jean Oram

  All rights reserved

  First Edition

  ISBN: 978-1-928198-37-6

  Cover created by Jean Oram

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book, even when purchased, remains the copyrighted property of the author, and it cannot be reproduced, modified, copied and/or distributed by any means for commercial or non-commercial purposes whether the work is attributed or not, unless written permission has been granted by the author, with the exception of brief quotations for use in a review of this work. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to purchase their own copy from their favorite online store where they can also discover other works by this author as this ebook edition is not intended for sharing or resale. Thank you for your support.

  All characters and events appearing in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to real people, alive or dead, as well as any resemblance to events is coincidental and, truly, a little bit cool.

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  A Note from the Author

  Every book is different. Some are easy and fast to write. And some keep my puzzled for months and months at a time.

  Amy and Moe’s story was a real puzzler which is something I hadn’t expected seeing as I’ve known Moe for quite some time—since I first put pen to page with Rum and Raindrops (the second manuscript I ever wrote). He’s been there throughout the stories as the jovial, helpful friend and bartender in Blueberry Springs. But I never really knew him as a man with those hopes and dreams he kept close to his chest. All I knew was that he was in love with his best friend.

  And sometimes that’s where the best stories start.

  But then who was his best friend Amy—really and truly? Why did their romantic relationship always fail whenever these two best friends came together?

  So I did what most writers would do and I fed them straight through the wringer—and at one point sent them clear across the continent to one of my favorite fictional places (Indigo Bay).

  It was a journey for them and one for me as well as they found their way past their worries and fears, sorting out how to claim the love they so rightly deserve—and without fear. While they took their journey I took one as a writer as well, moving past some of my own fears and blocks including ones I didn’t even know I had.

  But in the end, this is their story, not mine, and I hope you love it as much as I do.

  Happy reading,

  Jean Oram

  Alberta, Canada 2018

  Acknowledgments

  With a gracious heart I thank the following people for being a part of this book’s journey.

  To my family, for understanding that this summer I didn’t get to play quite as much as usual while I puzzled out this book. The picnics out on the boat (thanks Dad!), and the leisurely swims were excellent writing breaks during the heat wave—heat wave? What heat wave?

  To Julie F. for helping me with the blurb way back when this story was still just an idea I wanted to explore.

  To my beta sisters who helped me iron out the kinks where I thought one thing, typed another, and messed up something else… Thank you for each and every comment you made on the drafts I uploaded. Your feedback helps me not only write a tighter book, but also helps me become a better writer. To Margaret Cambridge, Connie Williams Mechling, Lucy Jones, Sharon Sanders, Sarah Albertson, Erika H., and Donna Wolz.

  To my editor Margaret C. for loving the book and telling me so. I nearly peed my pants when you emailed me a few weeks after receiving the book, saying we needed to talk on the phone. You’ve never called me before and I, of course, assumed the worst about the book’s potential. Turns out you’d emailed the wrong Jean. Thanks for the edits. And for not needing to phone me.

  To Emily and Erin for proofreading and catching all those spots where my eyes skipped over the errors I made while changing things around.

  Thank you.

  Prologue

  Three years ago

  “Tonight’s the night,” Amy said to her friend Hillary.

  “Really?” The other nurse’s eyes lit up and she clasped her hands together as she did a little dance.

  “I think so,” Amy Carrick replied, smoothing her skull-and-crossbones pirate-themed scrubs over her curves. “Dexter’s been talking about settling down and he called, asking me to meet up with him so we can have The Talk tonight. Well, a talk.”

  “Are you nervous? You look nervous.”

  “Why would I be nervous? Just because we’re talking about forever.” She rubbed the spot on her chest where her ribs met, trying to get the tightness there to ease off a little.

  “You’re totally nervous,” Hillary stated with a knowledgeable nod.

  “I’ve met his son and we hit it off. We’ve been dating for a while and this is the next logical step,” Amy replied, straightening the patient clipboards lined up at their nursing station. “My parents will be delighted.”

  “I hope you will, too,” her colleague said pointedly.

  Just because she didn’t walk around clutching a scrapbook of dream homes and curtain patterns like the hospital’s recreational therapist Beth Reiter had all those years ago before she’d married Oz, it was as if the town expected her to drop the man in her life if something more exciting came up.

  Sure, she thrived on adventure, but it didn’t mean she didn’t want that happy, cozy feeling of forever with that special someone in her life. She’d been making a point of trying to show Dexter that she was ready for a commitment and all that came with it. Children included.

  “I’m ready for this, Hillary. I’m ready for the long haul.”

  She was going to get married because she wanted it, not because her parents were still waiting with bated breath for her to settle down. To finally develop into someone more like her older sister had been.

  For Amy, marriage was about no longer having to babysit for friends so she could revel in the feeling of quiet conten
tment that settled over her as she held their sleeping infants. As she secretly fantasized about what would happen if her friends never came home and she was left to care for the sweet little beings. Marriage was about creating that for herself. She could be herself and be a mom. Someone who was fun and carefree as well as full of adventure. She’d let her kids be whoever they decided to be and it would be wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

  Dexter, the father of a free-spirited son, was the man she’d been waiting for. The two of them were different, but not so different that their love couldn’t bridge any gaps.

  Hillary held up Amy’s left hand, gazing at her bare ring finger. “I hope he picks something delicate. I don’t think you could pull off something big and pretentious. It wouldn’t go with your tattoo,” she added wryly, tapping the rose above Amy’s wrist. It was small enough to cover with the face of a watch—should she ever choose to do that. “Does this mean you won’t be going to Belize?”

  “No.” She’d still go on the trip. She massaged the skin where the ring would soon be. “Why?”

  “Because you’re going to be saving up for a wedding.”

  Amy snorted at the idea, hefting a carton of supplies. “I’m still going. I paid for my scuba lessons in advance. The wedding can sort itself out.”

  The nurse laughed. “You are so not a details person.”

  “Hey, I succeed at this job, don’t I?”

  “You do know that husbands typically aren’t nuts about their wives switching careers—just dropping nursing whenever it suits them so they can mix it up or take a trip, right?”

  “I’ve barely changed jobs in the past few years.”

  “How many times have you quit nursing now?” Hillary chided with a grin.

  Amy wrinkled her nose. “It’s weird to pick something and stick with it forever.”

  “You feel ready to settle down? For real?”

  Amy sighed. Hillary was starting to sound like her parents. “The man I’m meant to be with loves me for who I am, and that means he understands that while I love adventure, I’m also ready for marriage. Dexter is that man.”

  Amy walked down the streets of Blueberry Springs, noting that the surrounding mountains looked extra massive in the late summer sunshine.

  She wasn’t worried about Dexter. He understood her love of life and adventure. He got her. All of her—just like her best friend, Moe Harper, did. Because when you loved someone, that’s what you did. You saw the whole picture and accepted each other for who you were. You didn’t just see random pieces, like some of her exes had.

  Seeing as she had some time before she was due to meet up with Dexter, she turned down a tree-lined street and crossed the gravel parking lot of the brew pub where she used to work with Moe.

  He was, as usual, behind the long bar in Brew Babies, pouring a draft for one of the locals as happy hour drew near. The pub was still relatively quiet, the night ahead soon to build in its predictable, easy pattern, leaving Amy with a pang of nostalgia for her old job as Moe’s right-hand barkeep.

  She took the stool across from where he was working, earning a warm smile that made the tanned skin around his kind eyes crinkle. It was an open smile that he seemed to reserve only for her, and it made her feel special each and every time he turned it her way.

  As he slid the beer to the customer, she scanned the length of the bar, finding memories slipping through her mind like a slide show. Some of them were of customers, but many were about working side by side with Moe. They’d always seemed to find a rhythm where everything just flowed, and together they could serve more people than any other team in the pub, helping draw in even more customers than the owner’s brand-new sister pub, Brew, Too, in the city.

  “Have you quit nursing to return to me yet?” Moe asked.

  “Nah, Dexter would have a fit.” He was a good guy, but every boyfriend had his limits and, as a serious single dad, Dexter might object if she took up bartending again.

  Moe placed his palms on the counter and leaned forward as he took her in. “Looking hot, my friend.”

  She batted her lashes at him. “As always.”

  “Need a drink to fortify yourself for the upcoming ring-on-the-finger moment?”

  She narrowed her eyes in reply. “You know I’m fearless.”

  “Unless it’s gummy bears.”

  “I’m not afraid of them,” she said quietly, so nobody would overhear mention of her odd phobia. “They’re just weird. All squishy, but not gooey. Sort of rubbery and…” She gave a small shudder, her throat feeling oddly thick.

  “Says the nurse who can oversee an operation with great enthusiasm.”

  “That’s different.” She pulled a menu toward her. “Hey, are you going to create that onion ring double burger I keep telling you would rock the socks off your customers?”

  Moe made a face that aptly expressed what he thought of the combo. “I will if you come back and work here again.”

  “Can’t get by without me?”

  He shrugged. “It was fun working alongside my bestie.” He scooped a green olive out of the jar in front of him, mocked a throwing motion, then tossed it her way when she tipped her chin up to say she was ready to play.

  She leaned left, catching the olive in her mouth, and talked around it as she said, “I just upgraded my nursing degree to nurse anesthetist.” Thanks to her parents’ insistence, as well as financing.

  He tossed her another olive. She ate it, too.

  “I can see why you might not want to come back to the pub,” he said. “Again. Even if I’m here.”

  The thought was tempting. Moe was Mr. Straight and Narrow and All Planned Out, but together they had this weird synergy that just worked. She missed how even when they’d have a busy, difficult night, it still had a casual, fun feel to it when she was elbow-to-elbow with Moe.

  “With tips I made pretty much the same money.”

  “I see you considering,” he said in a singsong voice. Without being asked, he poured a glass of ice water with a wedge of lemon and handed it to her.

  “Thanks,” she said, taking a sip.

  “So?” He jerked his chin her way. “You going to say yes to Dexter tonight?”

  She nodded, the earlier strange thickness returning to her throat. Had she been thinking about gummy bears again?

  “And if he doesn’t pop the question?” Moe asked.

  “Then I will.” She downed half the glass of water.

  “Take the bull by the horns.”

  “Have you ever known me to sit around and wait for life to happen?”

  He chuckled. “It’s one of the things I love most about you.”

  Amy leaned across the bar to place a kiss on his cheek, enjoying the warmth of knowing that Moe would always be there, understanding and steady.

  “What’s that for?” he asked. “My charm and good looks?”

  “You’re the best friend a gal could ever ask for.”

  “Too bad you and I didn’t work out, huh? Imagine the cute kids we would have made.”

  “Adorable.” Amy slid off her stool onto her feet. “Intelligent little pranksters, too. I’ll catch you later.”

  “Speaking of pranks, are we still putting Frankie’s precious Mustang up on blocks to celebrate his birthday tomorrow night?”

  Amy nodded and flashed him a thumbs-up.

  She headed back out into the sunshine to meet Dexter in the square downtown. He was standing under the large tree that a local feline, Fluffy, liked to yowl from. Today the tree was quiet, and Amy went up onto her tiptoes to give Dexter a kiss. He turned his face so her kiss landed on his cheek, something he did when others were around. She peeked over her shoulder. They had the square to themselves.

  “Was I supposed to bring the picnic?” she asked. His large hands were empty, and no signs of a picnic were been laid out in the late August sunshine. “Wait, you didn’t say picnic, did you?”

  Man, she was nervous. Why had she imagined he’d have a picnic? Because
they went with proposals. And instead of doing something romantic, he was just standing there, shifting from foot to foot and not making eye contact. It made her spine tingle as if her body was preparing for a sudden sprint—out of his life.

  “There’s something I want to talk to you about.” Dexter took her hand.

  Amy’s shoulders lowered and she let out a sigh of relief. He’d taken her hand. It was all going to be okay. She’d been overreacting, misreading his cues.

  Dexter led her farther into the square and sat her down on a bench beside a pretty flower garden.

  This felt right. It would be just like in a scene from the movies.

  Although he’d said he wanted to “talk.”

  But proposals were talking, right?

  Still… She hadn’t heard any rumors floating around town about him shopping for a ring. Maybe he’d bought it elsewhere? Or maybe he wanted her to choose her own? That would be okay. She did have to wear it for the rest of her life, and her tastes were a bit particular.

  It could also be a breakup talk, warned an annoying know-it-all voice in the back of her mind. Almost all her breakups had started with something along the lines of “Let’s talk.”

  Except for with Moe. They’d tried dating twice, and neither time had there been an official “talk,” because both times they’d slipped back into the friend zone as though their temporary friends-with-benefits trial offer had expired. Their breakup conversations had been more along the lines of “Are we still dating?”