Mason (Mail-Order Brides For Christmas)

I look at my phone again and read all the reviews for the matrimony matching website. It seems legit. Darn, I hope it is. I told my friend that I had met someone online. If I told her I was getting married to someone I hadn’t even met, heck hadn’t even talked to, I know she would have tried to talk me out of it. And I don’t want that.

Anyone else would probably be worried right now, wondering if this is the right thing to do. But not me. When I woke up this morning, I felt refreshed and without the least amount of worry. I expected some remorse or regrets, but I feel a calm come over me about the whole thing. I feel like leaving my lonely life behind to go and begin a new one surrounded by family is fate taking a hand.

As I hear the call to board over the loudspeakers, I grab my bag and start to walk across the aisle. The man that is sitting across from me stands up and waves for me to go in front of him. I smile easily at him and show the attendant my boarding pass before walking on to the plane. As I settle into my assigned seat, I think, This is going to be just like a fairy tale.

Mason

I’m staring at the paperwork in front of me, reading through it all. I shouldn’t even question it. The prenuptial agreement was prepared by Mr. Davis, our family’s lawyer for the last twenty years. He’s trustworthy and knows his stuff. It has all the common information on it and includes the clause that we each take what was ours with us when we get divorced. I’ve tattooed over too many ex-lovers’ names on countless clients to be naïve enough to think that anything real can come of this arranged marriage.

I still can’t believe that my mother set this whole thing up. As soon as she learned about the Titan Corporation coming in to buy the town, she’s been searching to find a way to stop it. We all have. But Mother took it into her own hands. She’s really clever and probably one of the most headstrong women I know. She came up with this idea, contacted the mail-order bride company, and put everything into motion.

The rules for the town’s ownership are clear and say I have to be married. I’m working on a clause. Something we can figure out about changing the antiquated laws of Snow Valley. Phew! It’s crazy. The law states that the owners must be married. It’s a crazy idea, and the rules definitely need changed. Until I can figure it out, we will stay married.

Snow Valley means so much to our community and my family, and I know there’s no way I can let the Titan Corporation come in and buy it. We don’t want a tourist town. We like our town the way it is. My brothers and I are prepared to buy it, but the city bylaws say that the town’s owners have to be married. I think it’s a bunch of hogwash, but there’s no way I’m telling my mother no. I won’t be the one to let my family down, not when my five brothers all agreed to do this. Plus, I’m not so worried about the idea that I would stay married if it turns out really badly. If it comes down to it, I’ll figure out a loophole of selling my shares of the town or something. As long as the majority stays in the Mistletoe family, I won’t need to be an owner.

Marriage really isn’t for me anyway. I don’t believe in happily every afters. My buddies in the service would agree with me. My best friend’s wife left him while he was serving overseas. Another friend’s wife divorced him because she fell in love with someone else. Another friend’s wife left him because she couldn’t handle him being gone all the time. Yeah, I’m not a betting man anyway, but if I was, I definitely wouldn’t be betting on the success of these arranged marriages. But there’s no way I could turn my mom down. Not on this. I know how much this town means to her, and there’s no way I’m going to stand in the way of it being kept to its current standards. Snow Valley is a special place, and it means a lot to all of us. It’s where our family is from, it’s where we grew up, and it’s where we plan to stay. We definitely need to preserve the town. For us and for all the townspeople.

So once the decision was made, I just had to go through with it. Honestly, I’m glad Mom had a plan for the arranged marriage. The only prospects I would have had in this town that would even consider marrying the likes of me is Jessica, one of my tattoo artists at the shop. She’s nice enough, but marrying her would be a huge mistake. She’s already following me around like a lost puppy; she probably would get the wrong idea and think it was a real marriage.