Page 239 of The Reason I Married Him
“Why did you go along with it?” Hattie asks, looking hurt.
“Because I felt desperate to do something right for Cassidy. To do something right for myself. I felt like I was drowning in uncertainty and lacking in confidence. I saw Amanda and Matt together, and well, it was a perfect storm of insecurity that mademe say yes. And the more I got to know Wyatt, the more I realized that he was . . . well, he was the kind of guy who made me feel seen, and slowly, I started to fall for him.” I bite my bottom lip. “I just wish I wasn’t so naïve in those feelings.”
“What do you mean?” Ryland asks. “Was he using you?”
I shake my head. “No, but I don’t think he’s fully over his ex-fiancée, who he was supposed to marry two months ago. I think that’s probably why he came to me. That marriage didn’t go through, so he struck up a deal.” I dab at my eyes as a new wave of tears forms. “That’s what I found out today. Here I am, falling for the man while he’s holding in the kind of information that would have been good to know. He was holding back, and you should have seen the look on his face when he saw her. It was clear that there was still emotion there.” I shake my head again. “I just feel foolish.”
To my surprise, Hattie draws in closer and takes my hand in hers. “Do not feel foolish for letting your heart lead the way.”
“Hattie, I fell for someone who I feel like I don’t even know now. That is foolish.”
“That’s love,” Hattie says softly. “And I know Ryland might not agree with me, but given the way we grew up, especially you, when you find comfort, you cling to it because our childhood was anything but comforting. I know when Hayes came into my life, it felt like this weight I’ve been carrying for so long was lifted, like I could share the burden of it. Is that how you felt with Wyatt?”
I nod as a tear slips down my cheek. “But it’s stupid because it wasn’t real.”
“It was?—”
“Why are you defending him?” Ryland says to Hattie. “He clearly used our sister, didn’t tell her the whole truth, and made her fall for him. Why are you glorifying this?”
Hattie sits back, stunned by the harshness in his voice. “I wasn’t glorifying it, Ryland. I was trying to help her see that what she was feeling wasn’t foolish.”
“But don’t try to convince her that everything he did was right because it wasn’t. He used her to his advantage. He wanted something, he had leverage with the land, and he used it. That’s fucked up. No one treats my fucking sisters like that.”
“His intentions might not have been right at the beginning, but I think toward the end, recently, they have been in favor of Aubree,” Hattie says.
“Why do you think that?” Ryland asks.
“Because I know what love is,” Hattie says while pointing at her chest and getting emotional over it. “I know what it means to give your heart to someone else, to depend on them to keep it safe. I’m not afraid to put myself out there like you are, Ryland.”
“I’m not fucking afraid,” he says.
“Says the guy who hasn’t had a solid relationship since his high school sweetheart left him.”
Ryland’s eyes narrow on Hattie, and I can feel him ready to burst. “It’s because I’ve had responsibilities,” he says through clenched teeth. “Why do you think there was food on the table every night just before Dad died? It was because of me. Because I was working, because I was supporting this family. And the moment I had a chance to think about myself, Clarke died, which meant I was Cassidy’s primary helper, Aubree a close second. I haven’t had the fucking time in my life to even consider the kind of freedom to feel the way you have, Hattie. And don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful you’ve found Hayes, but don’t throw it in my face that you know what love is. If you grew up in my world, in my childhood, with Dad’s fist being the only thing that kissed your face, you wouldn’t be so prone to know what love is either.”
“Ryland, I’m . . . I’m sorry,” Hattie says as her eyes start to water.
“I know,” he says while squeezing her hand. He then turns to me and lets out a deep sigh. “Fuck, Aubree, we lost sight of what’s going on. I’m sorry.”
I shake my head, looking between my two siblings. “Please don’t apologize for wanting to protect me. I should have told you guys, but I didn’t want you to change my mind. Hattie, I didn’t want you to tell me that I shouldn’t marry for anything but love, and Ryland, I didn’t want you to try to help me buy the land from Wyatt somehow, which I knew you would have done. I wanted to do this myself, and it felt like this was the easiest way to do it because I’ve been so closed off.” I press my lips together, trying to hold back another wave of tears. “I didn’t think he’d wiggle his way into my life the way he did. I didn’t think I’d find comfort in him, peace . . . protection. I didn’t think I’d fall for him, yet I did.”
“Does he know how you feel?”
“Yes,” I say, wiping my tears. “And it’s fine, I can?—”
The front door to the farmhouse opens, and our eyes fall on Wyatt, standing in the doorway, looking distraught and disheveled.
Immediately, Ryland stands, but I grab his hand so he can’t move forward. “What the fuck are you doing here?” Ryland nearly growls.
“I wanted to talk to Aubree.” Respectively, Wyatt stands his ground, unmoving from the clear threat that is my brother.
“Talk to her about what? The deal you made with her? How you made her fall for you while you were in love with someone else?”
“You told them?” Wyatt asks, looking at me.
“Of course she fucking told us,” Ryland says. “She should have told us from day one. Was that your idea as well? To lie to us?”
Wyatt stuffs his hands in his pockets but looks Ryland directly in the eye when he says, “I take full responsibility for everything. Yes, I told her not to tell you. I even threatened her if she did.”
