Page 94 of The Reason I Married Him
“How did you calm down the rumors?”
“I didn’t go out of my way, that’s for damn sure. Just kept loving on Hattie and showing up for her. Showing the town that I’m not some dickhead trying to get something out of my girl.”
Oh boy, that hits a little too close to home.
Hank walks up with a tray. He sets down two cups of coffee and two plates, each with a bear claw bigger than my hand. Okay, I can get on board with this.
“Thanks, Hank,” Hayes says.
“Now remember, eat those slow. Let everyone see what the two stars of the town are feasting on.”
We both laugh as he takes off.
“I’ll be impressed if he sells out of bear claws,” I say right before I take a bite.
Holy fuck.
Soft with a slight crisp on the bottom. Cinnamon and glaze and dough all mixed into one. Jesus, this is good.
“Wow,” I say, taking a look at the pastry. “This is really good.” I glance around and then say a little louder. “This is really freaking good.” I hold up the bear claw, pretending to examine it, but I’m really showing the audience what I’m eating.
“Subtle.” Hayes laughs.
“Just trying to help a guy out. It is good, though.”
“My favorite,” Hayes says and sips his coffee. “Not to be a gossip, but what’s going on with you and Aubree? Hattie was telling me you two have been talking for a while? Funny because when we were at Coleman’s together, you seemed to be telling me a different story.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I was trying to mask what was really going on.”
“Fooled me,” he says.
“Yeah, just protecting her wishes, but we’ve been talking a while. It got to the point that I hated the distance between us. I could work anywhere really, so I thought I’d stay for a week and see what she thought about it.”
“How do you think she feels?” Hayes asks.
“Good,” I answer. “She was really happy that I came, after the initial shock of course. She was nervous about what you guys might think, but now that everyone knows, she’s less tense.”
Hayes slowly nods. “So you like her?” I can see he’s attempting to test me, most likely set up by Hattie. I don’t mind. This is where I shine.
“Love her,” I answer, causing Hayes’s eyes to widen.
He sets his coffee cup down. “You love her?”
“Yeah,” I say, then really go for it. “Plan on proposing.”
Hayes is about to take a bite of his bear claw but then slowly lowers it back to the plate. “Propose?”
This is far too comical. Here he was, thinking he was going to have a simple conversation about Aubree, but instead, he’s getting a whole lot of information he probably wasn’t expecting.
“Yeah. I love her, simple as that. I don’t want to be away from her, and well, I think it would just make sense, you know?”
“Uh . . .” He smooths his hands over his legs as he shifts in his chair. “But haven’t you, like, just met?”
“No, we’ve known each other for a while. I helped move Clarke and Cassidy into their farmhouse when Cassidy waspregnant with Mac. I spent some time around Aubree, and I thought she was fucking gorgeous.” That’s not a lie. I did. I still do. I had just gotten together with Cadance then, so I wasn’t even considering a relationship with Aubree. Not that Hayes needs to know about that.No one here knows about Cadance.“And when I found out that I owned part of the land, it was easy for me to talk to her because, like the hormone-driven idiot that I am, I was interested. So yeah, we were talking and then I realized that my feelings were stronger than what I expected. We started out as friends, and now we’ve moved on to so much more.”
Hayes slowly nods his head. “Wow, I mean, that’s awesome, but I’m surprised. I didn’t think you knew that much about each other.”
“Do I know everything about Aubree? No, but that’s what marriage is all about, finding out more about each other.”
