Page 72 of The Reason I Married Him
After a few seconds of silence, I see Aubree walk up and open the door to her guest house.
Freshly showered, she’s wearing a pair of plaid shorts and a white tank top. There’s nothing fancy about her outfit, and I like that. I like that she can be comfortable around me and not care that her hair isn’t done or that she isn’t wearing makeup. Not that she needs to impress me.
“Feeling better?” I ask her.
“Barely,” she says as I walk into the guest house that smells like fresh soap and whatever hair products she uses. She shuts the door behind me as I take a seat on her bed. I take note how the bed is made so that when I do live here, I know how to make it to her liking. “I dry-heaved a few times in case you need to know.”
“You did?” I ask. “Why? Nerves?”
“Yes.” She takes a seat on the bed as well. “I don’t know how you can remain so calm about something like this, but this whole idea freaks me out. I understand that there are pluses to it, for you and me, but . . . what if, I don’t know, Mac gets close to you, and then when we divorce, she’s sad that you leave? She’s already lost two parents. I feel like I can’t do that to her again.”
I turn toward her and say, “I will always be a part of her life. I know I’ve been missing for a bit, but now that I’m here, now thatI’ll be here for a year, I know the importance and commitment it will take to be here and be present with her. I’d definitely visit.”
“You wouldn’t stay here?” she asks. “When we divorced, you’d move away?”
“Attached already?” I ask with a smile.
But she doesn’t find it funny. “I’m being serious, Wyatt.”
I nod in understanding. “I wouldn’t. The point of this deal is to acquire the cabin. Once I acquire that, then I’d move in. Stay in Canoodle. Make that my home. And then come up here to visit with Mac. The great thing about my job is I have freedom when it comes to my schedule. She won’t be left behind.”
She worries her lip. “And what about . . . you know, money and stuff? Will we sign a prenup? I don’t want anything from you, just the land, and I don’t, well . . . I don’t want you taking the farm from me.”
“Do you really think I’d do that?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I like to believe you wouldn’t, but then again, I don’t know you as well as I probably should, and knowing that side of you wouldn’t be solved by asking twenty questions. That’s the kind of thing you learn about a person as you get to know them through experience.”
Looking her dead in the eye, I say, “I won’t take this farm from you, Aubree. In fact, we’ll make sure we have a legal and binding document that clarifies both parties’ needs. I know what it means to feel sentimental toward property, hence this entire façade. My plan is simple: marry you, take ownership of the cabin, move on. I don’t want anything else from you.”
“Okay,” she says, looking relieved. “And you would have to live here?”
“Yes. We have to make it seem real.”
She glances around her small space. “Would we have to go on public dates?”
“I think so, just so people see us together. The only reason I say this is because I know Wallace will put up a fight when he finds out we got married. He won’t be happy about it and will most likely contest the whole thing, so we have to make the marriage believable, especially with the town, because they’ll back us up.”
Understanding falls over her expression. “Do you think he’ll come here?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.” I let out a deep sigh. “I know this is asking a lot of you, and if you want, I can tack on some other things to sweeten the deal, like any new farm equipment you might need, or if you want me to buy you some cows. You name it, it’s yours.”
“I don’t need anything else from you, just the land.”
“Okay, but if you change your mind, let me know. I’m an honest man, Aubree, and I keep my word. I promise you when this ends, you’ll have your land, and I’ll be out of your hair. The only time you’ll see me is when I come to visit Mac.”
She slowly nods and then lets out a deep breath just as an SUV comes screaming up the dirt road. Our eyes watch as it parks, and Hattie flies out of the front seat, rounding the back and charging toward the guest house.
“Oh God,” Aubree says. “Prepare yourself because things are about to get real.”
Hattie doesn’t even bother knocking as she barges into the guest house and stands in the doorway, huffing with anger as she looks back and forth between the two of us.
Hands on her hips, she says, “Care to explain what’s going on?”
Aubree glances at me, looking like she’s about to panic, so I take the lead.
Clearing my throat, I speak very calmly as I say, “A few months ago, your sister contacted me when she found out thathalf of the land was given to me in Cassidy’s will. She wanted to get on the same page where the farm was concerned. I was in Palm Springs at the time and asked her if she could meet me halfway so we could talk in person. She agreed to it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were meeting with him?” Hattie asks.
