Page 29 of The Mountain Man's Mail-Order Wife
My throat constricts with emotion, but I manage to get a couple of words out. “See you soon.”
“Drive safe, Uncle Granger.”
“You know it.”
After our goodbyes, Granger calls Thea back in and between us, we put together a plan to get my inheritance under my control.
There were a few stops to make in town, the police department being one of them, where we informed the chief I’m taking steps to get what’s mine and we might need his assistance in the near future.
Finally, we’re back in Granger’s truck making our way home.
And yes, I mean home. Felix’s cabin feels more like home than anything I’ve ever had. He might have agreed to marry me to help, might think this is only temporary, but I know his original plan was to find a wife. A life partner.
He doesn’t know it yet, but I’m not planning to leave once I get my parents’ estate.
No, my plan is to sell the house or rent it out or something. I can leave it empty until I decide, but I won’t be living in it. Not ever again.
I’ll be tucked away in a mountain cabin living with a man I never expected to find. A man who has found his way into my heart in record time. A man I trust above all others.
A man I plan to call husband for the rest of my life.
FELIX
Ihave a wife.
In less than a week I went from bachelor to husband and I can’t wipe the smile off my face. Even if it is a marriage of convenience, marrying Riley is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I feel more like my old self, the one before the accident, than I have since…before the accident.
She’s still a stranger, and yet, she’s not.
I’m beginning to read her moods and when I can’t, she doesn’t lie if I ask her what’s wrong. She doesn’t shy away from being vulnerable either. When we discussed where we could get married, Riley admitted she wanted to have the ceremony here if we could.
Her raw admission that the cabin feels like home, that she feels free here—safe—left me with an aching chest. I love that I’ve given her a place she can be herself.
And now that we’re husband and wife…
The scars on my face pull as my smile gets bigger. Our lips barely touched when the judge proclaimed us married and we could kiss, but damn, that was one hell of a kiss.
It’s the first time we’ve touched intimately. Discounting holding hands or the occasional hug, anyway. I have to admit I want more than a wife of convenience. If I’m honest, I’ve known that all along. It’s how Riley ended up here to begin with.
How I’ll cope when she leaves is beyond me. I can’t imagine her not being here, not seeing her every day. Except it’s something I’ll have to deal with because she will leave.
Once she gains access to her parents’ estate, she’ll have the funds to do anything. Go anywhere. Why would she want to be isolated out here with a scarred man?
Frowning at the back of Uncle Granger’s truck as it disappears down the driveway, fear shoots through me. When she leaves, Riley will be on her own. No one to watch out for her. Anything could happen…
“Hey, what are you doing standing out here in the cold?” Riley slips her arm through mine, leans her head on the side of my shoulder. “Has everyone gone?”
“Yes, Uncle Granger just drove off.” Glancing down, I find her smiling as she looks around the now empty driveway. Well, empty except the truck I’m giving her as a wedding present.
“Is that the truck you told me about? The one you had when you were a teenager?”
“Yeah.” I stare at the red Bronco and wonder if I’ll ever be brave enough to get behind the wheel. “I haven’t seen it since before the accident.”
“Not even when you stayed at Granger’s?”
The right side of my mouth kicks up as my chest fills with warmth. I love that she calls my uncle by his first name. Love it even more that they get along,likeeach other. Maybe between the two of us, we can give Riley the family she deserves and make her want to stay.
“I never left the bedroom he set me up in when I got out of the hospital. Didn’t have to. It had an attached bathroom.”
