Chapter Three
Caleb
TWO YEARS EARLIER
Tears streamed down Gemma’s face as she sat on the couch in Carson’s condo.
“Stefan was so cold. Like it didn’t matter to him at all. Like telling me he’d never loved me, evicting me from his condo, and firing me all at the same time were just a normal everyday thing. He even asked for the ring back.”
That little hitch in her voice hit me dead center in my chest.
“Shithead,” Cade ground out, saying what all of us were thinking.
“And stupid me gave it to him!” Gemma wailed, a fresh wave of tears streaking down her cheeks. “I should have kept it and pawned it. Jerk.”
I could think of a few better names for her now ex-fiancé than that. A jerk was someone who cut you off in traffic. This fucker had just pulled Gemma’s whole life out from under her.
“You’re not stupid, Gem.” She turned her tear-stained face to me, moisture clinging to her eyelashes like dew drops, and my stomach twisted. There were few things in life I hated as much as seeing this woman cry. “You’re just too good for him.”
Not that I, along with my brothers, hadn’t thought that the entire time she’d been with Stefan. From the second she’d started dating him, then moved in with him, then started working for him at his insurance agency, I’d hated it.
When she’d emailed me while I was deployed telling me they were engaged, my heart had nearly imploded. I’d always had a thing for Gemma but had told myself it was impossible. Saying that in my head was one thing. Realizing she was about to belong to another man for life was something else entirely. In the back of my mind, I’d harbored a glimmer of hope, a fantasy I kept buried deep, that somehow, someday, Gemma and I would end up together. Her engagement put an end to that. I’d forced myself to send congratulations in reply, bleeding out with every letter I typed. The only thing I had to be grateful for was that I was overseas, far from home, and hadn’t heard the news in person. If I had, my face would have given me away.
As it was, I’d had nearly a year to work on my game face before I came home between deployments. Following my initial four-year commitment to the Army, I’d re-upped, and was home on leave until my new assignment kicked in.
“Thanks, Caleb. I know you’re right.” She wiped her cheeks and gave me a faint smile. “I just wish I didn’t feel so dumb. He completely fooled me.”
“You’re not dumb, Gemma.” Carson dropped down on the couch next to her, pulling her close for a one-armed hug and a kiss on top of her head. A twinge of jealousy flared before I pushed it down again. Yeah, I was that kind of asshole – envious of my brother for touching a woman I hadn’t even made a move to claim as mine. “You’re good-hearted, caring, and far too damn trusting for your own good. But dumb? Not even close.”
“What he said,” Cade chimed in, giving her his trademark grin. “You rock, Stefan sucks, end of story.”
“Thanks, guys.” She took a deep breath and slowly released it. “You want to know what really stinks? I mean, other than the fact that I’m now homeless and unemployed? I won’t get the trust my grandfather left me. No wedding means no trust, and no trust means no photography business. Darn it, there go the waterworks again.” She paused, swallowing hard, as her eyes welled up again. “It’s not a tragedy. I know that. It’s just hard to watch my dream slip away.”
My brothers and I shared a look. Gemma’s grandfather had been our neighbor when we were growing up. He had taken her in when her mom and third stepfather decided they wanted to travel the world. He’d cared for her in his own way and been a steady, if not overly affectionate, presence in her life until his death four years before. In his will, he’d provided her with a small monthly stipend – not enough to live on, but enough to help – until she turned twenty-five, when she would receive the remainder of the value of his estate, which amounted to several hundred thousand dollars.
There was just one catch. In order to inherit at twenty-five, Gemma had to be married. According to his will, her grandfather hadn’t believed that a woman was capable of managing that amount of money without a man’s guidance. The condition was bullshit, but according to my brothers, the attorneys, it was also perfectly legal.
Gemma had been counting on the money to start her photography business. She was talented and loved photography but didn’t have enough time or extra income to build a viable business. Her inheritance would have given her both.
Now though…like she’d said, no wedding meant no inheritance and the end of her dream.
A crazy thought sparked at the edge of my mind, spiraling bigger as the others’ voices faded into the background. I stood there, lost in my own world, turning it over and over in my brain.
What if…? Would Gemma do it?
It would guarantee her inheritance when the time came, give her certainty and peace of mind knowing she’d be receiving it, and provide her with the safety net of my military benefits in the meantime. And me? I’d get the satisfaction of knowing I was taking care of her. I’d get to make her dream come true and take a tiny sliver of mine in return.
“You still have time, Gemma.” Cade’s words broke through my spinning thoughts. “You won’t turn twenty-five for what? A year and a half?”
She shook her head at Cade sadly. “It’s not that easy, Cade. It’s hard enough to meet someone, let alone get to know them and trust them.”
She knew me, had known me for years. She trusted me. She wasn’t in love with me, not like I was with her, but still…
Carson was newly married; Cade had a serious girlfriend. I was the only one of us who could do this for her.
I needed to do this for her…and for myself.
“You’re right, Gem.” I looked into her eyes and said the words that meant more to me than she’d ever know. “That’s why you should marry me.”
PRESENT
I thought back on that moment as I walked toward the house – the shock in Gemma’s eyes, then the flood of gratitude even as she’d said she couldn’t let me do it. I’d pushed back, giving her all the reasons it was the best solution. And I remembered the knowing looks on my brothers’ faces, telling me they saw more than I wanted them to, and heard everything I wasn’t saying to Gemma.
A few days later, I’d married her – a quick, civil ceremony, minus the “you may kiss the bride” part, with Carson and Cade as witnesses, and officiated by a judge who was a friend of Carson’s. Three days after that, with a hug and her thousandth “thank you” whispered in my ear, I’d left her behind and reported back overseas.
Little did I know a year later, her life would take another unexpected turn right alongside mine.