Chapter 4 #2
She steps back like she’s dodging my words. “Ours was a completely different situation. It was a mutually beneficial business agreement where we both understood the terms and outcome. It was based on logic, not heart.”
“I’m just saying, maybe you have no room to talk. At twenty-one, you were able to make a big decision about your life. I think it’s only fair to let Selena do the same thing.”
“The difference is, she wants the marriage to work out, and it won’t. Statistically speaking, it will end in divorce.”
“Are you always this pessimistic?”
Her chin lifts. “When it comes to marriage, yes.”
“Charming.”
“You can judge me all you want, but I see divorce every day. I successfully settled thirty-six divorce cases last year.”
“That’s not the flex you think it is.”
“Just further proof that I know what I’m talking about.”
She brushes her dark curls back from her face, and I spend a quick thought wondering what it would feel like to touch them. Could I pull down on one strand like a coil, and would it bounce back up? I change the subject as a way to distract myself from reaching out and trying.
“You know, I’ve wondered about you a time or two over the years. Wondered if you still never intended to marry for love like you said.”
“Interesting.” She smiles in a teasing way. “I haven’t thought about you once in the last five and a half years.”
“Yeah, I can tell,” I joke. “You’re not a very good wife.”
“I never claimed to be. I may not have thought about you, but do you know who I have thought of?” She pauses for dramatic effect before answering. “Sam!”
“Sam.” I nod with fondness. “Whatever happened to that guy?”
“You’re not still friends with him?”
“We were never friends. He was just some guy in my biology class who heard me talking about how I needed money for my business. He came to me with your proposition.”
“That’s crazy that you didn’t know him either. He was just some guy in my political science class that I asked to help find me a guy desperate enough to marry me.”
“How many times do you think he’s told the story of us at parties?” I ask.
“Oh, a lot. We’re definitely his number one party story, and I hate that. If I were smarter back then, I would’ve made him sign something that he couldn’t talk about us.”
“I bet people don’t believe him when he says we met at the Waffle House and got married thirty minutes later.”
“True. But the weirdest part is knowing you ate the leftover waffle bites of someone you barely knew,” she muses.
“Nah, that’s nothing compared to marrying someone I just met.”
“Have you ever wished that you could tell someone about us?”
“My mom, but she’s also the one person I would never want to find out.”
“Why not?”
“It would absolutely kill her traditional heart. I come from a long line of lasting marriages.”
Camila tilts her head, studying me. “That explains why you’re so gung ho about the benefits of marriage.”
“My parents just had their fortieth wedding anniversary.”
“I’m surprised you agreed to marry me, then.”
“We both had our reasons that made sense to us at the time.”
“You wanted to start a business, right?”
I smile, nudging her shoulder with mine. “Oh, look who remembers now.”
“I’m good at business details. Just not emotional stuff. So”—she looks at me expectantly—“did you start your business with the money?”
“I did.”
“And how did it go?”
“I would say twenty-two-year-old me made the right decision marrying you.”
“Well, good. Ours might be the only marriage that actually paid off.”
“Whose marriage paid off?”
I turn over my shoulder, and there’s the other woman I don’t want to find out about my secret wife. “Shanna! I thought you weren’t coming.”
She presses her body into mine as her lips brush against my mouth. “I was able to leave work early.”
“Great!” My voice sounds strained, like a kid being questioned by the police for lighting a firecracker inside an outhouse.
Shanna looks between me and Camila. “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”
“Oh, yeah. Right.” I wipe at the newly formed bead of sweat on my forehead. “Shanna, this is Selena’s older sister, Camila. Camila, this is Shanna.”
Shanna extends her arm out. “Hess’s girlfriend, soon-to-be fiancée.”
“Really?” A surprised smile falls over Camila’s lips. “What an astonishing development.”
My eyes narrow on Camila, warning her to tread lightly if she knows what’s good for the both of us.
“When’s the big day?” Her smile is aimed at me.
“There’s nothing official. Shanna is anxious to take the next step with an engagement, but it will be at least another six months before anything like that happens.”
Shanna places her hand on my chest. “Hess is dragging his feet.”
“Is that so?” Camila’s grin shows she’s enjoying this a little too much.
“There’s always something you have to wait on before you can get married. Got to get those ducks in a row.” She smirks with glittering brown eyes.
“Something like that.”
“I want to go say hi to Landon.” Shanna tugs on my arm, pulling me away. “It was nice to meet you, Camila.”
“Same to you.”
I glance over my shoulder before we round the corner and can’t help but match the giant smile on Camila’s face.