Chapter 37
It’s been a tense few days since Pearl left me standing at the castle. She said she probably just needed some time to ‘think about things’, whatever that means. She’s talking to me all right.
But she seems to have so little to say. When I offered her a ride to work, I was honestly slightly amazed that she took it. But now that I have her in the close confines of my truck cab, I don’t know quite what to say.
I’m sorry?
Why don’t you want to get married?
Is it something about me?
None of those things seem like enough. I pull my truck to a stop in the parking lot of Gem”s. Pearl flashes me a quick smile and opens her passenger side door. “Thanks. I”ll get a ride home from Gem.”
Sucking in a breath, I try again. ”Are you sure you won”t let my parents put down a deposit on the castle? Like I already explained before, we can get married without it being a big deal. I promise that if you hate it, we can get it annulled. It”s just a piece of paper, nothing more.”
I want to clutch at her shoulders and yell, “Pearl! Just let me love you!!” But somehow, I’m pretty sure that would only make things worse.
Pearl pauses, then pulls her door closed and looks at me. ”I don”t think that”s a good idea, River. You and I just see marriage differently. What you”re offering...” She hesitates. ”I might be showing my small-town roots. But I won”t be talked into signing a marriage certificate just because you don”t want to tell your parents the truth.”
That stings. I heave a sigh. ”That”s not why I”m proposing marriage.”
“No?”
“No! I think we could make each other happy.”
“If you think that, then let us date for a while and see. You’re putting a lot of pressure on me by suddenly deciding that you want our fake relationship to be real.”
“You’re already wearing my ring, Pearl. I’m just asking you to attend a very fancy party and sign a piece of paper. Everything else will continue just as it has been.”
Pearl”s eyes scan my face. For a second, I think I might have just said the magic words. But then she slowly shakes her head. ”I don”t want to talk about this anymore. And I”m going to be late for my shift.”
”You”re going to be late for a job you wouldn”t need if you just said yes to my proposal.”
She leans over, kisses me on the cheek, and opens the car door again. ”I”ll see you back at home.”
As she closes the door, I call to her. ”I”ll be at the cabin tonight!”
She waves and heads toward the diner”s front door. Grumbling as I start my truck, I head down to park on the side street.
If I were to tell the me from three months ago that I was trying to talk Pearl into marrying me, what would he think? He would laugh at me. Frustrated, I slam the door to my truck and hurry toward the office.
When I get inside, I see Wesley. He is in the middle of a giant tornado of file folders spread across the floor. He looks up calmly, as if he hasn”t strewn just about every folder in the office around.
”I know what you”re going to say. You don”t like the mess. But when I get the folders into chronological order, it”ll be a snap to find files when I need them.”
”O-kay...” I walk around the mess, heading for my office. ”Can you make a coffee run?”
Wesley nods. ”Already did. There”s a coffee with cream on your desk. And you have a surprise visitor waiting in your office.”
I slow. ”Who?”
”Your dad.”
I grimace. ”He”s my step-dad. And you should”ve led with that information.”
He nods, his eyes drifting back to the chaos on the floor in front of him. ”I”ll keep that in mind, boss.”
Shaking my head, I open the door to my office. Sam stands by the front window, peering down the street toward the lighthouse. He turns and frowns at me as I close the door to my office behind me. ”You”re starting the work day pretty late, wouldn”t you say?”
I feel my neck heat. I just go with, ”Pearl needed a ride to work, so I took a few hours off. Is that okay with you?”
He spreads his hands. ”I didn”t mean anything by it.”
I give him a sharp glance and stride over to my desk. ”Do you want to sit down?” I motion to the chair across from me and Sam sidles over to it, giving it an imperious look before sitting down heavily. ”What”s on your mind, Sam?”
He sighs and studies me for a moment before replying. ”I came by to tell you that I was wrong.”
Among the hundreds of things I thought I”d hear Sam say, that wasn”t one of them. It”s not often that he admits something like that. I raise an eyebrow and fold my hands in my lap. ”What were you wrong about?”
He picks an invisible piece of lint from his dark slacks. ”About you and Pearl. I thought you were full of shit when you told me that you two had dated for long enough to want to get married.” He hesitates. ”Actually, I thought you were trying to game the system and get your inheritance early. But I saw the way you act around Pearl up close when we were at the Castle Vineyard. She was upset. You left the table to make sure she was okay. That”s when I knew that your relationship was real.”
I”m too stunned to say more than, ”Uh... yeah. Okay...”
Sam leans forward, narrowing his eyes on my face. ”I just wanted to make sure I came and apologized in person. I”m sorry that I had doubts about your intentions. I know that we haven”t exactly had the easiest relationship, River, But I do love you. I only want what is best for you, son.”
I duck my head. ”Thanks, Sam. I... uh... I love you, too.”
Now I feel like a complete fraud. Sam eyes me, nods once, and stands up.
”Okay, then. You should let us know if you want to rent the vineyard out. I”m not your mom, so I don”t need your marriage to be right this damn second. If you want to set your wedding a year or two in the future and make it a long engagement, be my guest. Whatever makes you happy.”
I stand up, feeling the beads of sweat break out across my brow. ”Uh, thanks.”
Sam stands there, waiting. I realize that he probably wants some sign of affection. I walk over and give his arm a squeeze. He seems okay with that and smiles at me. ”I”m going to get out of your hair now. Have a good rest of your day.”
He ambles out of my office and I”m left drawing in deep breaths. Jesus Christ.
I was not expecting Sam to get emotional like that. Sam is pretty amiable, but he”s always been sort of standoffish with me. This change in his demeanor makes me feel really guilty all the sudden,
Have I been wrong in misleading my family about my engagement?
My hand trembles as I reach out for the cup of coffee that Wesley left for me. I heave a sigh of resignation the second I touch the paper cup.
I can”t see the coffee because it has a lid on it, but I know that it”s gone cold.
Swallowing, I stare at my cup for a full ten seconds before making up my mind to just walk the block down to the market and replace it. Maybe when I get back, I”ll have my shit together.
Walking in the shadow of the building awnings, I head down the pier toward the market. The lighthouse rises up and blocks the midday sun. I keep my head down, half-lost in thought.
Have I really fucked up? My parents are going to be crushed when I tell them the engagement”s off. And it will be off, because Pearl is eventually going to find out about me selling her property.
Part of me is willing to admit that by trying to talk Pearl into marrying me, I am attempting to bind her to me forever.
”River!”
I glance across the street to where the voice came from. There is Bishop, sidling up to me like the cat that ate the fucking canary.
Damn, I hate this guy so much. I am in no kind of mood to want to talk to him today.
I wave him off. ”Not now, Bishop.”
He grabs my arm, which automatically makes me jerk back. Bishop glares at me and tries to grab my arm again. ”You and I need to talk.”
My very short fuse blows when he grips my wrist, I struggle with him, grimacing. When I wrench myself free, his eyes narrow into slits. ”I need to talk to you now,” he growls.
”Fuck off.”
I”m turning on my heel to keep walking when he stops me with his words.
”I”ll tell Pearl that you are planning to sell her family land if you don”t pay me not to.”
My steps slow. I hesitate, scowling, and look back at him. ”I’ll sue you so fast you’ll wish you’d never heard of me.”
He grins. ”You”re fucked if Pearl finds out about your plan. From what I can figure, Pearl was probably a target for you before you even started dating.”
I give him a blank look. ”I don”t know what you”re talking about.”
”I think you do. I think you”re willing to pay me a cool five million dollars to cover up the truth, too.”
My eyes narrow to slits. ”You signed an NDA to protect me against just such a thing.”
He spreads his hands. ”And now I”m telling you that if you don”t agree to pay me, I”ll go to Pearl”s Aunt Delta and tell her the whole plan.”
I curl my lip. ”That shows how little you know about Pearl. She would rather die than pay blackmail to you.” I spit on the ground. ”You don”t deserve her. Just leave her and her family alone.”
Bishop”s face contorts. ”You”re going to be sorry about this, River.”
Shaking my head and giving him the middle finger, I start toward the market once more. ”Fuck off and die, Bishop,” I call over my shoulder.
But inside, a voice screams at me.
I”m definitely out of time to come clean with Pearl about her family”s lands.