Chapter 4
Four
Rebekah
I can’t believe this is happening. I should have gone home. If I hadn’t gotten caught snooping by Asher…
I’m scared out of my mind. My dad is going to kill me. He’s going to come here with his shotgun and kill everyone. I’m shaking, and I can’t stop. I keep sobbing intermittently. Just when I think I’m done, my brain sends me back there.
Adam scoops me off the counter and carries me in his arms over to the massive recliner. When he sits, he tucks me against him. I pull my limbs up and curl into a ball on his lap in a fetal position. Some firecracker I am. He’s busting through my armor.
He pulls out his phone and taps the screen.
“Hey, Aaric. Are you still in the city?... Great. There’s been a development.
Remember Rebekah Sharp?... Yes, that’s the one.
Well, she’s here with me, and she’s staying.
If I text you a list, can you pick up some things for me? ... Thanks. I’ll explain more later.”
I’m shuddering as he tips me back and meets my gaze. “Aaric is going to get whatever you need. Do you want to help me make a list so I don’t forget anything?”
I stare at him blankly. “What kind of things?”
“Clothes, sweetheart. Toiletries. Shoes. Whatever you need.”
“You can’t do that. I don’t have any money.”
He smiles. “Rebekah, you’re my responsibility now. You don’t need to have any money. I have plenty. You need clothes.”
“What I’m wearing is fine.” It’s ugly, and I have no idea why he would suggest I stay with him. I look like someone who’s been lost in the woods for a decade without proper food or clothes to change into.
“Sweetheart… You can’t wear the same thing forever. You’ll need something clean tomorrow.”
“I’ll just wear this.” Plus, I’ll be dead tomorrow. It won’t matter.
Adam sighs. It’s the first time he has shown any signs of being exasperated, and still, his frustration is minimal. He lifts his phone again and starts typing. I have no idea what he’s saying to his brother, but it takes him forever.
Eventually, he sets his phone aside. “Done. Do you want me to drive you to your house, Rebekah?”
I shake my head.
“Do you have any belongings that are important to you?”
I swallow. “It would be nice to have pictures of my mama and my sister from when we were young, but it’s not worth dying over.”
“No one is going to die. I promise. I texted Asher. He’s headed there now to see if your father is even home.”
I gasp, uncurl, and sit upright. “He can’t.
” My voice is shrill. I grab the front of Adam’s shirt and try to shake him.
An impossibility, of course, but why won’t he listen to me?
“I mean it. Every time someone pulls up the driveway, he grabs his shotgun and stands on the porch with it cocked. He doesn’t like strangers.
He doesn’t lower the gun until he’s certain the guest is one of his buddies. ”
“Rebekah, Asher will be fine. Trust me. He has more than one weapon on him. He’s not going to get shot.”
I cover my face. “My dad will lose his mind without someone there to fix his dinner.”
“He’s going to have to get over himself. He can fix his own damn dinner.”
I’m shaking. “It doesn’t work that way. Men don’t cook. It’s a woman’s job. It’s my job.”
“Not in our home, Rebekah. There won’t be any jobs designated as women’s work. I’ve been living on my own for ten years. I think I’ve done a pretty good job cooking and cleaning. Is my place a pigsty?”
I gasp. “No. Of course not.”
“Do I look like I’ve missed a meal?”
I shake my head.
“It’s just me and my brothers living here. None of us are married yet. We do all the cooking and cleaning. I’ll continue to do so now that you’re here. I won’t have you ever feeling like a task should be done by you because you’re a woman.”
I stare at him. He’s lost his marbles.
“What do you usually cook for your father?”
“Squirrel or rabbit,” I mumble.
Adam winces. “That’s it?”
“Sometimes he gets supplies, and we have those until they run out. I planted some root vegetables, but they haven’t done well lately.”
“From now on, you’re going to eat healthy foods several times a day. You’re undernourished, sweetheart. We need to get some meat on you.” He strokes a finger under my chin, tickling me enough to make me smile.
“The sandwich you made me was delicious,” I tell him.
“Good. I can make you one every time you’re hungry. My brothers and I usually eat together in the main house, but I’ll bring whatever you like to our cabin, too, in case you get a craving in the night.”
He’s not pulling my leg. “You really want me to stay here?”
“Yes.”
“You only have one bed,” I point out, feeling stupid. Duh. He’s going to expect me to let him into my body. The idea makes me nervous, but I’ll do it. For him. I’ll open my legs, even though I know that’s not what a good girl does.
“Rebekah, I’m not going to force you to do anything.
Never. I don’t have another bed in the cabin, so you’ll either have to sleep in mine with me, or…
” He draws in a deep breath. “Honestly, that’s the only option.
I wouldn’t be able to rest if you were anywhere else.
I know I said you could stay with one of my brothers, but I take it back.
You belong with me. I don’t even want you in another room.
That doesn’t mean I’m going to force myself on you.
It just means you’ll be sleeping in my bed. ”
“It’s not proper,” I mutter, feeling stupid. He probably has sex with women all the time.
Adam lifts my chin again. “Rebekah, I need you to understand what I’m saying. Frankly, I don’t give a fuck about proper. I care about your safety. When you’re with me, you’ll be safe, and I’ll worry when I can’t see you. Always. You’re alone with me right now. Is that proper?”
I shake my head.
“Would it make you feel better if we were married?”
I frown. “Of course. Married people can be alone together.”
“Then let’s get married.”
My heart races. He can’t be serious. I blink rapidly.
“I mean it. Right now. If it helps you feel more proper.” He might be sort of joking.
“You’re teasing me.”
“I’m not.”
“You just met me like two hours ago.”
“Not true. I met you fifteen years ago. But what matters is that when I look at you, I know in my heart you’re meant to be mine.
I’ve never had that feeling with a woman before.
It’s got me all twisted inside. We can discuss it to death for days or weeks, but why bother?
If you marry me now, you won’t feel like you’re breaking any sort of propriety code.
Plus, your father won’t be able to do a damn thing about the fact that I’ve claimed you. ”
My mind is reeling.
Adam’s phone rings, and he picks it up from the end table. He taps the screen and holds it in front of him. “Asher. ’Sup?”
I flinch when Asher responds through a speaker. I don’t have a cell phone. Neither does my dad. I’ve seen them, but it’s been a long time since I looked at one. I didn’t know they had speakers. “I’m at Rebekah’s property. No one is here.”
“Oh, good. We’ve had a change of plan. We’ll head there now.” Adam helps me to my feet and then stands.
“Your voice is a bit more chipper than usual,” Asher growls. He really is surly.
Adam tips my head back and smiles at me. “We’re getting married.”
“What?” Asher’s voice is so loud through the speaker that I jump.
“Yep.”
“When?”
“Today. We’ll head there and then into town.”
“What the fuck?” Asher must have ended the call because the line drops.
“Let’s go,” Adam says, taking my hand.
I don’t budge. “Adam…”
“What, sweetheart?” He stops, turns toward me, and pulls me against him. “Am I rushing you? Tell me if you don’t feel what I feel.”
I swallow. Is he rushing me? If I’m honest, I’ve been in love with this man since I was about five. By the time I was ten, I’d decided I was going to marry him when I grew up. I even told him so once. Why is he doing this, though? Marriage is for life.
I’ve worried for a long time that my dad would suddenly make me marry someone he’d met somewhere.
Someone I wouldn’t know. Probably someone too old for me.
Someone without all their teeth. Someone who smelled gross and didn’t take enough baths.
Someone who would force themselves between my legs and make me cry.
By local standards, I’m considered an old maid.
In the mountains, girls are often married off at a young age, sometimes because their parents have too many kids and can’t afford to feed them all.
But my dad hasn’t let me out of the house or introduced me to anyone.
I’m glad because I didn’t want to be forced to marry a stranger.
I know why he hasn’t done it. If I leave the house, there won’t be anyone to take care of him.
If my mama were alive, I would have been married by now. I was eighteen when she died. My sister was nineteen. Mama always advocated for us and insisted he not force us to marry so young. But their discussions had been escalating, and Hannah and I had both known our days were numbered.
Everything changed when Mama died. For one thing, Hannah ran off. I hope she found a way to escape our father’s matchmaking. A part of me has been angry with her for leaving me, but I can’t blame her.
In a way, she saved us both. If she’s happy and making her own life somewhere, good for her.
Her leaving meant Dad never forced me to marry.
He needs me. Not that life with him is all roses and sunshine.
It’s not. He’s mean and cruel, far more so than he ever was when Mama was alive.
But I remind myself every day that cooking and cleaning for an angry drunk is better than also having to spread my legs for one.
Even nursing the occasional black eye and spending time in that dark, cold, wet cellar is better than letting a nasty man into my vagina.
Adam is going to rock the boat so hard my dad will pop a vein in his forehead.
He hugs me tighter. “Have you changed your mind about me, firecracker?” His voice is light and teasing.
I frown.
“Ten years ago, you told me you were going to marry me when you grew up. Did you change your mind?”
So he does remember… My face heats. It’s so sweet that my throat swells up. “No,” I whisper.
Suddenly, Adam drops to one knee in front of me. He’s so tall that we’re almost eye-to-eye. He takes both my hands in his and holds my gaze. “Rebekah Sharp, will you do the honor of marrying me?”
Tears run down my cheeks.
“I promise to always put you first, to cherish you, to comfort you when you’re sad, to hold you when you’re hurting.
I promise to take care of you, provide for you and our children, to make sure you have enough food, to keep a roof over your head and clothes on your sweet body.
Except when we’re in bed.” He grins at that last part.
My cheeks flush deeper.
He reaches up to stroke my face. “You’re so pretty when you blush, sweetheart.”
I grab his face, my fingers threading in his beard. “You really mean it?”
“Every word. Will you marry me, Rebekah?”
I nod. “Yes.”
He grabs me around the waist, stands, and swings me around in a circle so fast I get dizzy and start giggling.
It’s just like he used to do when I was a kid.
Granted, I don’t weigh much, so I’m not hard to lift.
I feel like I’m flying. I haven’t felt this free and light since… probably the last time we did this.
He finally pulls me against his chest, my feet dangling. “Let’s go. Asher’s waiting for us.”