Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Cara
Did I just agree to marry Hayden freakin’ Reilly?
I think I did, and though I’m utterly shocked at myself, I don’t think I’m sorry.
Maybe I should have talked to Mel first.
Actually, there’s no maybe about it. I absolutely should have told my best friend that marrying Hayden was a thing that might happen.
And I definitely should have talked to her before coming over here tonight and accepting his proposal.
She’s the only person in my life who’s one hundred percent Team Cara, and I can’t believe I’m doing this without her input.
But I also know why I didn’t text her.
There’s no way Mel would have agreed with this plan. As my best friend, it would be her job to remind me I can’t trust Hayden, and that the entire idea is so ridiculous I should have laughed while blocking his number in my phone.
She would have talked me out of it.
I should have let her, but then I would have lost my best chance to live a life that doesn’t include boiling water to fill the bathtub and tuna casserole three nights in a row. I wouldn’t even be able to cry about it in the shower.
And that’s why I don’t take the words back now. Instead, I just let them hang out there while I run my hand down Penelope’s soft hair over and over. She doesn’t really need soothing, but I do.
Okay. I’ll marry you.
Hayden is quiet, watching me pet his dog, and I appreciate that. He doesn’t push or start burying me with details. I’m not sure it’s possible to process what’s happening right now, but at least he’s giving me the space to try.
Somewhere in this house is an analog clock, and I listen to the very faint ticking of the second hand moving around the face.
“I don’t want to do this,” I clarify once the ticking of the clock starts to feel like pressure. “Going into a fraudulent marriage I know will end in divorce isn’t exactly something I’ve dreamed about. And I don’t want to do this to my mother.”
“I understand that, Cara. I really do.”
“But if I continue living like this, my relationship with Gin is going to blow up eventually, anyway, but neither of us will have any way out when it does.” I exhale a shaky breath and then look him in the eye. “So let’s nail down some of the details.”
Hayden sits back in his chair and not looking smug is probably taking a huge effort on his part. “Well, we picked the date.”
“You picked the date,” I point out, and my pulse quickens again at the thought of marrying him in a week and a half.
“The less time our families have to really think about the situation and come up with hard questions, the better.” He pauses until I nod my agreement. “What’s next?”
With my mind racing the way it is, it’s hard to grasp a single thought to share. “You know how gossip gets around this town, and I don’t want this to be any harder for Gin than it’ll already be, so you can’t tell anybody until I’ve told her.”
“Do you want us to tell her together?”
My burst of shocked laughter startles Penny, and I rub her belly in apology. “Absolutely not. I’ll tell her first, and then let you know when it’s done so you can tell Colleen and your brother.”
“Okay. Speaking of gossip, even though the relationship won’t be real, it will be exclusive.” His voice is low, but there’s no give in his expression. He’s very serious about this. “As long as you’re my wife, no matter the reason, there can’t be anybody else in your life.”
I want to laugh at the idea of me dating anybody right now, but my mouth is too dry and I’m not sure I’m breathing correctly.
It’s hard to tell with the way my heart is pounding, and Penny wiggles to remind me I should be petting her.
I must have stopped when the heat rushed through my body, sapping all the strength from my muscles.
My wife.
Sure, it’s all fake. But the way those two little words, said in his deliciously deep voice, have been seared into my mind is very real.
“That applies to both of us, of course,” he says, and I hope he mistook my inability to form words for outrage at a perceived double standard.
I clear my throat as discreetly as I can, praying my voice will work. “Of course.”
“We’ll maintain separate finances,” he continues. “Anything that’s necessary to maintain the pretense, I’ll pay for. Dinners out and that sort of thing. And the wedding, of course.”
My cheeks feel hotter with every word he says, but I can’t exactly disagree on that point. I can’t afford to. “Okay.”
“I mentioned the prenup and NDA earlier. Taylor—my assistant—will send me all of the documents we need. We can go over them together and if you have concerns, I’ll pay for a lawyer of your choice to go over them with you. There’s a time crunch, but it’s doable.”
I don’t know the first thing about lawyers.
There’s one in Sumac Falls, and he’s been doing the town’s divorces, wills, and property line disputes for as long as I can remember.
Since I definitely wouldn’t use a local, I’ll keep my fingers crossed Hayden’s assistant sends those documents in plain language.
I’ve been so hung up on the outrageousness of the entire situation, I haven’t really thought about the logistics. But now questions start popping into my head.
“What happens if Gin decides—after the wedding—that she doesn’t want to sell us the house after all?” I ask. “There has to be some kind of expiration date if this doesn’t work out.”
His eyebrow arches. “Do you think that’s a possibility?”
“It’s Gin. She’s irrational when it comes to that house, so anything’s a possibility.” It’s hard to talk so frankly about my mom, but I gave her every chance to be reasonable about selling the house. I don’t have a choice anymore.
“Six months?”
I blink, the reality of being Mrs. Hayden Reilly for half a year beginning to settle in. This is a bit of a long game, and I’m not sure I have the nerves for it.
“If, after two months, we’re not making any progress on the Gin front, we can start showing some cracks in the marriage. I’ll start spending more time in Boston and, especially with the hasty wedding, nobody will be surprised when we split up after six months.”
“That’ll definitely give Sumac Falls something to talk about,” I mutter.
Hayden laughs softly, and Penny shifts her body so she can see him without taking away my belly rub access.
“There’s no way through this without gossip, Cara.
We both know that. All I can say is that I’m willing to be the bad guy if it goes sideways on us, and you’re the only one who can decide if it’s worth it to you. ”
“It is,” I say quickly before the doubts can speak for me. I know it’s worth it, and that’s why I’m here. “So where are we going to live? Gin’s not going to give us the deed to the house as a wedding present, and don’t forget her dream of a mother-in-law suite.”
“That’s not going to happen,” he says in what’s probably his Boss of the Boardroom voice.
“So where exactly are we going to be doing the happily married couple thing for at least two months and possibly up to six?”
A single bark from Penny is the only warning we get before Colleen Reilly walks through the front door. She drops her keys on a side table and takes a few more steps before she looks up and her gaze lands directly on me.
She freezes.
I’m already frozen, so if it wasn’t for Hayden standing up, it would seem as if time had been stopped in the Reilly living room.
I can hear that damn clock ticking again, though. Time’s definitely still moving.
“Hi, Mom,” Hayden says in an upbeat, casual way, as if it’s totally unremarkable that Colleen just came home to find a Gamble sitting on her couch. “I thought you’d be at bingo tonight.”
“Clearly.”
“I found a leash in my shop and thought it might be Penelope’s, and I was going by and stopped to ask Hayden if it was hers and then I was just…
petting Penny, I guess.” I know I’m babbling, but I need to say something as I get to my feet.
As much as my shot nerves want me to make a run for it, she’s between me and the front door.
I’m sure there’s a back door, but I don’t know where it is and this situation won’t be made less awkward by me running around her house trying to find another way out.
When Colleen’s gaze shifts from her son back to me, I can see he got his icy blue eyes from her. She looks at me for what’s probably a few seconds, but feels like months, and if I could look away from her, I’m afraid I’d see frost crawling across the floor and up the walls.
“Somebody didn’t notice they were missing their leash when they left?” she asks finally, and through the corner of my eye, I see Hayden opening his mouth to speak.
“Usually,” I say quickly. “But I remembered that Hayden was carrying Penny, so maybe we wouldn’t have noticed.”
Colleen snorts, but her expression softens as she turns to her son. “Of course Penny wouldn’t have to walk on her own.”
Hayden laughs and walks over to scoop Penny off the couch, managing to brush his hand along my back as he passes behind me. I stiffen and hope Colleen doesn’t notice.
“I’ll touch base with you soon about those details, Cara,” Hayden says, and I wince when Colleen’s eyes narrow.
“I should go home and start calling around to see who’s missing a leash,” I say very quickly, doubling down on my weak excuse for being in her house. “It was nice to see you, Mrs. Reilly.”
She gives me a tight smile and moves out of my way. “Thank you for thinking of Penelope.”
As I do my best not to look like I’m fleeing as I go out the door, it’s not lost on me that she didn’t say it was nice to see me, and she didn’t wish me a good night or anything. After all these years, it must have been quite a shock for her to find a Gamble in her home.
Just wait until she finds out I’m going to be her daughter-in-law.