“Are you going to spend the next year asking me that?” Her smile softened her words.
He bit back a smile. “I’ll try not to.”
“Good.” She closed the suitcase, zipped it shut, and looking around the room nodded. “Ready when you are.”
Once again, he was booked on the red-eye to Midland with a stopover in Dallas. Only this time he was traveling with a wife. Sort of. They said little on the cab ride to the airport. He kept an eye on her as they drove through the city, looking for any signs of regret, or simply changing her mind. Priding himself on also being able to read people, he saw nothing. Her expression was as blank as a new sheet of paper.
Not wanting to surprise too many people, once they’d checked in, he excused himself and walked to a quiet corner and called Preston. He’d texted already that he’d missed his flight and would be home tomorrow morning, but hadn’t said anything else.
“Hey, bro. You planning on missing the flight again?” His brother wasn’t nearly as funny as he gave himself credit for.
“Ha ha. Listen. There’s been a little change of plan.” Little—was that ever an understatement.
“Oh?” His single word response held more hesitancy than surprise.
“I sort of got married.”
“Sort of?” This time shock clearly tinged Preston’s voice.
“Okay. I got married.”
“I thought we told you we didn’t need that much more money.”
“You did. And that’s not why I got married.”
“Oh?” This time his voice straddled somewhere between surprise and doubt.
“But it is why we’re staying married.”
“Oh.”
“Can’t you say anything else?”
“Sure. What the hell are you talking about?”
As quickly as he could he explained about meeting Cassidy, going out on the town, having more fun than he’d had in a very long time, and waking up married.
“And she understands that Mom doesn’t know about the marriage scheme?”
He nodded, his gaze on her sitting quietly across the gate area, watching him watch her. “She does. I think it will be fine. A good thing. I mean, we can use the extra money, right?”
“You know we can.” Preston went quiet for a long minute. “I’ll give the others a heads up. What do you want me to say to Mom?”
“Nothing. This isn’t something I want to spring on her over the phone.”
“I’m not so sure that springing it on her in person is going to be any better.”
“I know, but that’s what I’m going with.”
“Understood. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“And Kade?”
“Yes?”
“Congratulations, big brother.”
