“We’d be happy to have you. Just let the boss man know when you’re coming.” After a meaningful glance at Noah, Jim said, “I’ll be off now.”
We watched him cross the pavement and duck into the bottling facility. A minute or two passed and then Gennie jogged toward us, her cheeks red and her smile wide. “I got to help with Matildamoon and Petuniapie!” She grabbed my hand. “Do you want to help? Bonnieboo is up next.”
“Bonnieboo? I’ll watch you help with her, okay? I need to talk with Noah for a few minutes. Go show me your skills.”
Gennie skipped back inside, satisfied with that response. Noah, on the other hand, dropped his hands to his hips and squared his shoulders. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing’s wrong.” It was a textbook reaction towe have to talkand I panted out a laugh as I rubbed my temples because I hadn’t meant to set him on guard. I hadn’t even meant to bring this up but—fuck it. That was the theme of this day. It would probably continue as the theme of this entire year. “I’ve been thinking about Twin Tulip,” I started, “and this wonky little town and my whole wonky little life. I’ve thought about your offer too. You know, to marry me because Lollie needed me to jump through hoops to keep her farm going. Still haven’t wrapped my head around that choice but whatever. Can’t argue with the dead. Anyway. I have a few conditions.”
A beat passed. Then, “You have—what?”
“You were right when you said Gennie can’t get caught in the middle if we do this.”
“If we do this,” he murmured. He bobbed his head, slow and a little rusty, as if he was thinking very hard about the act of nodding and getting it all wrong in the process. “Okay.” He pulled off his sunglasses and gripped the back of his neck. He stared at me, his gaze stormed over. “I thought you weren’t ready to think about this. What happened? What changed your mind?”
“I don’t have a good explanation for that,” I admitted, and that was as close to the truth as I was willing to get. I didn’t have a good explanation for anything right now. I was fumbling along. “I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? All the worsts have already happened to me. It can’t get worse. It just can’t. So, I might as well give this a try while I still can.”
The muscles in Noah’s jaw pulsed. He was quiet a long time. Too long. Long enough that it occurred to me he might’ve changed his mind.
“If the offer still stands,” I added. “It’s cool if not. Totally understandable.”
He stared at me, his gaze dark. “The offer stands.”
I shoved my fingers through my hair, gathering it off my neck. “Okay. Great. So, my conditions.”
“Your conditions.”
I didn’t know when he’d moved closer to me but his knuckles brushed my thigh and I couldn’t remember any of the conditions I’d cobbled together. “Like I said, you were absolutely right about protecting Gennie. I don’t want to do anything to hurt her or complicate her life. Or your life. So, this has to be nothing more than a legal transaction. If we do this, nothing changes. I live at my place, you live at yours, never the truth shall be revealed.” His knuckles passed over my leg again but he remained silent. I hurried to add, “I’ll be your human shield anytime you want, of course. You can use me as much as you want.”
He turned his face to the sky, slowly shaking his head. “Shay,” he grumbled. After a long beat, he dropped his gaze to me. “You’re sure about this?”
I laughed. A real, true laugh that shook deep into my bones. “I am sure about nothing. Not a damn thing. I am making it up as I go along, Noah. Maybe I’ll pull it off with Twin Tulip but maybe I won’t. I don’t know.” I shrugged. “But fuck it, let’s find out. Right?”
“And after the estate is finalized? What happens then?”
“Then we dissolve it,” I said. “Nothing has to change.”
He glanced at the cows, at Gennie. His knuckles continued their barely-there circuit across my thigh. It didn’t seem as though his touch was entirely intentional. “Are you—I mean, is everything okay? You’re safe here. Right? There’s no stalker, no abusive ex that I should know about?”
When was the proper time to explain you’d been left at the altar less than two months ago? And really, was it necessary to explain that? I didn’t think so. And I wished people would stop asking if everything was okay because there wasn’t a clean mechanism for me to say no to that. The expected answer was always yes and anything else was socially toxic. “No stalker, no abusive ex. Just an avocado of a relationship. You know how it is. Perfect one day, complete trash the next. If it’s all right with you, I’d rather leave it at that.”
“We can do that.” He bobbed his head and pressed those knuckles against my thigh too hard to be anything short of intentional. “There’s no waiting period for a marriage license in Rhode Island. Any city hall can issue a license and preside over a ceremony.”
“Not here, not in Friendship,” I said. Really wished I had my water bottle with me today. Would’ve been nice to have something to fidget with while negotiating the terms of a marriage. “The town. It’s too—you know. People talk. And we don’t want that.”
“Yeah. Agreed.” He glanced inside the parlor. “Providence would be better.”
Did he have this info stored in his big brain or had he gone looking for it? Had he expected me to take him up on his offer? “Right. Providence.”
“Are you free tomorrow? Midday? Gen’s with Gail until three, if that works for you.”
Apparently, there wasn’t a minute to waste. “I’m setting up the classroom and prepping for the first day but it’s all on my own time. I’m not required on campus until Friday.”
He frowned and rocked back on his heels. “Then I’ll pick you up at the elementary school tomorrow. Eleven. I’ll draft the prenup tonight.”
He stalked into the milking parlor, leaving me staring after him.
chaptertwelve
