“Not speaking to me.”
“Really? Why?”
“Laurie, I married someone that wasn’t her yesterday, I can kind of get why she isn’t speaking to me.” I was annoyed at myself rather than anyone else.
“I thought she was okay with it.” She looked upset. “Shall I speak to her again? We're friendly.”
“Give her some space. Rose has always had reactions a few days after something’s happened, she needs to process it and work out what to expect from herself.” I remembered how well I knew her. “And other people. She’s logical though.”
Laurie nodded, not convinced. “I get it. I get where she’s coming from. It’s miscommunication between the two of you; you should’ve asked her about Theo when he came up and not just assumed, and you should’ve spoken to her before Christmas. I adore you, Carter, but sometimes you can be a fool.”
“Thanks. I thought you were in my corner.” I gave her a mock glare.
“Thoroughly. But I am also impatient. I might have to intervene.”
“Please don’t.”
She stuck me with a look. “I owe you. The least I can do is try and smooth things over between you and Rose.”
“I’m not sure that would work at the moment.” I tucked the paperwork in my jacket pocket. “She needs space to get her head around it”. I rubbed my hair with my fingers. “If it had been the other way round, I’d have been incensed.”
“What if it was someone she really was in love with?” Laurie studied the book that had been in the box.
“Then I’d support her. I want her to be happy.” If she could be happier with someone that wasn’t me, I’d support her, and I’d move on, however hard that would be. But I knew that wasn’t the case. “I think I can make her happy.”
“How can you make her happy, Carter? What works for Rose?” She put the book down. “Romantic gestures? Gifts? A dream date some place really romantic? What works for her?”
“Reliability. Consistency. Listening to her and not making assumptions. I’m assuming she’s mad at me right now, whenshe probably isn’t.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket, scrolled down to the last message I’d sent her.
“You sure she's not mad? Why not?”
“Because she understands why I married you. What we did was logical, it gets you out of a toxic situation with your mental family.”
“I should be offended but I'm not. They are just horrible. I need to get my sister over here as soon as possible so she's out of that mess.” She sat back in the chair and looked concerned.
“What about your sister’s trust? Does she have the same set up as you?”
Laurie nodded. “Yes, with the same clause and depreciation – the longer she’s unmarried the less she gets and the more goes to our brothers. It’s all about control of women, effing patriarchy rides again. But I have enough with mine, so she doesn’t have to worry about finances. She wants to work anyway. We both had the same governess growing up who was very independent; we learned a lot from her.”
“When will you get her over here?”
“In a few months. She turns eighteen in September, which means she won’t finish high school over there.” Laurie shook her head. “It’s a work in progress. It's not a rush because she’s safe at the moment. The concern is my grandfather might see her as a bargaining chip for a deal – it’s not beyond him to push her into a marriage.”
“Did he try that with you?”
“He did, until I became bad news with my bookshops. I was far too independent. But let’s go back to Rose. You don’t think she’s angry with you?”
“No, I think she’s hurt and she didn’t think she’d be, because it’s not logical to feel hurt when she understands what was happening – or so she’ll think. Rose always had to work out why she felt something that was different to what she thoughtshe should feel.” I remembered endless phone calls when she’d go over something that was bothering her, trying to talk about it rationally and then working out why she felt something different.
“So what do you need to do?”
I thought for a moment. “Let her work through it. Let her know I’m here and not going anywhere.”
“Or maybe you were actually crap in bed and she’s decided that she doesn’t have the energy to coach you, and this is her way of letting you down gently.” Laurie beamed, as if she’d just enabled world peace.
“I really don’t think that’s the case.”
“How sure are you?”
