Chapter Five
Faith felt as if shewere made of fire. Flames licked her words and her thoughts, and she wanted nothing more than to throw them all at the man who’d put her into this position.
Beau removed his hat, as if he were penitent. “Please, Faith, hear me out.”
Listening was the last thing she wanted to do. In fact, she doubted she was capable of anything at that moment aside from screaming to the heavens. She ground her fingertips into her palms and fixed him with a glare. “Why should I? How dare you presume so much? How dare you decide to insert yourself into my life!”
“Don’t you see it was your only option?” he said quietly.
She stood there, her chest heaving with more unsaid words. “You arenotmy only option.”
“No, I’m not. You’ve likely had your choice of men, yet you chose to write to me. And now I’m here, and like it or not, I’m going to help you save your business and remain in this town. Unless you’d prefer to return to your parents in Mississippi?”
Faith blinked at him, momentarily stunned by the forcefulness of his words. She drew in a breath, ready to retort, when he wrapped a hand around each of her arms. She froze.
“Faith,” he said gently. “I’m offering you the perfect solution. Not only will you get to continue the work you love so much, you’ll have me to help you with it. How many nights have you sat up late, waiting for an urgent telegram?”
She pressed her lips together. More nights than she could count, but she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right. Besides, it was a little hard to think with the warmth of his hands wrapped about her arms.
“How many times have you wished you could join a friend for tea or simply take a stroll without having to hunt down someone to cover your station and hope he writes down any message that arrives correctly?”
Faith bit her lip. She hadn’t taught anyone the code—she simply hadn’t the time. Instead, friends who sat in for her simply wrote down how many short and long clicks came through over the telegraph, and then Faith had to sit down and make sense of their notes. To have someone who actually understood the message as it came through . . .
Except it meant she had to marry.
And she had to marry a man who was not Aaron.
“You don’t understand,” she said, trying in vain to keep the anguish from her voice. “I can’t. Aaron—” She couldn’t finish, not without risking tears. She pulled against his grip, needing the space to keep herself from completely falling apart.
Beau dropped his hands, and his face softened and looked, she thought, a little sad. “A marriage will keep the pastor out of your business. You’ll keep your work, which I know means so much to you. And you’ll have a partner to help you with it.”
Faith swallowed before looking up at him. Kind amber eyes looked back at her. It was such a mesmerizing color—one that was hard to look away from. Why was he being so kind to her? It made no sense, given the way she’d treated him since his arrival. “I don’t understand. What do you get from this arrangement?”
He frowned for a moment, looking off in the distance over her shoulder, before composing himself and replacing that frown with a smile. “I get to marry a beautiful woman.”
Now it was Faith’s turn to frown. “Flattery will get you nowhere.IfI agree to this, it will be a marriage in name only.”
