Ruthann moved her hands to her hips, any nerves forgotten now that she was sparring with her brother. “I have the opportunity to help a dear friend. Why wouldn’t I offer?”
Stuart tossed a hand out, gesturing at Nate. “What if Nate declines? What if he doesn’t wish to see you tied up in such a situation?”
They both turned to look at Nate, who’d gone as white as the snow in January.
“I can’t,” he finally said, his voice sounding as if it had been drug over rocks.
“See? He can’t. It’s a good idea, but find someone else, Ruthie,” Stuart said.
Ruthann forced herself to look Nate in the eye, even as her heart plummeted and all she truly wished to do was rush away and forget she’d said anything.Am I really so odious you can’t fathom marrying me?The question played out unspoken in her mind.
Nate held her gaze, and she knew then—sheknew.
It wasn’t because he found the thought of marrying her distasteful.
He was afraid.
Of what, she didn’t know. Of her? Or marriage in general? Or of whatever it was that sat like a ghost behind his eyes?
“It would be only for as long it takes Sissy to entangle herself with someone else,” she said softly. Out of the corner of her eye, Stuart shook his head, but Ruthann kept her attention on Nate. “It’s the only way. You came home to be among friends. Let us help you.”
He let out a shuddering breath and pressed the fingers of one hand to his forehead. “I don’t know . . .”
“Are you seriously considering this—this—preposterous suggestion?” Stuart stared at Nate.
Nate cast a desperate glance at Stuart, who shook his head again. Hewasconsidering it. Ruthann drew in a breath. Might it actually happen?
Would she find herself married to Nate Harper, after all these years of dreaming about that one moment they shared?
“I don’t know what else to do,” Nate said to Stuart. “It would be a marriage in name only, that I can promise.”
Ruthann didn’t much like the sound ofthat, but once they spent more time together . . . once he kissed her again, maybe she could change his mind.
“I don’t like it,” Stuart said, but his stance was softening.
“I won’t let any harm come to Ruthann. She’s like a . . . a sister to me,” Nate said.
Ruthann tried to take heart in the fact that Nate paused before saying “sister,” as if he had to convince himself to think that way.
Stuart held his gaze, but said nothing.
“I can’t leave,” Nate said quietly.
And with those words, Stuart’s expression changed. He closed his eyes, as if he was accepting the inevitable, and when he opened them, he gave a short nod.
“I thoroughly disapprove. But if it’s the only possibility . . . then fine. Provided Ruthann is still agreeable?” Stuart looked at her.
“I am.” She could feel Nate’s eyes on her, that deep brown that could go warm or cold in an instant. She didn’t dare look at him in case they were anything less than warm at the moment.
“And, I swear, Harper, if you lay a finger on her, I’ll run you out of town myself.” Stuart’s tone left no room for argument.
“You have my word,” Nate said to Ruthann’s everlasting dismay.
She’d make Stuart see how happy she and Nate could make each other—if she could convince Nate first.
“Then I suppose we ought to get to the preacher,” Stuart said in a resigned voice. “Do you want to tell Mama and Papa now, or later?”
“Later,” Ruthann said immediately. As much as her parents wished for her to marry, and as much as they liked Nate, they wouldn’t understand the haste of the wedding—unless they’d heard the gossip. And if that was the case, they would almost certainly refuse to let her go through with it.
