Jeremiah’s shoulders sagged, and she knew he was imagining her brother’s wrath.
“If you like, we can send him a letter. Or perhaps a telegram.” She hoped he wouldn’t consider the latter, given the speed at which Liam could send back a response.
Jeremiah tapped his hat against his leg, saying nothing for a moment. Deirdre forced herself to remain still, even as she felt like doing anything else.
“Are you certain you want to do this?” he asked, his eyes hopeful and yet wary. “It may ruin your other prospects.”
Deirdre tried not to laugh. She’d only had eyes for Jeremiah for the past year. Any other man paled in comparison to him. “The last thing I want is to be tied to some dull but wealthy friend of my brother’s. Yes, I’m certain.”
Jeremiah said nothing for a moment. Then he replaced his hat and held out a hand.
Deirdre could hardly breathe. Was he agreeing? She took his hand, praying with everything she had that he was.
“All right. We’ll do this, but under one condition.”
“Yes?” Her voice was breathy as his hand closed around hers.
“We remain friends.” He held her gaze with those bright green eyes that she saw in her dreams.
“Of course.” Why wouldn’t they stay friendly? Being married was having a friend by your side for life, or so Deirdre had imagined. Roman and Clara seemed to be the best of friends, and they’d been married nearly a year.
“No, I mean weremain friends. Do you understand?” He kept looking at her with those eyes, and Deirdre fought the urge to squirm as his meaning settled in.
“Oh,” she said before she could hold it in.Why?was what she really wanted to know.
He gripped her hand tighter. “I don’t want to lose your friendship, Deirdre. It means far too much to me.”
“I don’t— I mean, I wouldn’t . . .” She didn’t know how to say it, because shedidn’tunderstand. Why would he think they wouldn’t be friends if they were truly married?
“If anything changed between us, I’d be lost.” He spoke with such a passion in his voice, and even though it still made no sense at all to Deirdre, she nodded. “Besides, once my parents have come and gone, you’ll have the option to . . . move on. Unencumbered.”
Unencumbered? Move on? Deirdre blinked at him.
“I’ll give you an annulment,” he said softly.
Deirdre thought she saw a flash of pain pass through his expression, but it was gone in an instant, and she knew it was only her own pain she wanted to see reflected in his gaze.
She never wanted tomove onfrom Jeremiah. She wanted to be his wife.
But she nodded anyway. If this was the only way to get what she desired, she’d take it.
And then she’d worry about convincing him later.
#####
“IT’S SMALL, BUT ITshould do.” Miss Darby pressed the door open to the ground floor room and stepped back to let them inside. “We don’t get many married couples, but this is usually the room I give them. It’s next to my brother but set apart from the men’s rooms down the hallway.”
Deirdre stepped through the doorway and smiled. The room was no smaller than the one she’d had upstairs last summer, after she and Liam had first arrived in Crest Stone. It was simple, but clean and nicely appointed. She looked up at Jeremiah to see his reaction, hoping he might show more emotion here than he had during their hasty wedding at the church.
He was frowning at the room, but gave a quick nod to Miss Darby. “We’ll take it.”
Miss Darby gave him a wide grin. “Congratulations again to both of you.” She was only a few years older than Deirdre herself, and Deirdre had often wondered why Miss Darby hadn’t married. Miss Darby reached for Deirdre’s hand and clasped it. “It’s wonderful to have you back here, Deirdre.”
“It’s good to be here,” Deirdre replied. She’d loved her time at Darbys’ Boardinghouse and looked forward to living here again—especially with Jeremiah.
Miss Darby let go of her hand and pressed the room key into Jeremiah’s.
He pulled money from his pocket and handed it to her. “For the first week.”
