I can hear my brother mutter under his breath. “Probably more than me.”
My mom seems oblivious. “Perhaps you should phone her your condolences.”
Wowza, this is a tough one to watch. “Or maybe not… it’s a horse,” I intercept.
Her fake smile swings my way. “Funny. I’ll go grab some chips and dip from inside. You boys behave.”
The moment she stands and is out of sight, a gust of discomfort and confusion washes over me when I catch my brother’s steely demeanor.
He snaps his fingers then points at me. “You. Me. Now,” he snipes.
Carter abruptly stands, and his urgency causes me to not even second-guess before I follow him. His pace is fast and direct, causing me to trail behind as he heads straight to the other side of the yard, no longer in earshot of the house. Not caring about the immaculate cut grass, he storms straight to the spot where the woods meet the lawn on the side yard.
“What the hell?” I clench my jaw.
He crosses his arms and his face is fuming. “I should be asking you that.” My eyes pop out as I wait for him to explain further. “How is marriage treating you?”
Oh fuck.
Everything inside me tumbles down from my head to my toes, and my Adam’s apple bobs from the swallow of dry air that is causing my throat to strain. My mouth opens, and I search for words but fail.
“Yeah, for someone who works in law then you didn’t do a good job of covering your tracks. You remember that when you request to seal a public record that it doesn’t happen overnight, right?”
“Yes, and you only look when you have a reason to look. I doubt our friends and family are thinking, ‘Oh, Oliver and Hailey probably secretly got married and let me go check.’”
“You see, the thing about being sheriff is you are at the courthouse a lot. Harold mentioned he saw Hailey there the other week, and then a funny thing is that he mentioned he saw you there too, heading into the judge’s office together.” He brings his finger to his chin. “Hmm, I thought. That’s a little strange coincidence, and imagine my surprise when I played detective. So, I’m going to repeat myself. What the hell?”
I throw my hands up in the air and my entire body sags. “You can’t tell anybody.”
He looks at me as though I’m crazy then points back in the direction of the house. “Oh, you mean I shouldn’t mention thisto Mom back there, or Dad? Hell, I’m sure Liam would love this little tidbit of info. A simple FYI that you can tell him on your evening jog along the street after you remind him that it’s garbage day tomorrow.”
Stepping closer to him, I roll my eyes, now getting aggravated with his over-the-top lecture. “Especially don’t tell him. Can you just let this go?” A wishful request, but I need to start somewhere.
“Why? Did I miss the memo that you two were even dating? I literally ran into her in the cereal aisle a few weeks back and she didn’t mention her abundance of joy that I’m now her brother-in-law.” Nothing about his current state is cracking.
My palms fly up to calm him. “It’s new, so technically you were just Sheriff Carter to her, and please just let us figure this out. She needs to be married in order to get the building for her new preschool.”
The explanation seems to exhaust him. “Are you fucking kidding me? Now I’m in a shitty position because I’m supposed to be enforcing the law. You’re committing fraud.”
Now I just dagger him with my stare, and if I had a pitchfork then I would stab him. “When you put it like that thenmaybeit appears that way. Marrying for financial gain isn’t exactly ideal. But it’s not like wedon’tcare for one another. Therefore, Hailey and I have done no crime. Thank. You. Very. Much,” I correct him smugly.
“Tell that to yourself. You’re lucky that I’m looking past the skeptical ethics of your marriage and it’s only because I know my little brother has been a lovesick puppy for that woman. What is the long-run plan? Join me on the divorce train? Move in together? Pop out a kid? Oh wait, I have a great idea… don’t lie to all of us!” He continues to raise his voice, and I have to step closer.
“Will you calm it down?” I lower my voice and grit out the words, scanning the area in the process to ensure that we are still alone.
He waves that damn finger at me again. “Wake the fuck up. This is the most twisted situation. Either someone gets hurt, or you end up in an everlasting marriage with our parents pissed off that they couldn’t throw a wedding here at the house with fucking candles floating in the swimming pool.”
Rubbing my temples, I’m now thoroughly annoyed. “Just can you stop?” I plead.
“Why? My brother is completely deranged and took his crush to a whole new level.”
“Just let us figure it out ourselves. We have options of how this could go.” She’ll never give me that ring back is my favorite option.
His nostrils flare and his head retreats while he pauses to study me. “You don’t get it, do you?” I stare blankly at him. He sighs heavily and locks his eyes on me, seeming to be debating something internally. But he gives up. “Fine.”
Now my entire face screws up, as that was too easy. “Fine?”
Carter drags his hand across his jaw, and he subtly nods once. “Yeah. Only because I’m going to sit back, shut my mouth, and watch until this explodes. Because it will,” he warns me. “No marriage is easy. Whether it’s starting or ending.” I can sense his own feelings and views bubbling to the surface. Fair enough. He has experience. “But I swear if this drags on then it might slip from my mouth at family dinner when I ask for someone to pass me the salad.”
