“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.”
She shifts her weight slightly against the shelf.
“He ran a small business,” she continues. “And when he died… everything fell on me.”
“Everything?”
“Debts. Loans. Responsibilities.”
Her smile this time is thin. “And a seven-year-old brother.”
That catches my attention. “You’re raising him?”
She nods. “Pretty much.”
“That’s… a lot.”
“Tell me about it.” She says it lightly, but I can see the exhaustion hiding beneath the humor.
“And the debts?” I ask carefully.
She looks away. “They’re catching up.”
Something about the way she says it makes my stomach tighten slightly. “How bad?” I ask.
She hesitates. Then shrugs. “Let’s just say the bank and I have become very close friends lately.”
I’m quiet for a moment. A strange thought begins forming in the back of my mind. Ridiculous. Impractical. But also… strangely logical. She notices my expression immediately.
“That look worries me.”
“What look?”
“The one where you’re clearly thinking something dangerous.”
I exhale slowly. “You’re going to think I’m insane.”
“Probably.”
I nod. “Fair.”
I pause for a second before saying it. “I need a wife.”
She stares at me as if I have gone insane which I might have. “I’m sorry?”
“I need to get married within a year.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “That’s… a very dramatic sentence to say in a bookstore to a complete stranger.”
“It’s also legally accurate.” I explain briefly. The will. The condition. The publishing house. She listens without interrupting. When I finish, she crosses her arms.
“So let me get this straight.”
“Go ahead.”
“You need a wife to keep your company.”
