Nash wasn’t so sure about Hattie’s willingness to let go of Kenzi, let alone make friends with older boys. If he was Hattie’s dad, he’d check these boys out from head to toe and put the fear of God in them if anything happened to his little girl. Come to think of it, he might just have to add a few scowls into the conversation to make sure they knew who had this Hattie’s back.
“Let’s get you up to your rooms and you can settle in.” Gladys walked with the rocking gait of a woman who needed a knee replacement. They passed through a formal sitting room. All the furniture had been pushed to the side, and a quilt was held taut by boards and tacks. He bent down to look underneath and saw metal posts holding the frame up.
“I send quilts to a refugee organization in Arizona.” She lifted both her hands in a guilty gesture. “I can’t seem to quit making them and we are running out of room.”
“I think they’re beautiful.” Nash smiled down at her.
“They’re works of art,” added Kenzi.
“Oh, go on with ya.” Gladys laughed, flapping her hands at both of them. “They’re the reason I don’t go crazy here, that’s what they are. Leeroy has his tractors to putter around on. A woman can only vacuum so many times before she starts to lose her marbles.” Gladys stopped at the bottom of a flight of narrow steps. “I thought we’d put you up in the attic rooms, just like when you were kids. ’Course Hattie can go in the girls’ room and you two can share the boys’. It’s got the queen-size bed and all.”
Nash’s neck grew hot. He hadn’t thought about the sleeping arrangements in this place.
“That will be great. Thanks, Gladys.” Kenzi pecked a kiss to her cheek and started up the stairs like she wasn’t at all worried about sharing a pillow with him.
If she could do it, he could do it. Nash lifted one side of his mouth and bent down to peck his own kiss on Gladys’s cheek. She smelled of roses and fresh-baked bread and fabric softener, and her cheek was soft and dusted with facial powder.
She blushed. “You do beat all, Nash Westport.”
“Are you coming, honey?” Kenzi called down the stairs.
Nash’s muscles turned to liquid at the invitation in her tone. Instead of answering, because he was sure to say something that would have Gladys in a fit, he bolted up the stairs two at a time.
At the top, he skidded to a halt on the landing. The door to the left was ajar, showing white beadboard wainscoting and cobalt-blue walls. There were pictures of several teenage boys, one that looked like a skinny lawyer. He assumed that was Harrison.
On the right was a mirror image of the other room, except the walls were painted buttery yellow. He stepped that way, wondering if there were pictures of Kenzi as a teen.
Hattie sat in the middle of a twin-sized bed with a yellow and gray quilt. She grinned up at him as if she hadn’t spent the last ten minutes hiding from the world. He grinned back.
Kenzi was standing at the window, staring down at the farm yard. He approached her, wondering what was going through her mind. She leaned back against him and he easily slipped his arms around her middle, crossing his hands over her belly. She felt right against him. Like she was meant to fit there, but even more than that. Like her being there made him better.
“I’ll sleep in here with Hattie.”
“Oh.”
“Is that all right with you?”
That wasn’t what he’d been thinking about at all, and her pronouncement took him off guard. Was he supposed to argue with her? Invite her to sleep in the other bed … with him? Somehow, that didn’t seem right. What he wanted when this was all over wasn’t something that could be found in a quick night spent together. He wanted a lifetime of loving Kenzi, and he wanted her to know that he was after something deeper than the physical. Although, when this all worked out and he could call her wife in more than a business sense, he planned to exploreeveryaspect of the marital relationship with the utmost attention to detail.
He kissed her hair, taking a moment to breathe in her scent. “Hattie will probably sleep better knowing you are close.”
“Probably.” She continued to stare out the window. “I used to love it here. This place doesn’t change, not really. It’s like it was frozen in time, just waiting for me to come back.” She turned so she could snuggle into his embrace. “And bring you.”
“I’m glad we came. I already like it.”
She giggled. “You might not like it so much tomorrow night after a full day’s worth of farm work.”
“Bring it on. I already told you, I could practically run this place.”
She poked him in the ribs. “You’d better get some sleep, then, because you’re going to need it.”
Later that night, after Kenzi and Hattie had fallen into sleep and Leeroy had meandered in from the fields and the hush of night blanketed the house, Nash crept down the stairs and out to the front porch. He used the flashlight on his phone to find his way to the swing in the corner, positioned on the outside the formal sitting room.
Crickets chirped. The chain that held up the swing clinked as he sat down. The wooden slats were still warm from the sunset.
He pulled up his list of contacts and started a group text with his brother and sister.
Hey, I’m out.He couldn’t bring himself to type the words “from prison” in the text.
I got a job,he added. If they asked, he’d tell them, but he wasn’t about to explain the strange circumstances that took him to Park City and back again to end up as a hired groom.
Got married.He stared at the words. This marriage thing was legit—at least to him. If the situation was different, he would happily take Kenzi home to his parents and then fly her all over the country to meet his brother, his sister, and every relative he could think of, including his aunt Jezebel, who owned five cats and talked to her betta fish.
But they weren’t there yet, and he couldn’t let Kenzi meet his family, because they would tell her what a horrible person he was. He deleted the last part and hit send.
Relief washed through him, followed closely by anxiety. The ball was in their court now. He had opened himself up to be hurt by the people he’d once been closest to. It was probably the bravest and stupidest thing he’d done since getting out of prison.
Marrying Kenzi had been the bravest and the smartest thing. No matter what happened with his siblings, he still had Kenzi.
