“I didn’t fill out a questionnaire,” I grumbled.
“I did it for you,” Kate said cheerfully.
“You’re a terrible lawyer,” I told my sister.
“I’m an excellent lawyer.” She slid a folder across the desk to Maddie. “Everything you need to know about the inheritance terms, the timeline, and what marriage would entail from a legal standpoint.”
Maddie opened it and started reading. I watched as she read and frowned at the small crease that formed between her eyebrows. She closed the folder and looked at me. “Now we’re supposed to... what? Shake hands and schedule a wedding?”
When she put it like that, it sounded insane.
“That’s about the size of it,” Kate answered for me.
Maddie sat back, studying me. Not judgment, exactly. Then she said something I hadn’t expected to hear. “Okay.”
“Okay? Just like that?”
Maddie nodded. “Just like that.”
“What do you get out of this?” I asked her, my eyes narrowing.
She blinked. “What?”
“You said you need something. What is it?”
For the first time since she’d walked in, Maddie looked uncertain. She glanced at Kate, who nodded encouragingly, then back at me.
“I need a fresh start,” she said quietly. “Somewhere nobody knows me. Somewhere I can just... breathe.”
I knew that feeling. Knew it too well. It was the same hunger for peace that had driven me to Lone Mountain.
“So you signed up for a matchmaking service that specializes in remote areas,” I said.
“I signed up because I’m tired of being who everyone expects me to be.” Her chin lifted. “And if that means marrying a grumpy mountain man, at least it’s honest about what it is.”
“And what’s that?”
“An escape.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Same as you.”
Kate cleared her throat. “So. Should I start drafting a prenup, or are we all going to keep pretending this isn’t the perfect solution?”
I looked at Maddie. Maddie looked at me.
“This is crazy,” I said.
“Completely,” she agreed.
“We don’t know each other.”
“Not even a little bit.”
“It probably won’t work.”
“Almost definitely won’t work.”
Kate sighed. “Are you two done?”
Maddie’s lips twitched. Just slightly. Just enough for me to catch it. She stood up and held out her hand. “Should we shake on it?”
