Page 45 of It's Holy Matrimony, Baby

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Commitment is falling for the girl of your dreams.

In a split second. In a heartbeat.

For the first time. For the second time.

And over and over again.

NOX

Hollander races to me the moment I walk in the door. He winds around my legs, his massive body leaning into me while he trills a welcome I haven’t had since Beck moved in about three weeks ago. Crouching, I sink my hands into his fur and scratch behind his ears and under his chin. “Hey there, stranger. Thought you’d switched sides.”

With a chirp he stands up and butts his striped head against my jaw.

“It’s okay. You’re forgiven.” I stroke my hands down his sides. “I like her too, bud.”

Standing up, I glance around the cabin, which is less messy than usual, while I put my keys and phone down in the kitchen. There are still a couple of coffee cups next to her laptop on the counter, but I’m getting used to it. Besides it hurts nothing to be easy about the coffee rings marring the shiny white surface. “Where is our girl anyway?”

“Meow.” Hollander traipses off toward the bedroom. He glances back at the door to make sure I’m following and then disappears inside.

Shouldn’t be surprised she’s sleeping. Girl likes her afternoon naps. Because she’s a night owl. I can’t keep up with her. Don’t even try. I have to wake up early to work, and she stays up late to write her articles. We’re polar opposite in the way we live, but I remember what it was like to always be on the move. To work when the whim took me. To sleep when the sun came up. Don’t miss it. Any of it. Can’t go back to bleeding my soul onto papers and into strings and out of my vocal chords, even if my chest hurts like a piece of me is missing. Even if words form in the back of my mind and my fingers almost move of their own volition. Something that hasn’t happened to me in so long that it didn’t seem possible anymore. But my goals are different now. My plans changed. It’s better this way.

Beck’s not in the bedroom. Movement catches my eye from the windows. Out in the grove people are milling around. There are a heap of them. Twenty or so people are tramping over my property. All these people give me a gut ache and imaginary ants crawl under my skin. They shouldn’t be here. This is my personal space, and I don’t like having people I don’t want aware of my personal life in it. What are they doing in the valley? What the hell is going on?

Hollander meows and rubs up against the glass, moving back and forth as though he’s desperate to join them. Or at least to find Beck. She must be down there too. Have to find her and work out what the hell she’s up to now. If this is another one of her bright ideas to get me to wave the white flag on this marriage she’s got another thing coming. Turning away from the window, I march through the cabin and down to the grove.

At the first row of trees I pass a couple leaving. They’re carrying a hessian bag full of oranges between them. Up ahead more people are picking fruit off my trees. West, who is standing on a ladder, grins and waves from a spot further down. It takes me a few minutes before I catch sight of Beck talking to a couple of women who are holding plastic shopping bags filled with oranges. A few of West’s friends are raking up some of the fat dimpled balls that are split open on the ground.

Beck laughs at something one of the women says. With a smile she brushes her hair back behind her ear as she continues to chat. I lean against the trunk of a tree, meaning only to take in the view for a minute. She’s like sunlight, all lit up from within when she smiles. Then that smile turns on me. Her gaze is sweet and peppered with awareness, and my chest resonates with it. Melts the irritability right out of me.

The two women walk away as I make my way to Beck. She glances down and then back at me as we meet in the wide middle of the grove. More people stroll around us toward where a dozen cars are parked. “I hope you don’t mind,” she says.

“All these people.” I nod at one of the guys who frequents Mayhem as he raises a hand in hello. The creeping electrical buzz under my skin disappears. “Did you invite them? Did you ask them to come pick oranges?”

“I put some flyers up.” She steps closer.

“You should have let me handle it,” I say.

“You already have too much on your plate. I’ve counted the hours you work each day.” She places her hand on my arm and looks up at me. “I don’t know why you work so much. But I can tell that you’re exhausted. And these stupid trees, whatever your reason for hating them is, were something I could help with. I wanted to do something to help.”

I thrust my hands in my pockets, my thumbs through the belt loops on my pants. Otherwise I’m going to touch her. It might be innocent. Quasi innocent. But with her neck craned and a full glimpse of her creamy tits pushing at her tank top, it might not. It’s hard to remember that there are people here when she’s almost acting like we’re in this together. Like we’re a team. And I get this glimpse of what it would be like if our team was to last. If I could convince her this curse she puts so much stock in isn’t real, and that our marriage is. Her sweet body in my arms, her belly starting to round under my palms. Hollander curled up around her enormous belly as it grows bigger. The first of our children in my arms. Christ, I want to run with this pretty little fantasy, but there are too many other things I need to accomplish first. “So you asked people to come and help?”

“No.” She bites her lip and reaches into the pocket of her shorts to pull out a tattered envelope that’s creased down the middle. “Actually, I asked them to pay to pick the oranges they wanted. I put it on the internet and Liv helped me put up a few flyers around town this morning. And then I asked West and his friends to help with cleaning up the rest.”

“You made money out of this...” I glance around at the trees, some of them bare of fruit. Others are still being picked over.

“Uh-huh. And I paid West and his buddies already.” She thrusts the envelope into my hand. “This is what’s left.”

I draw it out of her hand slowly, unfold it and open the tab. A stack of small bills fills the inside. It’s not a huge amount, but it’s huge to me. I stuff it into my back pocket. “I can’t believe you did this. Last year I couldn’t find anyone willing to buy the damn fruit. I had to pay them to take it away. The year before I had to hire a truck to get rid of the rotten things.”

“Oh. Also I made a deal with a couple of the grocers to take what’s left when we’re done here today. I hope that’s okay.”

“Okay? I can’t believe you did this for me.” My grin is huge. So fucking huge. A weight lifted off me that I didn’t realize was quite so heavy until she came along and plucked it away. Better, I didn’t have to ask my siblings to help. Didn’t have to burden them with shit I couldn’t handle.

“I...” She darts a glance at the horizon as though she’s expecting a storm to be gathering there. She ducks her head as though anticipating it will break over top of her as she says, “You’re a good man, Nox, and I care about you, and I just wanted to help.”

“You do, huh?”

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