Page 450 of Conveniently Wed
His words slammed into her, catching her off guard, and a gasp slipped through her lips.
“Don’t look so shocked. A man would have to be blind to miss what’s been going on between the two of you.”
“But Josiah?—”
“Let me finish.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair, which bounced back into place with a curl that fell across his brow. She could only stare at the lock, steeling herself for whatever he might say next.
“It won’t be long before you two can be together. I’ve filed for the appropriate annulment papers. All you have to do is sign them when they arrive. A lawyer friend of mine in Richmond is drafting them up as we speak. Soon enough, you’ll be free.”
She was glad she was sitting, for her shaking legs wouldn’t have supported her. Was he ending their marriage? She’d failed him. And would she now lose him? She couldn’t lose him. Desperation clawed in her chest.
“I’ll keep working with your pa. I need him as much as he needs me, and of course all I’ve given to your parents and youfor a wedding gift will remain yours. Just not this home. I’d like what Georgina and I built together to stay intact. In turn, I’ll settle up with Colby so the two of you can build a house somewhere else on this big spread, far from my sight. Sadly, I also need him as much as he needs me.”
Her mind was numb with all the details he was spewing at her. “What are you suggesting?”
“That small detail of consummating the marriage will be kept between the two of us. No one ever need know. It’s not like you gave me any children.”
Those final words struck like a knife blade, straight in through her ribs. She’d failed him in every way. Yet, she couldn’t take this all on her own shoulders. “Well, it’s not like you gave me anything to work with this past year, the way you’ve avoided me like the plague.” She sent him a fiery glare.
As if she hadn’t spoken, he continued in a level tone. “I’m doing this for your sake. It’s relatively easy to annul an arranged marriage, and you won’t have to carry that dreaded stigma of being a divorcée. After all, it wasn’t your fault you got saddled with me.” He slapped his thighs with his hands and stood. “And that about wraps up our sad little story. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to drop my weary bones into those nice warm sheets.”
He said it all with casual indifference, as if closing the last chapter of a boring book. The finality of his words pressed in on her. She rose with a wobble to her legs and made her way across the room to her door.
But Delilah’s advice rang in her head.Find out what went wrong. Make him put it into words.
She whirled around, and it looked as if he was thumbing moisture from the corner of his eye. “I have just one question. Why?”
“Why, what?”
Her hands flew up. “Why did you love me one day, then turn me out the next?”
A muscle in his jaw clenched. “Any fool knocked down enough times will take the hint.”
“How did I knock you down? I was trying. In fact, you meant more to me than any person ever had. You were my friend, my lover, the one person I shared true intimacy with.” She couldn’t seem to stop the tremor in her voice. “You…you promised to give me time, then you just went cold.”
She propped her hand against the doorjamb, the truth of her own actions hitting like a blow. “I know it doesn’t excuse how I turned to Colby, but I will not take this all on myself.” She forced herself to stand straight and flashed him a stormy scowl. “You drove me away, and all I want to know is why.”
His eyes turned from stone cold to smoldering black. “Do you want the sordid details of what shut me down? Or is this only so you can watch me bleed?”
She met the anger in his eyes with determination. “I deserve to know.”
“Fine then. Do you remember a spring morning in the barn when you were discussing our little arranged marriage with Colby?”
Discussing…what? She had no idea what he was talking about.
“I guess I need to refresh your memory. You admitted to loving Charles and told Colby how you got stuck with me instead. You were only a mere pawn…with our little arrangement made to suit everyone but you.” His voice took on volume with each word. “You emphasized how you were bought and paid for. Is any of this ringing a bell?”
The conversation came flooding back, but why would it upset him? If anything, the things she’d said should have encouraged him. Unless…
“At what point did your little eavesdropping escapade end?”
“What difference does it make? The message was all too clear. You didn’t love me and never would. You resented the way I’d taken your freedom?—"
Fury stormed within her. “If you’re going to listen in on people’s conversations, then listen in on the entire thing, because I have my suspicions you didn’t stick around long enough to hear me answer my own questions.”
“What more was there to say?” The fire washed from his eyes, leaving them haggard. His large frame crumbled as he lowered himself to the edge of the bed.
“Therewasmore. But I’m so angry right now, I can’t even talk.” She turned and paced the room, gulping in a cleansing breath. How dare he eavesdrop and then not talk to her about his misunderstood assumptions. None of this would have come to be if he’d only asked her. What a waste of what could have been.
