Page 54 of One Night Bride
“Well, hold on a second there. Are you sure you can’t work things out?” Mom looked like she was going to cry.
This was my penance for even bringing Esme here in the first place. My punishment for trying to use a fake marriage to get my parents off my back about the ranch. It had been a bad idea to get them involved, and Esme had tried to warn me.
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
I left it at that. What more was there to say? It was over. And I was sorry. For so many things. The rest of dinner was a quiet affair, with Killam and Ruger the only two talking, even if it was only to pass the ketchup.
“As soon as possible, please. Okay, sounds good. Thank you.”
I ended the call and paced outside the barn, putting the phone back in my pocket. My lawyer sounded horrified I didn’t have a prenuptial in place before marrying Esme, but he promised to work on the paperwork later today. An annulment wasn’t possible at this point, so it would be divorce papers that were served to Esme in a couple days. He told me he’d give me a heads-up when the processor was headed to her house. Part of me felt bad about springing that on her, but then I remembered how she’d thrown me to the wolves of her social media followers.
A horse whinnied inside and I headed back in the barn to finish mucking out the stalls. Killam and Ruger came in through the other side of the barn, laughing and playfully shoving each other as they walked. Ruger had always been more of a friend to Killam while I was the older, wiser brother he looked up to. Didn’t feel like much of a positive influence these days, though.
“Hey, Rem,” Killam said as he came up to the stall I was in. “We’re all headed to Granger’s pasture tonight. You wanna come?”
“Is there going to be alcohol there?” I asked, eyeing him carefully as he answered.
His cheeks held a spot of red right in the center. “I’m sure there will be for the older folks, but not me.”
“Who you callin’ the older folks, huh?” I teased him, letting him off the hook. He’d never given me worry about underage drinking.
Ruger cut in. “Figured you might want to get out. See people. Quit wallowing.”
Anger flared hot and quick. “I’m not wallowing, asshole.”
Ruger stepped into my space. “Oh no? Then what have you been doing for the last three days? Sitting with your feelings? Journaling? Lighting a candle and having some alone time?”
His tone was pissing me off. He had no idea the shit I was processing in my head. And my heart.
I puffed up my chest and stood up straight, reminding him without words I was still taller and broader than him. “Back off, little brother.”
He shoved me in the shoulder, but I held my ground. “No. I’m not backing off. You tell some bullshit story to Mom and Dad about calling things off with Esme like you decided you didn’t like the new boots you bought and you’ll just return ’em. Easy-peasy.” He leaned in closer. “We can all see you’re hurting, Rem. So cut the shit and tell us the truth of what happened.”
I was breathing hard, pissed he’d called me on it, and pissed I was still feeling like my heart was cracking in two. Time and distance wasn’t doing a damn thing for me. I still woke in the middle of the night with her scent all around me like a ghost. I’d picture her expression when I stepped in mud and remembered her first day here on the ranch. I’d spend long minutes forgetting what I was doing because I was too busy thinking about what Esme might be up to at that exact minute. I pulled out my phone every five seconds with the urge to check all her social media pages just to have a brush with all things Esme.
“She doesn’t love me,” I bit out, feeling like I might just explode from holding it all in. “I was willing to walk away from everything, do whatever she wanted, as long as we stayed married.”
“Why?” Ruger asked, always pushing me.
My hands found my head, and I gripped the hair there, preferring that pain over the one in my chest. He wanted the truth? Fine. I’d tell him and then he could make fun of me too. Did it really matter at this point? Without Esme, nothing made much sense anymore.
“Because I fucking love her!”
Ruger grinned. I really wanted to punch the bastard in the face.
“Of course you do. We could all see that when you were here.”
I shook my head and paced the stall, probably scaring the poor mare. “No. That was all fake. We decided to act married so I could get out of running the ranch.”
Killam made a weird choking noise. “You’re not that good of an actor.”
“Exactly. You were head over ass for her even back then,” Ruger added.
I stared at them both, considering their words. They might be right. Why else would I bring my fake wife home to meet my entire family? I could have just called Mom and Dad over the phone and told them the good news about my marriage in order to get out of the ranch. Bringing her here was because I wanted more time with her. And maybe in some small nook and cranny of my brain, I thought introducing her to my family would make it all real. I wanted real with Esme the whole time.
Real wife.
Real love.
