Page 84 of Take My Name
“I—” I gather the courage to say the words I need to say. “I’m not sure I want him to.”
The line goes quiet, so I continue explaining.
“When he wouldn’t agree to signin’ and Ithreatened goin’ the default divorce route, he offered to make a deal with me, and if I still wanted a divorce, then he’d sign.”
“What kind of deal, Maisie?” His tone is harsh, filled with suspicion.
I explain in detail about Warren’s seven-day deal, that we’ve gone on four dates so far and have three left, including tonight. I tell him that Warren thinks he can make me doubt my decision to get the divorce and then I admit it’s working because I am second-guessing it.
“You can’t stay married to him and be engaged to me,” he says after I spill everything.
“I know,” I say softly. “That’s why I’m tellin’ you. It didn’t feel right deceivin’ you, even though my mother seemed to think it was, but I respect you more than that. At the very least, I couldn’t continue with these last three dates without you aware of ’em.”
“I don’t want you going on them.”
“Whaddya mean? You don’t want him to sign the papers?”
“File for a default divorce and we’ll push the wedding date until after it’s finalized. I don’t want him getting more time with you than he’s already had.”
I stay quiet, trying to organize my thoughts, but I can’t think straight. When it’s Hayes and me, I feel like one person, but when I’m with Warren, I feel like a completely different one.
And I can’t decide which person I’m meant to be.
“Unless you aren’t sure you want him to sign them because you’re choosing to stay married to him?”
“I dunno…” I confess, my breath hitching before I say my next words. “I kissed him last night.”
“Is that all that happened?” he asks after a long beat of silence.
“Yes.”
“Do you still love him?”
I gulp. “Yes.”
“And do you still loveme?”
“Yes,” I say with certainty.
“Then I guess you have a decision to make.”
“I dunno that I can,” I admit.
“I don’t want to have to convince my fiancée to be with me, so do whatever you have to do these next few days to make up your mind, and I’ll see you on Saturday.”
“You’re comin’ here this weekend?”
“I was going to surprise you since I’m on the final two chapters of my book. That way I could be there to help with wedding plans, go to the baby shower with you, and spend some quality time together since I’d been so buried in writing.”
My heart aches. “Hayes…”
In any other circumstance, I’d be excited for him to come down and spend a week together without worrying about his deadline.
“I’ll fight for you—if that’s what you need for me to prove I want us—but I’m not going to be made a fool either while you string me along. I love you and want to be your husband, but if you don’t make a decision by the time I arrive, I’ll make it for you.”
Guess that means I’m the one with the deadline now.
A dagger pierces my heart because while I don’t blame him for not wanting to be strung along, the thought of losing him and the home we made together has my stomach in knots.
