Page 31 of A Soft Kiss in Summer
“Are you all right?”
Violet’s soft voice drew him from his musings.He gave her a smile and a nod.“Yes.I’m just thinking.”
“About?”
He looked around the table and lied.“Nothing in particular.”
She didn’t look as if she believed him, but didn’t question him further.
The conversation at the table was an eclectic range of topics, but luckily, no one mentioned the wedding and by the time everyone was through eating, he was glad it was over.
“Well, the town won’t see to itself,” he said before standing.He looked at Daisy and waited until he’d caught her eye.“Thank you for breakfast, Daisy.It was delicious.”He wasn’t sure if she heard him or not, but assumed she understood what he’d said when she blushed.Graham stood after he did and thanked Daisy as well before motioning to the door with his head.
Once outside, he followed Graham down the steps and around the house to the sidewalk, his steps faltering when the man said, “Is my sister-in-law still a virgin?”
The grin on Graham’s face wasn’t what he’d been expecting when he looked over at him.
Graham shoved his hands into his pants pockets.“Rose told me what was going on.I’m just curious as to if you were able to stick to the plan or not.”
“The plan?”
“To not consummate the marriage and get it annulled.”Before he could answer, Graham laughed.“Not that you’ve asked for my advice, but I’m going to give it to you, anyway.Just go ahead and do it.What’s the worst that’ll happen?You get a wife who has been pining over you since the day you rode into town?”
That last statement made him pause.So maybe he’d been right after all when he thought Violet was interested.Not that it mattered.It didn’t change the fact that he didn’t need a wife.
Want and need are two different things.
Okay.He didn’t want one either.
Did he?
Graham was still talking, but he’d not heard a word the man said.When Graham told him he had things to do and clapped him on the back before walking off, he watched him for a few minutes before heading toward the jail with Graham’s words whispering through his head the entire way.
Consummating his marriage to Violet would be easy.Too easy.There was no denying she was a beauty, and they seemed to get along fine, but he’d sworn off marriage long before he moved to Silver Falls.Changing his mind now wouldn’t benefit anyone, especially him.He’d end up right back where he’d been in Durango, and he knew he couldn’t take that sort of heartache again.
Before stepping into the jail, he looked back up the street, stilling when he saw Violet, Ewan, and Rose standing on the front porch of the Campbell house.He watched her laugh with Rose and when she turned her head his way and smiled at him, something in his chest pinched tight.
That’s your wife.
The words were a soft echo in his mind and for once, they didn’t cause dread to follow them.Didn’t mean he’d accept them, though.Before week’s end, he’d have their marriage annulled and life would go back to what it had been.
Safe.
Orderly.
And completely boring.
With it being Rose and Graham’s day to open the store, Violet had watched Graham and Josiah leave without a word, and followed Rose and her grandfather out onto the porch.
Their grandfather didn’t waste any time hurrying down the steps.According to him, he needed to walk the town to see if anything had happened during the night and she and Rose laughed at his self proclaimed watchmen duties.
Seeing Josiah at the jail looking at her made her heart skip a beat, and she’d smiled, watching him until he finally went inside the building before heading back in to help Daisy clear the table but stilled when she saw her sister was staring at her.“What?”
Daisy shrugged a shoulder.“You look like you’re in another world.”
She smiled and carried the dirty dishes to the sink.Turning her head to make sure Daisy was looking at her, she said, “I just have a lot on my mind.”
“Like what?”
