Page 28 of Four-ever Single

“I still can’t believe everything that happened today. I woke up this morning feeling pretty good after a night of hot sex, thinking we were going to work out and spend the day together, to finding out that I’m the sole beneficiary of my grandmother’s estate. Oh, and that I have to get married in the next three weeks if I want to claim it.”

She inhaled deeply and slowly let it out as we walked through the trees, the dirt crunching beneath our feet.

“It’s a lot to process, and it’s going to take longer than a day to sort through your feelings about it,” I offered, stepping to the side and extending my hand to help her over a fallen log that was making the walkway narrower.

“How do you do that?” she asked, looking up at me as I walked beside her again.

“Do what?”

“Know all the right things to say? It’s like you’re in my head, and you can hear all the things I’m afraid to say, yet I don’t have to say them, and you still ease my mind.”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I guess it’s just a skill I learned over the years.”

“Well, it’s one that I’m very thankful for. You have a way of keeping me calm, and I don’t even realize it most of the time. I know things between us are still really new, but in a way, I feel like I’ve known you forever. It’s a great feeling, something I’ve never felt before.”

“Well, I guess that’s a good thing to have with someone who is your soon-to-be husband.”

The moment the words left my lips, I knew it would change the vibe we had going. Bella stiffened beside me, and I could see her whole body tense up.

“Want to sit down and talk about it?” I offered, nodding to the bench coming up ahead of us.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m better if I keep moving right now.”

“Okay, we’ll keep walking.”

She nodded and locked her hands together as her fingers fidgeted anxiously. I could tell her mind was racing a mile a minute, but waited until she was ready to get the words out she needed to say. We kept on down the path until suddenly, she stopped and spun toward me. I lifted my head in surprise and reached my hand out to steady her as her eyes danced wildly, searching my face.

“It’s not that I don’t want to marry you, Jones,” she rushed out. “I don’t know if I want to get married—period. Before this morning, I didn’t have to think about that. I wasn’t even considering a life of being settled down and what that looked like. I’ve been so focused on my career and where that’s taking me that the thought of marriage and a husband never crossed my mind. So please believe me that when I say this is a me issue—I mean it. This isn’t a you problem. You’re fantastic and wonderful, and any girl would be lucky to marry you, but I don’t know if I’m that girl. What if I fuck everything up, and you’re constantly disappointed in our marriage? I work strange hours, and sometimes I have to travel for work, and then there’s the whole taking my clothes off for money thing, which sounds worse than it is—but still, you get the point. What if suddenly you’re not supportive of what I do? What if my career has to stop because you don’t want to be married to someone who makes money off their body? What if this ruins your life and your first wedding is a fake one, and then you los—”

“Bella,” I warned softly. “Take a deep breath. Right now, breathe.”

She closed her mouth and took a long, deep breath as tears filled her eyes.

“Take another breath,” I coaxed, pulling her into me.

Her body was still stiff, but I held her close and wrapped my arms around her.

Within seconds, I felt her fingers grab the fabric of my t-shirt as she fell apart and cried against my chest.

“It’s okay, Bella. Let it out. You’re safe here with me. Fall apart and know I’m here to help put everything back together.”

She cried harder, her legs starting to give out beneath her.

I picked her up and carried her to the bench, where I held her in my arms as she cried.

Eighteen

Bella

“How are you feeling?” Lia asked as she came in and set her stuff on the kitchen island. She had just gotten off from her shift at the hospital, and we hadn’t had a chance to talk since I had gotten “engaged” at lunch today. Jones and I had spent most of the day together at the lake before he brought me home a few hours ago. I told him I needed some time to myself to just sit and process everything, and he assured me he was there if I needed anything. He didn’t fight to stay with me, which I appreciated because I really needed some space to think.

“Good? I guess? I’m not quite sure how to answer that,” I admitted. “I feel like I was just starting to be okay with my grandma passing, and then watching that video this morning made it feel like I was getting the news all over again. It was hard seeing her and knowing that she was planning for her death while I was off somewhere, chasing after my career. I should have been there with her.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t begin to imagine what you’re going through. But I know that your grandma was so proud of you, Bella. I was there for some of your video calls with her; I saw how bright her smile was when you told her you had been selected for the Dark Vibes job. She wanted you to go after what you wanted. She was home, and that’s where she wanted to be. I’m sorry you didn’t get to say goodbye to her.”

“I wish she was still here because I would love to know what she was thinking when she decided I had to be married by my 25th birthday in order to claim my inheritance.” I shook my head, but a small smile still fell on my lips.

My grandmother was known for many things, but highly intuitive and quirky were two that always stuck out to me. She made sure I knew from an early age that it was okay to take a different path than the other kids. While they were playing outside and roughhousing, I was inside reading or learning how to cook. I’ve always done my own thing, and until recently, never cared what anyone thought.

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