“I agree. They don’t need to know.”
“But if my best friend gets married, they’ll likely speed up their tactics for me to do the same. They’d have every suitable woman on the east coast lined up for my immediate selection. If I refuse to come to New York to view the current list, there would likely be a debutant parade set up in Old West Town every single day until I succumb or go on a rampage to run them out of Enclave.” He rolled his eyes, shook his head, and took another sip of his drink. “I’d rather not stir them into any further potential marital frenzy. I always seem to end up back at my regular ‘don’t ever get married’ motto.”
Colton laughed. “Look I get it. You have awful parents with a forest’s worth of legal documents printed up and ready to go, and very ambitious goals for your future, but I don’t.”
Warrick pushed out a long sigh.
He continued. “I also know you haven’t ever met anyone before that makes you feel the way Isabelle does. I don’t want to let the best thing that ever happened to us get away because of idiotic legal documentation. Papers your odious family made you sign before you were old enough to know better.”
“I knew better, even way back then. I didn’t fight it because I needed the money to change my life.”
“And you have made sweeping changes. You even work for a living. I’ll bet that really pisses them all off.”
His friend laughed. “It does. But I’m far enough away not to have to listen to them bitch about it day to day. The marriage thing though, that’s its own special brand of hell and damnation, and I don’t want to stir it all up.”
“What’s the worst that can happen if you give in and marry someone they don’t approve of?” Colton didn’t even know the vagaries of what held Warrick financially tethered to his loathsome family.
Warrick shrugged. “It’s not so much about me as what Isabelle would go through after signing the prenuptial agreement. If I don’t marry someone they approve of, they’ll spend the rest of our lives never letting Isabelle forget how inappropriate it is for her to be a part of my wealthy family.”
“We live in Montana. How much can they harass her from their lofty perch in New York?”
He sighed again. “There is another clause in the pre-nup regarding any children born into the marriage. The long and short of it is, we’d have to move back to New York for our offspring to attend an already pre-approved list of prestigious schools, kindergarten through college. In the end, it’s all about where the money will go and ensuring the ‘right’ education for the next generation to keep it all. Or the funds I’ve already received will again be forfeit with interest due.”
“Unbelievable.” Colton was glad he didn’t have to deal with such crap. He’d been a rancher all his life. It was all he knew. He’d had more good times than bad, but as an only child he got the family ranch and had all the say in how it ran. He’d hate to be told what to do by anyone. “What if you marry Isabelle anyway?”
Warrick stared at his glass. “If I marry her without the pre-nup, I have to give the money back, with accumulated interest.”
“Harsh. But you’re better off without it to have Isabelle in your life.”
“True, but it is quite a lot of money.” Warrick downed the rest of his half-full glass. A thoughtful expression shaped his features as he poured another generous drink.
“Isabelle is worth more,” Colton said quietly.
“You’re absolutely correct. Let’s drink to that.” Warrick lifted his high ball glass and drained it.
“You won’t even admit this conversation took place tomorrow morning.”
“That could very well be true.”
“At least I know you’re thinking about her like I’m thinking about her.”
“That could also very well be true. What are you thinking?”
“That I never want to let her go.”
Warrick started nodding. “That has also crossed my mind. Then the lust-fueled thought runs and hides because I never think that way. Until I’m with her. Then my brain is stupid, crazy in love or maybe it’s simply lust.”
Colton picked up the bottle, grabbed his hat, and stood up to leave.
“Hey! Where are you going with that?” he asked in his belligerent prosecutor tone.
“I’m saving you from yourself. You’re out of your depth. You won’t know when to quit. But mostly, I don’t want you completely useless tomorrow night.”
“Fine. Go. Don’t expect me to divulge my feelings to her any time soon. I’m not sure what will happen yet.”