The next rule Sinclair came up with was that she and Alyssa would share a room. I wanted to ask her how she was going to explain not sleeping in my bed to the girl. Sure, she was young, but she had to know married people shared a room. However, I didn’t ask because I was afraid that she’d change her mind. I’d worry about getting her in my bed once she was moved in and it would be too difficult to explain to others if she changed her mind and left me. Plus, once she was moved it, it would be too much of a chore to leave.
“Are we going to have a problem with Ryder? Is he going to kick my ass for having a relationship with his sister?”
She rolled her eyes. “God, that damn bro’ code. He knows about us.”
“What?” I actually turned to look behind me, expecting Ryder to be there with a bat ready to bash my skull in.
“I told him when-” She stopped short and got a funny look on her face. She swallowed and then gave me a smile. “When you disappeared, I was worried. He told me not to be. I guess he knew about your family and figured you did exactly what you needed to do. But I was upset which he thought was weird, so I told him.” She looked me hard in the eyes. “And, as I told you back then, he was fine with it.”
I grinned cheekily. “Why didn’t you say so?”
She gave me a light shove. “We’ll talk about the logistics of this tomorrow.”
The logistics were that I’d make a place for her and Alyssa and we’d tell only our families about the plan. Trina obviously would know since it was her idea, but Sinclair felt she could be trusted.
I wanted to get married ASAP so I could deal with that dick Stark and it could be added to my legal claim that Jeannette was getting ready to file. Sinclair worried a quickie wedding might make it look like she was knocked up, and she didn’t want that. I wondered if she’d been harassed about Alyssa when she became pregnant.
I pointed out that she wasn’t knocked up, unless there was something that she hadn’t told me since our encounter the other night under the oak tree. Again, she got that strange look on her face that made me think she was hiding something.
“The sooner we get married, the better it will be in dealing with Stark, which is the purpose,” I pointed out.
She nodded. “We can tell people that we dated back before you left.”
“We’d planned to marry then.” I watched her reaction to see if she remembered or cared that we once planned a life together.
“People will buy that.”
It’s the fucking truth, I wanted to say, but I held it back. This arrangement was precarious at best. I didn’t want to do anything that would make her change her mind.
Today, I was working with my mother to get the house ready for Sinclair and Alyssa to move in. Mom had always kept it clean and tidy, but the rooms could use a coat of paint, several floors could use refinishing, and on the outside, it needed a lot of cosmetic repair. But the house was comfortable and livable. If I was lucky, I’d have a lifetime to turn it into a real home with Sinclair and Alyssa.
Alyssa was a great kid. I couldn’t wait to teach her how to ride. She was quite the artist too. I secretly took a few of her drawings and had them framed to hang in her room.
We had enough room for both of them to have their own space, but, as per Sinclair’s request, my mom and I were setting up a single room for both of them. Sinclair seemed to think Alyssa would need time to adjust to a new home. To my eye, Alyssa looked like a well-adjusted kid who didn’t need coddling, but what did I know?
“I hope she likes these sheets,” my mother said as she made up the twin beds in the room that we set up for them. “I never had a little girl. Do you think she’ll like these?”
“She likes horses, so yes, I think she will,” I said of the pastel sheets with horses on them.
My mother looked at me as I hung the last horse picture on the wall. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“I think it’s the best option. Getting married secures my claim to the house. Sinclair has influence in the town and mayor’s office.”
“I imagine it’ll be hard having Sinclair here with you as your wife, but not a real marriage.”
I flinched, not sure I wanted to ask what she meant by that. Was my mom talking about me and Sinclair having sex? “What do you mean?”
She sat on the edge of the twin bed and sighed. “I knew about you and her in high school.”
I turned to straighten the picture that didn’t need straightening. “What about it?”
“That you and her were an item. In love.”
I took a breath before turning to her. “How’d you know?”
“I used to do all the laundry, and your shirts always smelled like honeysuckle or some sweet flower. I suppose it could have been any girl, but I was sure it was her because I remembered the few times that she came over to ride when your father was away.”
I never invited Sinclair over when we dated. I didn’t think she’d ever been in my house until the day she showed up asking about Stark. She’d come riding with me and Ryder a couple of times before she and I were a thing, but she’d never been in the house.