Cadence is quiet on our ride through town, and I can’t help but wonder what she’s thinking. I want to know every thought in her head. Every thought she’s ever had and every thought she will have. I want to know everything about the curvy woman in the seat next to me.
But I don’t try to ask. It’s enough for now that she’s here with me, willingly beside me. Except that she called you the enemy.
I’ll have to work to learn to communicate with her. Before now, I was never much interested in communicating with other people. I didn’t have to be told that the Abernathy family would be embarrassed to have a son using sign language. It would be admitting to a disability, a flaw.
But it surprises me just how much I want to communicate with my new wife. I want to know everything about her, but I also want her to know everything about me. I don’t want there to ever be anything between us.
Finally, my car finishes the long chug up the winding mountain road and my cabin is in view. My gut tightens. It’s one of the fancier cabins here but by the Abernathy standards, it’s a shack. Will she hate it? I need her to love it here, to love being with me.
She stares at the cabin for a long moment when I cut off the car and I wish she’d say something. Anything.
But she makes no remark as she opens the front door. She barely glances around at my sparsely decorated living room that’s as sterile as a hospital waiting room. I wish I were the type of person who knew how to make home welcoming and cozy.
She folds her arms across her ample chest, the move pushing her bountiful breasts even higher. “I’m not backing out on the terms of our deal.”
I frown, trying to understand her logic. I don’t know anything about her deal with my family. But I’m assuming that since this was a business merger, there are terms to fulfill. When I don’t say anything, she huffs at me. “Consummation.”
It finally dawns on me what she’s talking about. For a moment, scenes from my parents’ loveless marriage flash in front of my eyes. The pain starts deep in my chest, and I rub at it absently.
I never wanted something like what they had. I never wanted a marriage that felt more like a boardroom meeting than two friends navigating life together. But it seems that my woman came into this union with very different expectations. I can’t blame her for that when we barely had a chance to talk before the wedding. Still, it doesn’t mean I’ll agree to her demand so easily. Before I have her body, I want her heart.
With a scowl of my own, I wrap my fingers around her arm and tug her toward the bedroom. This is my bedroom, and there are no other ones in the house. After all, it’s not like I was planning for overnight guests when I built this.
I stop at the threshold and turn her toward me. I’d love more than anything to take her up on her offer, but it wouldn’t mean anything to her. Despite her open invitation, I press a gentle kiss to her forehead. Then I turn and leave the room without another word.
I don’t see her again for the rest of the evening though I can hear her moving around my bedroom. It drives me crazy to know that she’s only a few feet away from me. I try to remind myself that Cadence is under my roof. It’s not much, but it’s a start.
To distract myself, I reach for my phone. I have to find a way to make my new wife fall in love with me fast. Quickly, I type in my search query. How to make a woman fall in love with you.
Too late, I realize my error. I didn’t type those words into my phone’s search function. Instead, I typed those words into the group chat with my friends. Nash is the first to respond. What are you? Fourteen?
He’s only a mile or two down the road. He’s blind which means all of his messages are sent with assistive technology. Sometimes, we tease him about the dumb things his phone autocorrects. But he just laughs it off with the rest of us.
Romans replies next. Stalk her.
I don’t think Roman is joking. There’s a girl in town that he’s head over heels for and yet he’s never made a move. It might have something to do with his prison record. I’m not exactly sure what he was in for, and I’ve never asked.
Trace is the last to get back to me. Tell her she’s yours.
Trace turns his metal welding creations into art that he sells. He’s actually pretty good at it. I know his family owns a ranch in another state. But he doesn’t talk about it. Just moved out to the mountains one day.