Teresa Southwick - Just A Little Bit Married

“And crazy in love,” Vicki reminded her. “You just told me that you couldn’t say no.”

“To marriage,” she amended. “My mom drilled into me that a man has no need to buy the cow when he gets the milk for free. And if you give it away, he’ll just mosey on down the road to another cow. That’s what happened to her. Unfortunately when my father moseyed, she was stuck with a baby.” Rose pointed to herself. “Yours truly.”

“Ah.”

“She was determined that the same thing wouldn’t happen to me and never let up with the warning not to sleep with a man until I had a ring on my finger. I thought I got really lucky that the man of my dreams was determined to marry me. Of course I couldn’t say no.”

“So he married you to...” Vicki tapped her lips. “Pop your cherry?”

“That’s what I believed for ten years.” Rose recalled every word of what he’d said before walking out of her life. She remembered him telling her that he couldn’t be with her because he wasn’t in her league. She’d thought that was about him having more money than God and her not fitting into his world. Now she knew he’d been talking about himself because his father wasn’t who he’d thought. “He had a crisis of identity.”

Vicki rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I can see how that could happen. Must be tough figuring out which billions belong to you or your brothers when you’re a Hart.”

That’s just it. At the time he’d recently learned he wasn’t biologically a part of the family. But she didn’t feel comfortable revealing that.

“Things aren’t always what they seem.” Rose knew that statement was cryptic, but it wasn’t her secret to share, not even with the friend who was like a sister to her.

“A case could be made,” Vicki said pointedly, “that he proposed because he was after one thing. Correct me if I’m wrong, but he got what he wanted, then said adios.”

“You’re not wrong.” But there was more to it.

“And you’re not divorced? Seems to me someone from the legal department at Hart Industries should be canned over this.”

“You’d think.” Rose shrugged. “It’s probably not a stretch to say that my vow of chastity could have impacted the haste of his proposal. But, I am my mother’s daughter.” Although she’d made up her mind to be different from Janie Tucker and not play the victim card for the rest of her life.

“So, how was it?” Vicki sipped the last of the wine in her glass. “Seeing him again, I mean?”

“It was surreal. He hasn’t changed, other than being ten years older. But it looks good on him.” And she hated that. If he was fat, bald and irritating the trauma of having her heart ripped out and handed back would have been worth it. But her luck wasn’t that good.

His eyes were still a mesmerizing shade of dark blue. He was tall, lean and broad-shouldered. Walking, talking animal magnetism that was so powerful she could hardly remember what she’d said to him. “And, darn him, like all men he just looks better. Call me shallow, but this would be so much easier if he looked like a troll.”

“Very annoying of him.” Vicki shifted her position on the couch. “Were there still sparks between you?”

Not unless anger counted. Or maybe it never went away. It had been hard, but ten years ago she pulled herself together and patched the hole Linc left in her life. There was a good possibility that anger had filled up that empty space. “Nope. No sparks.”

“So, he came to personally inform you that your divorce never happened.” Her friend tilted her head. “That means your tenth wedding anniversary is coming up soon.”

“Since we haven’t lived together, I don’t think there will be an exchange of gifts.” Sarcasm was good, Rose thought. It was a sign that she was rebounding.

“I wonder what you give for ten years of marriage.”

“A divorce, hopefully.” Yay her. A pithy comeback. She was on a roll.

Vicki shook her head, still trying to take in the situation. “How could you never tell me about all this?”

“Haven’t you ever done something that is so completely mortifying and humiliating that you didn’t want anyone to know about it ever?”

“Of course.” Her friend grinned. “But nothing this spectacular. And you know all of my mortifying and humiliating escapades. Yet you kept this to yourself.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, no. Don’t give me those big, blue Kewpie-doll eyes. You’re only sorry you got caught. I want to know why I didn’t hear about this until crisis time.”

“At first I just wanted to forget. Start college and put it behind me.” She’d thought not talking about it would make the pain go away but she’d been wrong. Time had been the cure. “You and I met, and clicked, but I didn’t really know you that well. Then the longer I didn’t say anything, the more I didn’t know how to bring it up. Besides, I thought I was quietly divorced and no one ever had to know.”

If no one knew, it wouldn’t hurt as bad, right?

“Speaking of that... It’s probably a good thing that you found out. Otherwise, when you and Chandler went to get a marriage license, that could have been a shock,” Vicki commented.

“That’s what Linc said.”

“Good. He knows you haven’t been pining for him.”

If she’d never seen him again Rose would accept that as true. But the rush of emotions when she’d answered her door and instantly recognized him stirred memories of that brief, shining moment when she’d had everything she ever wanted. Had there been pining going on and she wasn’t aware of it?

Vicki set her empty glass on the coffee table. “How did Chandler take this ‘being married and not divorced’ thing?”

“He doesn’t know.”

“You haven’t told him yet?” Her friend looked more shocked about that than any revelation so far.

“No.”

“Keeping important details to yourself is starting to form a disturbing pattern. Why haven’t you told him?”

“It just happened a few hours ago,” Rose protested.

“You called me. It’s not a stretch that you could have clued Chandler in on this.”

“I needed to wrap my head around it before dumping this kind of news on him. And—” Rose loved her friend, but this rational side could be annoying. Mostly because Vicki was right. “The situation got even more complicated.”

“I don’t see how.”

“Linc offered me a job decorating his condo. A very high-profile project that will generate a lot of attention and publicity.”

“There’s more, right?” her friend asked suspiciously.

“If it goes well, there’s a chance I could get more work in the area. These guys—the Holdens—are building a hotel and resort, all of which will need decorating. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“Obviously you didn’t say no.”

“You’re a lawyer. If someone offered you a case that was the equivalent of this, would you walk away from it? No matter who was doing the asking?”

“I see your point,” Vicki reluctantly agreed.

“This could be really lucrative. A career maker.” She filled in even more details about the development and the area with luxury homes cropping up. “We both know if I don’t get a break Tucker Designs is finished.”

“Maybe not—”

Rose’s look stopped the words. “I’m going down, Vee. You’re my attorney. You’ve seen my financials. I don’t even want to think about that loan from the small business association. And then there’s my mom. She raised me completely by herself and worked so hard all her life to take care of me. Waitressing isn’t easy and I’d like her to be able to cut back. Enjoy herself more. You know?”

“Yes, but—” Vicki stopped and shook her head.