The Marriage Rescue

by Shirley Jump

  * * *

  Grady’s brother stood on the doorstep of Ida Mae’s house and glared at him. “What the hell are you doing?” Nick said.

  He had the same dark hair and eyes as Grady, another inch of height, and the kind of smile that women fell all over themselves to see. Right now, there wasn’t a hint of that smile on his face. Grady hadn’t seen his brother in several months, and maybe it was a trick of the light, but he looked younger and brighter. Or maybe it was due to the wedding ring on his finger and the woman he had married.

  “I’m doing what’s smart for me,” Grady said. “You got your inheritance and invested it in...something.” Grady realized he had no idea what Nick had been doing for the last few months.

  “You don’t have a clue about my life, do you?” He shook his head. “You couldn’t even be bothered to show up for my wedding.”

  “I was in China. It’s not like it’s a quick flight from Asia to here. And I sent a gift.”

  Nick rolled his eyes. “Yeah, the gravy boat was just as good as you being here.”

  Dealing with his brother was about the last thing Grady needed right now. His mind kept replaying his impromptu promise from the night before, to marry Beth in a week. All Grady kept hearing when the doctor was talking was “borrowed time.” He had seen the way Reggie looked at him, felt it in his handshake when Grady had left after dinner the other night, and heard it in the older man’s voice when he said, “Thank you for being in my daughter’s life. That means everything.”

  The words had stuck with Grady, and when he’d been standing in the hospital hallway with Reggie hooked up to a bunch of machines a few feet away, he’d thought maybe it wasn’t the craziest idea in the world to just marry Beth anyway. Maybe it was actually in his power to make this family happy.

  He sure as hell wasn’t having any luck with his own family. Exhibit A: his brother showing up, pissed as hell to find the for-sale sign on Ida Mae’s front lawn.

  Monster nosed past Grady’s leg to greet Nick. The brother who was so angry a second earlier melted at the sight of the dog. He bent down and rubbed Monster’s ears. “What’s a nice dog like you doing with a guy like that, huh? You know he’s going to leave you homeless on the streets, don’t you? Did you see the sign?”

  “I am not.” Grady sighed and opened his front door the rest of the way. Might as well invite Nick in before the whole neighborhood heard their conversation. He’d missed his brother more than he realized. “Want some coffee?”

  “I thought you’d never ask.” Nick straightened, then marched into the house, with Monster on his heels. The dog clearly had no taste in humans, if he was siding with Nick over Grady. “By the way, I don’t like what you’ve done with the place. Especially that sign on the lawn. Looks like crap.”

  Grady shook his head. “That sign is there because the house is up for sale. It’s mine and I’m going to do what I want with it.”

  “You know you sound like a four-year-old, right?”

  Grady scowled. “Since when do you care what I’m doing or not doing?”

  “Since you put Grandma’s house up for sale and didn’t tell anyone. She didn’t give it to you just so you could flip it, like you do everything else in the world.”

  Grady let out a gusty breath. His brother had no idea what was going on in his business. Nick had once worked for the company that took care of Jackson Properties’ IT needs, but as an outside contractor, his brother didn’t have the inside scoop on what the last failure had cost Grady in terms of his confidence and mental health. And he wasn’t about to make that public knowledge.

  It was bad enough one of his competitors was trying to buy him out. He’d looked over Jim’s offer, and it was a reasonable one that another business owner might have considered. But to Grady, accepting the offer was tantamount to admitting he’d failed.

  “I’m not having this argument.”

  “Good. Then we can take that sign to the curb and shove it in your trash can.” Nick leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. Monster plopped down beside him, two against one. “Because I’m not letting you do this.”

  “You don’t get a say.” Grady sent the traitorous dog a glare. “Ida Mae left you and Ryder a bunch of money, and she left me the house. I’m not telling you how to spend your money. Don’t tell me what to do with this place.”

  “That’s because, even though you have thought your younger brother is less responsible, I’m—” Nick put a hand on his chest “—not doing something stupid like investing in a Beanie Baby collection or buying a worm farm. In another month, my restaurant should be open, and I’ll have not just a place, but a new career. See? Smart.”

  “That’s wonderful. I’m sure you’ll do well. You’re a great chef, Nick.” He was opening a restaurant? Grady had known his brother loved to cook, but it was a pretty big jump into a chef career. “I’d appreciate if you understood my choices, too. Selling the house is smart for me. I can’t live in Stone Gap. My business is up in New York and it needs my attention.” Which wasn’t entirely the truth, since the company was on shaky legs, but close enough.

  “So? Move it here. You can work from anywhere. There’s this awesome thing called the internet that lets you work from anywhere in the world.”

  “Are you part of the welcoming committee for Stone Gap or something?” Grady scowled.

  Nick grinned. “Nah. But this place has grown on me. It might have something to do with a certain woman and the fact that I’m finally working a job I love, but...” He shrugged, and the smile only widened. “I’m pretty happy.”

  Envy curled in Grady’s gut. What would it be like to feel that way, every day of his life? To have someone to come home to who brightened his world, made the stress melt away? Technically, he had that, but for only a whisper of time, and not for real, like Nick’s marriage. “I’m glad for you, Nick. I really am.”

  “You should consider it, you know. Marriage, I mean. It’s a pretty sweet thing if you find a woman you love.” Nick nodded toward the percolator. “Wasn’t there an offer of coffee?”

  “Oh, yeah. Sorry.” Grady put a filter in the basket, scooped in some grounds and turned on the pot.

  “You know, I’m not surprised you want to sell—even if I’m hoping I can talk you out of it,” Nick said, as the coffeepot dripped rich brew into the carafe. “You blew out of town as fast as you could, and never looked back. It’s as if you left us in your rearview mirror.”

  “I call. I email. I text.”

  “How often? Because last I checked...” Nick pulled his phone out of his pocket. “...I heard from you three months ago.”

  Had it really been that long? Grady started to argue, then realized yes, three months had passed since he’d talked to Ryder and Nick, and it had been over a year since the three of them had had any kind of meaningful conversation. Even at Ida Mae’s funeral, Grady had been working from his phone, trying to turn things around at the company. He’d run out of town as soon as the services were over.

  The coffee machine beeped, which gave Grady a welcome excuse to abandon the conversation and pour two cups. Just as he handed one to his brother, the doorbell rang. Monster skidded down the hall, barking his fool head off.

  Grady opened the door and felt a smile curve across his face when he saw Beth on his porch. She looked a little tired from the afternoon spent at the hospital, but even with her hair in a ponytail and her face bare of makeup, she was still one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. “Everything okay?” he asked.

  “Yes, yes. I was just bringing your car back and my dad here.” She dropped his keys into his palm. “Thanks for letting me borrow it this afternoon to pick him up, because mine isn’t the most dependable vehicle in the world. My dad is all excited. He started talking to me about our wedding—”

  “Whoa. You’re getting married? Why am I the last to know every
thing about my big brother?” Nick poked his head around Grady and thrust out his hand. “I’m Nick, Grady’s younger brother. And you are...?”

  “Beth Cooper.” She gave Nick a smile and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Oh yeah, I remember you. You were a year or so ahead of me in school. You said you’re Grady’s fiancée?” Nick held up her left hand and let out a low whistle. “That certainly puts a dot on the exclamation point.”

  “Well...yes, we’re engaged.” She flushed under Nick’s clear surprise and scrutiny. “It’s complicated.”

  Nick arched a brow in Grady’s direction. “Complicated? You’re dating the right man for that. He didn’t even tell his own family about this happy news.”

  Grady glared at his brother, but Nick just went on grinning. “Beth lives here in Stone Gap,” Grady said, to fill the silence. “She’s training the dog.” Like that explained anything.

  “So, you’ve got a dog, you’ve got a wife-to-be, and yet you’re insisting that you’re selling the house and moving back to New York? Sounds like you can’t decide between coming and going. As for me, I’ve got a meeting with the builder, then a date with my own wife.” Nick gave the dog a pat and Beth a nod before he strode down the porch steps. On the walkway, he turned back. “When’s the wedding, by the way?”

  “It’s not—” Grady began.

  “Sunday,” Beth said.

  “Sunday?” Nick gave a low whistle. “Well, hell, Grady, I guess you’ll be extending your trip to Stone Gap by a few days at least. Let me know when to put on my tux and where you’re registered.” He shot him a grin, then hopped in his car and left.

  Chapter Eight

  This was a mistake.

  Beth realized that the second she got out of her car in the driveway of Grady’s grandmother’s house. From the outside, Ida Mae’s home looked huge. Two stories, plenty of bedrooms, and an expansive lawn out back. And yet despite all that, moving in with her father and Grady was surely going to feel cramped, if only because Grady seemed to take up all the air in the room, even when he was simply standing still. Anything that put him within a hundred yards of her felt too close, because it made her think about him altogether too much.

  Then she’d met his younger brother, and the whole getting-married thing suddenly became real. Too real.

  “I’m so sorry about the fire back at my house,” her father said. “It was a stupid mistake.”

  “Dad, you already apologized fifty times. It’s fine. The insurance will take care of it, and I’ll hire a contractor to repair the damage.” She made a mental note to add look for reputable and inexpensive contractor to her list of five million things to do.

  Her father paused on the walkway and touched her arm. “Why don’t you let me do that? I’m sitting around all day anyway, bored out of my noggin. I don’t know what to do with myself these days. I’m used to being able to go to the gym, hang out with the guys, get on a plane and head to some other country for a showdown. Making some phone calls would at least help pass the time.” He sighed. “In fact, if you’ll let me, I’d like to plan the wedding for you two. I know it’s normally something the bride wants to do, but you’ve got so much to do already, with your business and handling everything with my medical care...” His eyes softened. “Let me help you.”

  Maybe if it was a real wedding, she’d be more interested in being hands-on with the process. But it wasn’t, and if her father was offering to do something—and most especially, to do something for her—she wasn’t going to turn him down. For months, Reggie had barely moved from the chair in front of the television. With the news of the wedding, he seemed more motivated, more positive. It might not be a miracle treatment that would restore him to his youthful strength, but the optimism sure seemed like great heart medicine. As long as they were all tasks he could do while comfortably seated, she didn’t see the harm in it. And it meant he would be even more involved with her life, something she couldn’t turn down. Beth’s heart squeezed.

  She covered her father’s hand with her own. “That would be wonderful, Dad. Just remember, we don’t need anything fancy. Small, private, intimate. Just me and Grady and you.”

  “And the preacher.” Her father grinned. “I was thinking of Pastor Dudley from the Baptist church. Nice fella, and he did your mother’s funeral.”

  “Sure, sounds great.” Beth was already distracted. Grady was coming down the walkway to help her with her dad, and all coherent thoughts flitted away.

  Yeah, this was a mistake. Because just looking at him, in jeans and a pale gray V-neck T-shirt, she wanted to touch him. Wanted to curve into his chest and kiss him again, like they had the other day. He was going to be in a bedroom just down the hall from her all week, and then they were going to be “married” and presumably sharing a room. With any luck, the repairs would be done at her dad’s house by then. He would go back there, and Beth wouldn’t have to play the charade of being Grady’s wife. Because she wasn’t so sure she could share a bed with that man and not want to do a whole lot more than kiss.

  “Let me get the bags,” Grady said, coming around to the trunk of the rental car. He retrieved the two bags Beth had packed—one for her and one for her father. He hefted them both into one hand, then hurried ahead of Beth to help Reggie up the porch stairs and into the house.

  “I like this boy,” her father said over his shoulder as he stepped into the house. “Nice and respectful toward his elders. Such a gentleman.”

  Grady did treat her father well, as he did her. He always opened the door, rose whenever she left the table, walked on the outside of the sidewalk so that she was in the safer, protected position. All the things her dad had told her a gentleman should do. What would it have been like to date him in high school? To be treated like this for the last ten years? To have someone there who understood her complicated commitment to her father, and supported her?

  She’d dated, but most men didn’t want the added responsibility that came with seeing a woman who was caring for a parent. They didn’t understand when she canceled a date because her father was having a tough day, or when she was late because his physical therapy ran over. They wanted a woman who was at their beck and call, or ready to take care of them, and didn’t like that she had responsibilities and a life that didn’t revolve around them.

  Whereas Grady...

  Well, Grady had been different from the minute he walked into her shop with the dog he didn’t want. A dog that now trotted alongside him, looking up at his master with adoration every few feet.

  Grady helped her father down the hall to a first-floor sitting room that he had converted into a bedroom by moving one of the beds from upstairs into the space. It was a nice space, with a picture window that looked out over the lake and a king-size bed that faced a wall-mounted television. Beside the window, an armchair, a small bookcase and a little table invited a lazy afternoon of reading.

  Beth almost cried. Grady had done all this for a man he barely knew, and a faux fiancée who was going to be out of his life soon. It made her wonder what kind of husband he would make for someone he truly loved, because he was sure doing great in the faking-it department.

  On the nightstand, Grady had set a couple water bottles, and a small green plant that was so new it still had the price sticker on the plastic container. A tiny gray box sat beside the television remote. “I put an intercom in here,” Grady said. “In case you need anything, Mr. Cooper.”

  “Thoughtful. Thanks.” Reggie sank onto the bed and let out a sigh. “Long day, but I’m glad to be out of that prison they call a hospital.”

  “Dad, they needed to keep you overnight to be sure you were okay.” Her father had bemoaned every second he’d been there. She didn’t blame him—simply sitting by his bedside in the sterile, noisy hospital was the opposite of fun—but complaining didn’t change anything or make conditions better. And yet, it seemed he coul
dn’t help himself. When her father was younger and healthier, he couldn’t sit still. One day at home and he’d be itching to go to the gym, or get back on a plane. He’d keep busy with yard work or projects, but when the sun began to sink behind the horizon, a jittery wanderlust invaded her father’s spirit. She remembered being a little girl, sitting at the kitchen table with a science project or an A she’d gotten on a test, wanting only for him to slow down, notice her and talk to her. Instead, Reggie would burst from the seat and head out the door, more and more often to a bar or to the gym as his career began to wane.

  That had been one of the best parts, if there was such a thing, about him getting sick. He’d spent days in the hospital, weeks convalescing at home, and had finally had time for all the conversations he’d missed years ago.

  Reggie kicked off his shoes, swung his legs up on the bed and leaned against the pillows. “Okay, you two can go be alone. And stop hovering over me.”

  “You sure?” Beth asked.

  Reggie rolled his eyes at her mother-hen question. “I need a nap anyway. And you’re interfering with my beauty sleep.”

  Beth followed Grady out of the room. He shut the door, then led the way down the hall and up the staircase, stopping between two doors. “Your room is the one on the right. I’m...well, across the hall. I thought of putting your dad in that room, but I didn’t want him to walk any farther than he had to or climb the stairs. If this doesn’t work for you, let me know and I’ll see how I can change it up.”

  “It’s fine, Grady, really. Everything you did for my dad was so thoughtful and sweet. I appreciate it a lot.”

  “No problem.” They stood in the hall, awkward semistrangers. She glanced down at the ring on her finger, and thought the entire situation was incredibly ironic and weird.

  Grady filled the silence first. “I...uh, ordered dinner from the café. I realized I have no idea what you like, except for roast chicken, and I didn’t want to buy groceries without knowing.” He chuckled. “I’m rambling, aren’t I?”