The relief that washed over Amy’s face made Norah smile. “You’ve saved me! Here’s Louisa’s syllabus and notes. You don’t have to use her curriculum, though. You may have different ideas. It’s your class now, so you make it your own.”
That sounded good. “I’m looking forward to it,” she said. “And thanks for asking me.”
As Amy left, Norah carried the folder into the kitchen and set it down beside the bowl containing her special barbecue sauce, which wasn’t quite there yet. Norah’s regular barbecue sauce was pretty darn good, but she liked creating specials for the pot pies and wanted something with more of a Louisiana bite. She’d try a new batch, this time with a drop more cayenne pepper and a smidge less molasses. She’d just have to keep trying bits and dashes until she got it just right, which, now that she thought about it, was sometimes how parenting went. Yeah, there were basics to learn, but sometimes you had to be there, doing it, to know what to do.
As she headed to the coffeepot for a caffeine boost, she noticed the manila envelope on the counter. The annulment papers were inside. A yellow Post-it with Reed’s name on the outside. Tomorrow she’d drop it off at the station and he’d sign them and she’d send them in or he would. And that would be the end of that.
No more Reed to the rescue, which had been very nice today.
No more fantasy husband and fantasy father.
No more sexy man in her kitchen and living room.
More than all that, she liked the way Reed made her feel. Despite his offers to help, he never looked at her as though she was falling apart or unable to handle all she had on her plate. He made her feel like she could simply use another hand...a partner.
Could the annulment papers accidentally fall behind the counter and disappear? She smiled. She liked this new and improved Norah. Kicking butt and teaching a class. Suddenly wanting her accidental husband to stick around.
Maybe because she knew he wouldn’t?
Anyway, one out of two wasn’t bad, though. At least she had the class.
Tomorrow she’d be out a husband.
Chapter Six
Norah had filled her tenth pulled pork pot pie of the morning when she noticed Reed Barelli pacing the sidewalk that faced the back windows of the Pie Diner’s kitchen. He seemed to be deep in thought. She was dying to know about what. His missing person’s case? Or maybe even...her? The annulment papers he’d forgotten to sign last night on his way out?
It’s not like I reminded him, she thought. The way he’d come to her rescue last night like some Super Husband had brought back all those old fantasies and dreams. Of someone having her back. Someone to lean on, literally and figuratively. And, oh, how she would love to lean on that very long, sexy form of his, feel those muscular arms wrapped around her.
Focus on your work, she admonished herself. She topped the pot pie with crust and made a design in the center, then set the pie on the tray awaiting the oven for the first of the lunch rush.
“Norah?” a waitress named Evie called out. “There’s someone here to see you.”
Had to be Reed. He was no longer out back. She quickly washed her hands and took off her apron, then left the kitchen. Reed sat at the far end of the counter. Since it was eleven, late for breakfast and early for lunch, the Pie Diner had very few customers. He was alone at the counter except for their regular, Old Sam, who sat at the first spot just about all day, paying for one slice of pie and coffee and getting endless refills and free pot pie for lunch, which had been the case for over a decade. Norah’s mom had a soft spot for the elderly widower who reminded her of her late dad, apparently.
Reed looked...serious. Her heart sank. He must be there to sign the papers.
“I have the papers in my bag,” she said. “Guess we both forgot last night. Follow me to the back office and you can sign them there if you want.”
He glanced around, then stood and trailed her into the kitchen. The large office doubled as a kiddie nook and the triplets were napping in their baby swings.
She grabbed her tote bag from where it hung on the back of the desk chair and pulled out the annulment papers from the manila envelope.
But Reed wasn’t taking the papers. He was looking at the babies.
“I’m glad they’re here,” he said. “Because I came to say something kind of crazy and seeing the triplets reinforces that it’s actually not crazy. That I’m not crazy.”
She stared at him, no idea what he could be talking about.
He took the papers from her and set them down on the desk. “Instead of signing those, I have a proposition for you.”
Norah tilted her head and caught her mother and aunt and sister all staring at them. She could close the door and give them some privacy, but then she’d only have to repeat what he’d said to her family, so they might as well get the earful straight from him. Besides, they’d never forgive her if she shut them out of this juicy part.
“A proposition?” she repeated.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her mother, sister and aunt all shuffle a step closer to the office.
He nodded. “If I sign those papers and you return them to the county clerk, poof, in a week, we’re not married anymore. Never happened. Drunken mistake. Whoops. Except it did happen. And the intensive couple of days I’ve been a part of your life makes me unable to just walk away from you and Bella, Bea and Brody. I can’t. A man doesn’t do that, Norah.”
Did she hear a gasp or two or three coming from the kitchen?
She stared at him. “Reed. We got married by accident. By drunken mistake, as you perfectly put it.”
“Maybe so. But we also got married. We both stood up there and said our vows. Drunk off our tushes or not, Norah, we got married.”
She gaped at him. “So you feel you have to stand by vows you made under total insanity and drunken duress? Why do you think both of those are grounds for annulment?”
“I stand by you and the triplets. And if we’re married, if we stay married, I also get to have the Barelli ranch fair and square. I was never planning on getting married. You said you weren’t, either. We’re both done with love and all that nonsense about happily-ever-after. So why not partner up, since we’re already legally bound, and get what we both need?”
“What do I need exactly?” she asked, narrowing her eyes on him.
“You need a safe home, for one. A place big enough for three children growing every single day. You need financial stability and security. You need someone there for you 24/7, having your back, helping, sharing the enormous responsibility of raising triplets. That’s what you need.”
No kidding. She did need that. She wanted that more than she could bear to admit to herself. She also wanted to take responsibility for her own life, her own children, and do it on her own. And it was harder than she even imagined it would be, than her mother had warned her it would be when she’d been so set on moving out and going it alone.
She couldn’t be stubborn at the triplets’ expense. She would focus on that instead of on how crazy Reed’s proposal was. Because when it came right down to it, he was absolutely right about what she needed.
And what he needed was his grandmother’s ranch. She’d witnessed just how great that need was when they’d been together at the house. The ranch meant so much to him. It was home. It was connection to his family. It was his future. And his being able to call the ranch home came down to her saying yes to his proposition.
Hmm. That proposition was a business deal of sorts. She thought, at least. “I get stability and security and you get the Barelli ranch.”
He eyed her and she could tell he was trying to read her. She made sure she had on her most neutral expression. She had no idea what she thought of his proposal. Stay legally married to a man she’d known for days? For mutual benefit?
“Right,” he said. “I need it more than I ever reali
zed. It’s home. The only place that’s ever felt like home. You could move out of that falling-down, depressing little place and move to the ranch with room and wide-open spaces for everyone.”
Her house was falling down and depressing. She hated those steep, slippery wooden stairs. And the lease was month to month. It would be a snap to get out of.
But the man was talking about serious legal stuff. Binding. He was talking about keeping their marriage on the books.
She looked up at him. “So we just rip up the papers and, voilà, we’re married?”
“We are truly married, Norah. Yeah, we can go through with the annulment. Or we can strike a bargain that serves us both. Neither of us is interested in a real marriage about love and all that jazz. We’ve both been burned and we’re on the same page. Our marriage would be a true partnership based on what we need. I think we’ll be quite happy.”
Quite happy? She wasn’t so sure she’d be even close to happy. Comfortable, maybe. Not afraid, like she was almost all the time.
And what would it be like to feel the way she had during the ceremony? Safe. Secure. Cherished. Sure, the man “promising” those things had been drunk off his behind, but here he was, sober as a hurricane, promising those things all over again.
Maybe not to cherish her. But to stand at her side. God, she wanted that. Someone trustworthy at her side, having her back, being there.
But what did Reed Barelli, bachelor, know about living 24/7 with babies? What if she let herself say yes to this crazy idea, moved to that beautiful homestead and breathed for the first time in over seven months, and he couldn’t handle life with triplets after a week? He had no idea what he was in for.
She raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think you want to live with three seven-month-old, teething babies? Are you nuts?”
He smiled. “Insane, remember?”
He had to be. She had to be. But what did she have to lose? If the partnership didn’t work out, he would sign the papers and that would be that.
She could give this a whirl. After all, they were already married. She didn’t have to do anything except move into a beautiful ranch house with floors that didn’t creak or slope and with an oven that worked all the time. Of course, she would be living with Reed Barelli. Man. Gorgeous man. What would that be like?
“Let’s try,” he whispered.
She looked up at him again, trying to read him. If she said, “Yes, let’s try this wild idea of yours,” he’d get his ranch. If she said no, he’d never have the only place that had ever felt like home. Reed wouldn’t marry just to get the ranch; she truly believed that. But because of a big bowl of spiked punch, he had his one chance. He’d been so kind to her, so good to the triplets.
Brody let out a sigh and Norah glanced over at her son. His little bow-shaped mouth was quirking and a hand moved up along his cheek. The partnership would benefit the triplets and that was all she needed to know.
“I was about to say ‘Where do I sign?’ but I guess I’m not signing, after all.” She picked up the papers and put them back in her tote bag.
The relief that crossed Reed’s face didn’t go unnoticed. Keeping that ranch meant everything to him. Even if it meant being awakened at 2:00 a.m. by one, two or three crying babies. And again at 3:00 a.m.
Out of the corner of her eye, Norah caught her mother hurrying back over to her station, pretending to be very busy whisking eggs. She poked her head out of the office. “Did y’all hear this crazy plan of his?”
“What? No, we weren’t eavesdropping,” her mother said. “Okay, we were. And I for one think his crazy plan isn’t all that crazy.”
“Me, too,” Cheyenne said from in front of the oven. “You each get what you need.”
Even if it’s not what we really want, Norah thought. Reed didn’t want to be married. Just as she didn’t. Sure, it felt good and safe. But even a good man like Reed couldn’t be trusted with her stomped-on heart. No one could. It wasn’t up for grabs, hadn’t been since the day after she’d found out she was pregnant and had been kicked to the curb.
Shelby sidled over and took Norah’s hand. “You don’t mind if I borrow your wife, do you?” she asked Reed.
What also didn’t go unnoticed? How Reed swallowed, uncomfortably, at the word wife.
Wife. Norah was someone’s wife. Not just someone’s—this man’s. This handsome, kind, stand-up man.
“Of course,” he said. “I’ll keep an eye on the triplets.”
Shelby gave him a quick smile, then led Norah by the hand to the opposite end of the kitchen. “Don’t forget to figure out the rules.”
“The rules?” Norah repeated.
“Just what kind of marriage will this be?” her sister asked. “He used the word partnership, but you’re also husband and wife. So are you sharing a bedroom?”
Norah felt her face burn. She was hardly a prude, but the thought of having sex with Reed Barelli seemed...sinful in a very good way. They’d hardly worked up to the level of sex. Even if they were married. They weren’t even at the first-kiss stage yet.
Norah pictured Reed in his black boxer briefs. “I guess we’ll need to have a conversation about that.”
“Yeah, you will,” Shelby said. “Been there, done that with my own husband back when we first got together. Remember, Liam and I only got married so we could each have both our babies—the ones we’d raised for six months and the ones who were biologically ours.”
Norah would never forget that time in Shelby’s life. And the fact that all had turned out very well for her sister was a bonus. It wasn’t as if Norah and Reed Barelli were going to fall in love. She had zero interest in romance. Yes, Reed was as hot as a man got, but nice to look at was different than feeling her heart flutter when she was around him. That wasn’t going to happen. Not to a woman who’d been burned. Not to a busy mother of baby triplets. And it certainly wouldn’t happen to Reed. He was even more closed to the concept of love and romance than she was. And as if he’d fall for a woman who’d lost all sex appeal. She smelled like strained apricots and spit-up and baby powder when she wasn’t smelling like chicken pot pie. She wasn’t exactly hot stuff these days.
“No matter what you’re thinking, Norah, don’t forget one thing,” Shelby said.
Norah tilted her head. “What’s that?”
Shelby leaned in and whispered, “He’s a man.”
“Meaning?”
“What’s the statistic about how many times per second men think about sex?” Shelby asked.
Norah let out a snort-laugh and waved a hand down the length of herself. “Oh yeah, I am irresistible.” She was half covered in flour. Her hair was up in a messy bun. She wore faded overalls and yellow Crocs.
“Trust me,” Shelby said. “The issue will arise.” She let out a snort herself. “Get it? Arise.” She covered her mouth with her hand, a cackle still escaping.
“You’re cracking jokes at a time like this?” Norah said, unable to help the smile.
“I’m just saying. You need to be prepared, Norah. Your life is about to change. And I’m not just talking about a change in address.”
That was for sure. She’d be living with a man. Living with Reed Barelli. “Your words of wisdom?” she asked her sister.
“Let what happens happen. Don’t fight it.”
Norah narrowed her eyes. “What’s gonna happen?”
“Let’s see. Newlyweds move in together...”
Norah shook her head. “You can stop right there, sistah. We may be newlyweds, but like Reed said, this is a partnership. No hanky-panky. This isn’t about romance or love. Nothing is arising.”
“We’ll see. But just know this, Norah. It’s nice to be happy. Trust me on that.”
Norah loved that her sister was happy. But the pursuit of happiness wasn’t why Norah was saying yes to Reed’s proposition.
“I’m finally at a good place, Shel,” Norah said. “It took me a long time to bounce back from being abandoned the way I was. Lied to. Made a fool of. I might not be skipping all over town, but I’m not unhappy. And I’m not throwing away my equilibrium when my first and foremost job is to be a good mother. I will not, under any circumstances, fall for a guy who’s made it crystal clear he feels the same way I do—that love is for other people.”
Shelby squeezed her hand. “Well, just know that anytime you need a sitter for an evening out with your husband, I’m available.”
“I no longer need sitters because I’ll have a live-in sitter.”
“Answer for everything, don’t you?” Shelby said with a nudge in Norah’s midsection. She threw her arms around her and squeezed. “Everything’s going to be fine. You’ll see.”
Norah went back into the office and stared hard at her sleeping babies, then at Reed, who leaned against the desk looking a bit...amused, was it?
“Your sister is right,” he said. “Everything is going to be fine.”
Norah wasn’t so sure of that.
And had he heard everything they’d said?
Chapter Seven
Thanks to the Wedlock Creek PD going digital, copies of all the case files were now a click away and on Reed’s smartphone. He was almost glad to have a confounding case to focus on for the next couple of hours while Norah packed for herself and the triplets.
For a while there he’d thought she might say no. The idea was crazy. To stay married? As a business partnership? Nuts. Who did that?
People like him whose wily grandmother had him over a barrel.
People like her who could use a solid place to land.
When he’d left the Pie Diner, the annulment papers back in the envelope, unsigned, the ranch rightfully his after a visit to his grandmother’s attorney, an unfamiliar shot of joy burst inside him to the point he could have been drunk on spiked punch. The ranch was home for real. He’d wake up there every day. Walk the land he’d explored as a child and teenager. Finally adopt a dog or two or three and a couple of black cats that he’d always been partial to. He was going home.
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