A Wife for One Year

by Brenda Harlen

  “You think you can threaten me?”

  “It’s not a threat, Harry, it’s a fact.”

  The other man straightened the front of his shirt. “I guess another fact is that I didn’t have enough zeros in my bank account to get into her pants.”

  Daniel knew he was being baited, but the knowledge didn’t prevent his hands from curling into fists. And although he was really tempted to plant one of those fists into Harry’s face, he knew Kenna wouldn’t thank him for it.

  “There isn’t enough money in the world to compensate for some shortcomings,” he said instead.

  The other man didn’t have a response to that, because he stalked toward the exit.

  Daniel waited until he’d pushed through the front doors before he turned around—and found himself face-to-face with Kenna. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” she replied, keeping her tone carefully neutral.

  “How much of that did you overhear?”

  He looked so guilty, like one of her freshman students caught with his hand in the specimen jar, she wanted to smile. But she didn’t let her lips curve, because she didn’t want him to think that she needed him to ride to her rescue—even though she appreciated the instinct.

  “Enough to be surprised—and relieved—that you didn’t hit him,” she finally responded to his question.

  “I was tempted.” He slowly uncurled his fists. “Old habits.”

  “But what he said wasn’t completely off target,” she reminded him. “I did marry you for your money.”

  He flashed his trademark cocky grin. “Yeah, but you love me for my body.”

  This time, she did smile. “Absolutely.”

  She was still smiling when they went back to her classroom to have their lunch.

  It was only after he’d gone that she finally acknowledged the truth she’d been denying for so long. She did love his body, and his heart and his soul. She loved his gentleness and generosity, his sweetness and sincerity, his passion and his compassion. In fact, she loved everything about him.

  Because she’d done the one thing she promised herself she wouldn’t do when she agreed to this marriage: she’d fallen in love with her husband.

  Chapter Thirteen

  It had always seemed to Kenna that summer passed much too quickly, but this year, it seemed to fly by even quicker than usual.

  She realized that her perception might have less to do with the season than her awareness that every day that passed was one day closer to the end of her one-year agreement with Daniel.

  Since he’d returned from his conference in California, he seemed to be sticking closer to home. Though he still had occasional trips out of town, he was rarely gone for more than one night and never more than two. Even so, she couldn’t help but miss him when he was away, and she vowed to make the most of the time they had together. She wanted to cherish every minute of every hour of every day that she was with him.

  Near the end of August, Becca had another follow-up appointment with Dr. Rakem. After the appointment, Kenna took her shopping to get her new uniform and the supplies that she’d need when she started at Hillfield the following week.

  When they got back to Sue Ellen’s apartment, she was just getting back from work. While Becca went to put her purchases away, Kenna gave her mother a quick update.

  Sue Ellen seemed nervous, as if there was something she wanted to say—or maybe something she was waiting for her daughter to say. And when Kenna pinned Becca’s new physio schedule up on the wall, she finally revealed what was on her mind.

  “I haven’t had a chance to talk to you since that little issue...with the rent,” Sue Ellen said now. “But I wanted you to know that I will pay you back.”

  Kenna had no idea what she was talking about, and she had an uneasy feeling that she didn’t want to know. Of course, that didn’t stop her from asking, “What little issue with the rent?”

  Her mother frowned. “I just assumed... When I saw Phillip after the weekend Becca was with you and he said the rent had been paid, I thought you’d taken care of it.”

  “It was Daniel,” Becca admitted, coming into the kitchen. “He gave the money to Mr. Townsend the day he brought me home.”

  And he’d never mentioned a word about it to Kenna.

  But that was a matter to be discussed with him later. Right now, she had more pressing concerns.

  “Why didn’t you pay your rent?” Kenna asked her mother, her tone carefully devoid of emotion.

  “I was short, because I lent some money to Charles,” Sue Ellen admitted.

  “Charles? The new boyfriend?”

  Her mother nodded. “He promised to take me to Atlantic City, but he said his car wouldn’t make the trip unless he replaced the alternator, and he wasn’t going to get paid until the end of the month, so I loaned him the money.”

  “And where is Charles now?” Kenna asked her.

  Sue Ellen’s eyes filled. “I don’t know.”

  “You haven’t seen him since you gave him the money, have you?”

  She shook her head, tears tracking slowly down her cheeks.

  Kenna sighed. “You’ve got to stop falling for every story you hear.”

  “I have a generous and trusting heart,” Sue Ellen protested.

  Kenna wondered which TV talk show had given her mother that particular catchphrase. “That’s great, except when your landlord wants actual money.”

  “And now he’s been paid.”

  “Because Daniel paid him.”

  “I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of this—it’s not as if a few dollars means anything to a Garrett.”

  “It should mean something to you,” Kenna said quietly. “Especially when it’s the difference between keeping a roof over your head or sleeping in the back of a 2003 Chevy Cavalier.”

  “I made a mistake,” Sue Ellen said. “I thought I was helping out a man who genuinely cared about me.”

  “Why don’t you focus on helping the daughter who genuinely cares about and depends on you?” she suggested.

  Then she kissed her mother’s cheek and walked out the door.

  * * *

  Daniel had dinner in the oven when Kenna got home. Granted it was a tray of lasagna from Valentino’s, but she had enough experience with his cooking attempts to be grateful he’d chosen takeout. And really, no one made lasagna like Valentino’s. He’d also picked up a green salad and some crusty bread, and he had candles on the table and a bottle of wine breathing.

  However, his plans for a romantic evening with his wife seemed in imminent danger of derailment when she walked through the door and he saw her face.

  He tipped her chin up, kissed her lightly. “Crappy day?”

  “How could you tell?”

  “You get a little ridge—” he touched the spot between her brows “—right here when you’re worried about something.”

  “I don’t know that I’m worried so much as baffled and frustrated,” she admitted.

  He poured her a glass of wine. “Becca?”

  She shook her head. “Sue Ellen.”

  “Oh.”

  She lifted the glass to her lips, sipped. “That’s all you’re going to say?”

  “What else is there to say?”

  “You could tell me why you paid her rent,” she suggested.

  “It wasn’t for her—it was for Becca. And...for you.”

  “For me?”

  He shrugged. “I knew that if they got evicted, you’d worry about finding them another place, helping with first and last months’ rent, maybe inviting them to move in here.”

  She smiled at that. “As if.”

  “Anyway, it wasn’t a big deal.”

  “It was,” she insisted. “Maybe no
t the amount, but the result.”

  “When I took Becca home the day she broke up with Todd, there was a ‘final notice’ on the door.”

  “Final notice,” she echoed, shaking her head. “So it wasn’t just one month that she didn’t pay.”

  “It was three,” he admitted. “And Becca started to cry—again—because she thought they would be evicted.”

  “If she’d told me, I would have taken care of it.”

  “Now you don’t have to.”

  “They’re my family—my responsibility.”

  He reached for her hand, linked their fingers together. “They’re my family, too, now—remember?”

  “For better or for worse,” she agreed.

  “Richer or poorer.”

  She managed a smile at that.

  “You’re not alone anymore, Kenna.”

  Maybe not, but she didn’t want to get used to him being around, because then she might start expecting that he always would be. And while she hoped he would always be her friend, she didn’t want to count on anything more. Because when their twelve-month marriage was over, they would each go back to their own lives.

  “If Sue Ellen doesn’t pay you back, I will,” she promised.

  “It wasn’t really a loan so much as an investment,” he told her.

  “An investment in what?”

  “Ensuring that your mother and your sister don’t end up on the doorstep. If they moved in here, we wouldn’t be able to have sex in the middle of the kitchen whenever we wanted.”

  “We’ve never had sex in the kitchen.”

  “A definite oversight,” he said, and drew her into his arms.

  She laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  He responded by unzipping her dress.

  “Daniel,” she protested, albeit weakly, as he peeled the garment off her body.

  “Yes?” He’d kicked off his pants and was sheathing himself with a condom.

  “We are not... Oh.” Her eyes closed on a sigh of pure pleasure.

  “We are not what?” he prompted.

  She wrapped her legs around him. “We are definitely not letting my mother and my sister move in.”

  “Good answer,” he said, and began to move inside her.

  * * *

  “I think I forgot to thank you,” she said, a long while later as they enjoyed the last of the wine after dinner had been eaten and dishes cleared away.

  “For what?”

  “For turning my crappy day into something infinitely less crappy.”

  He smiled. “I’d say it was a mutual effort.”

  When she fell asleep in his arms later that night, Kenna realized that she’d completely lost track of the number of days they’d been married.

  And maybe that was for the best, because every day that passed was one day closer to the end of their marriage, and she was no longer anxious for it to be over.

  * * *

  Daniel finished up a project he was working on and skipped out of the office early to meet Nate at the Bar Down Sports Bar.

  It was a fairly regular meeting place for the brothers if they wanted to have a beer and catch a game, so he wasn’t surprised by the invitation. However, he was surprised when Nate said they had business to discuss.

  Daniel arrived first and took a seat in a booth. It was fairly early in the afternoon, so there was only one waitress working the floor with Chelsea, the bartender, helping out.

  He’d dated Chelsea, briefly, a few years earlier. They’d had some good times together, but neither of them had wanted anything more and when they’d parted, it had been on good terms.

  “Hey, handsome. I haven’t seen you around here in a long time.” She put a glass of his usual draft beer on the coaster in front of him. “But I guess you have good reason to stick close to home these days.”

  “Obviously you heard that Kenna and I got married.”

  She nodded. “Congratulations,” she said sincerely. “It took the two of you longer than I expected to realize that you belong together, but I’m glad you finally did.”

  He’d heard similar comments from other people over the past couple of months, and he never quite knew what to say. Everyone seemed to agree that he and Kenna had been headed toward the altar for a long time, and it made him wonder what they’d say if he confessed that he and Kenna were faking their marriage.

  Except that he wasn’t so sure they were faking it anymore.

  “You really weren’t surprised to hear about our wedding?”

  “It was obvious, even back in high school, that the two of you had a special connection,” she told him. “The only surprising part was that you got hitched in Vegas—I can’t imagine your mom was too happy about that.”

  “She wasn’t,” he admitted, as Nate came into the bar and slid into the booth across from him.

  Chelsea gestured to Daniel’s glass.

  “Same?” she asked Nate.

  “Please.”

  “You guys going to want food or just drinks?”

  “Just drinks,” Nate said.

  She nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

  When she’d gone, Nate reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a letter-size envelope with the Garrett Furniture logo in the corner. He passed it across the table to Daniel.

  “What’s this?” he asked.

  “Take a look.”

  Daniel opened the flap and pulled out a check from Garrett Furniture payable to Garrett/Slater Racing.

  “That’s enough for an associate sponsorship, isn’t it?” Nate asked.

  “Yes. It is.” He didn’t know what else to say. Kenna had suggested that he ask the company for a sponsorship, but he’d been reluctant to use his family connections for the benefit of GSR. And maybe a part of him had feared that, family connections notwithstanding, they would have turned down his request. That Nate had gone to the board of his own initiative—because he needed the approval of the board for any significant expense—proved that he had faith in what Daniel was doing. The realization left him stunned, humbled and moved.

  Nate nodded his thanks to Chelsea for the beer she set in front of him. “Okay, that concludes our business portion of the meeting.”

  “I wish all my meetings were that quick—and lucrative,” Daniel remarked.

  “You mean like your marriage?”

  While he’d hoped most people would accept that his friendship with Kenna had grown into something more, he knew it was likely his brothers would suspect the truth about their marriage. But until now, they’d kept their thoughts and opinions to themselves. Probably because it was really none of their business, which is what he said to Nate now.

  “My marriage to Kenna is between her and me.”

  “Except that when you married her, you made her my sister-in-law,” Nate pointed out.

  “That doesn’t mean you have to assume the role of protective big brother.”

  “Someone needs to look out for her. You used to be that someone—until you took her to Las Vegas and married her because what you wanted was suddenly more important than your best friend.”

  Daniel scowled, unwilling to admit that it might be true but unable to deny it.

  “Kenna and I were both clear on our reasons for getting married.”

  “So what was the deal? How long do you intend to keep up the pretense? Three months? Six? How long do you think you can play at being husband and wife before one or both of you starts to think it’s for real?”

  “We’ve been doing just fine so far,” Daniel said.

  His brother narrowed his gaze. “You’re sleeping with her, aren’t you?”

  “Butt out, Nate.”

  “You are.” He shook his head in disgust. �
��Ten years of friendship in jeopardy because you couldn’t resist screwing your wife.”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “So how is it?”

  He scowled into his empty glass. “I’m not having this conversation with you.”

  “She was more than halfway in love with you before you married her,” Nate warned. “You don’t think sharing your name, your home and your bed have tipped the scales further?”

  “Kenna knows me too well to fall in love with me.”

  His brother lifted his beer. “Well, I hope when all is said and done, the sex was worth it.”

  “Dammit, Nate, you know she means a lot more to me than a warm body in my bed.”

  “Does she?”

  “Of course she does.”

  “Then maybe I was wrong,” his brother allowed. “Maybe she’s not the only one who’s more than halfway in love.”

  He scowled. “It’s a long way from caring for somebody to falling in love.”

  “If you say so.” Nate finished his beer and put some money on the table.

  “I know so,” he confirmed.

  But he worried over the possibility for a long time after Nate had gone.

  Yes, he had feelings for Kenna. He’d even acknowledge that they were strong feelings that had grown even stronger and deeper over the past few months. But as he’d told his brother, it was a big leap from that to wanting to spend the rest of his life with her.

  Their agreement had been for twelve months, and that was a lot longer than any other relationship he’d had. So why was he suddenly thinking that it wasn’t long enough to really give their marriage a chance?

  Why was he even thinking about giving their marriage a chance? And a chance for what? To make it real, as Nate had suggested?

  He shook his head, refusing to consider the possibility.

  He wasn’t looking for anything real. His marriage to Kenna was simply a means to an end for both of them, and at the end of the year, they would go back to their own lives.

  Except that suddenly the life he had before Kenna no longer seemed so appealing. The idea of going to sleep alone and waking up without her wasn’t at all alluring. The prospect of sitting down at the table for dinner with only an empty chair across from him was unpalatable.