by R. J. Groves
‘You haven’t seen him in years. You can’t just come back for a month and decide you love each other enough to get married.’
She tried not to flinch at the mention of love. In order to get Robbie on board, they had to look the part. Even if they weren’t. Were they? They couldn’t be. She couldn’t fall for Shannon. Not if they had an end date.
‘Love has no bounds, Robbie, and it comes whenever the hell it wants.’
She plopped her hand on Shannon’s and squeezed it, hoping he got the silent message. They hadn’t really talked about the extent of what they might have to say to Robbie, but she was sure he understood all her talk of love was just that—talk. Wasn’t it? His body tensed beside her and then he squeezed her hand back. She tried to ignore the fire the contact sent up her arm and to her belly.
‘I should know,’ she continued, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible, ‘because one of my friends just got married and they haven’t known each other all that long, and now Harley and Joey are engaged and they’ve really only had a grand total of a couple of weeks of physically seeing each other over a year.’
‘Kid, just because your friends are crazy enough to do that doesn’t mean you are.’
‘Stop calling me kid!’ She hadn’t expected herself to yell it, but there it was. Him calling her kid had been getting on her nerves since she’d come back to the farm, but bringing it up now hadn’t been on her agenda.
‘Jan—’
‘I’m thirty-two, Robbie. I haven’t been a kid in a very long time, and I make my own decisions.’ Shannon squeezed her hand and she looked his way, his expression unreadable but somehow making her whole body tingle. She swallowed. ‘Shannon and I are getting married. End of story.’ She trained her focus back on her brother, noticing the twitch in his jaw. ‘We were hoping for your approval, but it will be happening with or without it.’
Robbie stared between them for a few moments, then rose to his feet, leaning into the table for support. Jannette hoped he would come around. Her brother’s opinion on who she married did matter to her, even if it was a faux marriage, legitimate only on paper. For the first time since they’d come up with the whole idea, she realised how much their marriage might affect Shannon’s relationship with Robbie when they inevitably went their separate ways. The thought of an almost lifelong friendship going to shambles over a ridiculous plot that really might not be the only option for them made her stomach twist in knots. But it was too late now. They were already committed to it. Not only had it gone beyond the point of a joke with Robbie, but they’d already filled out the notice of intended marriage form and lodged it with the courthouse. A month from now, they would be married. Robbie surprised her by waving a finger towards Shannon again.
‘We need to talk. Now. My office.’
Shannon sighed beside her and rose to his feet, giving her hand one last squeeze before letting go. Jannette felt his absence immediately, and felt herself clutching at straws. ‘You don’t have to leave the room to talk,’ she said. ‘I’m just as much a part of this decision as Shannon is.’
Robbie’s gaze turned on her and it sent a shiver down her spine. ‘I’m not sure you want to hear what I have to say, Jannette.’ And with that, Robbie left the room.
Shannon squeezed her shoulder and started following him. ‘Shan?’ She wasn’t entirely sure what she was asking, but when he turned to face her and she saw that look in his eyes, she felt like she didn’t need to. He already knew what she was thinking, even if she didn’t.
‘Do you trust me, Jenny?’ His voice was steady, unwavering, calming, and the twang in his voice did things to her she didn’t want to acknowledge for long. It was then that she realised that was the first thing he’d said since she’d opened her mouth to tell Robbie they were getting married.
She nodded, knowing she didn’t even need to think about his question. She’d always trusted him, even when they were kids. And he’d never given her a reason not to. ‘Yes, I do.’
A smile flickered on his face, but it was gone as quickly as it came. ‘It’ll be okay.’
She watched him leave and rested back against her chair, forcing her body to relax. Would it?
***
Robbie was already standing behind his desk, his hands pressing into it, by the time Shannon closed the office door behind him. If Shannon was being honest with himself, the whole conversation at the table had gone about as well as he’d expected it would—possibly better. He’d even expected that Robbie would want to talk to him by himself. Really, he’d been waiting for this talk ever since Robbie had seen Shannon and Jannette sitting on the top of the steps staring at her spilled luggage. The fact that it had taken this long to come around only meant that Shannon had already thought about what he might say.
‘What happened to staying away from my little sister?’
Shannon made his way over to the window and looked out at the farm spread out before him. Soon, it would be his. And Jannette’s. Legally, at least. The two of them would make a good pair, he thought. ‘Strictly speaking, you never told me to.’ Shannon turned towards his friend, his arms folded across his chest.
‘Maybe I should have. Figured it was a given.’
‘I’m not sure it would have made a difference.’
Robbie’s jaw twitched, his eyes raging, even if he was keeping his cool. Shannon noticed Robbie’s knuckles were white as he pressed harder into the desk. ‘There’s more to it, isn’t there?’
Shannon pressed his lips together. Robbie had always been perceptive, sure, but as far as Shannon knew, Robbie had no idea about the pictures or the letter. He may have mentioned the inheritance years before when he’d first heard about it himself, but surely Robbie wouldn’t think Shannon was playing Jannette just to get at the money. Would he? Sure, he would be getting the money because of their marriage, but he wasn’t the only one benefiting.
‘That’s between me and Jenny.’
‘Right. Sure.’ Robbie lowered himself into his desk chair, propping his bad leg up on the stool next to him. ‘How far along is she?’
It took Shannon a second to realise what Robbie meant, but when he did, he almost laughed. ‘You don’t think she’d marry me unless I’d knocked her up?’ Robbie shrugged in answer, and Shannon felt the frustration growing inside him. ‘Jenny’s not pregnant. She’s marrying me from her own free will, so you might want to get on board with it.’
Robbie shook his head slowly and sighed. ‘She doesn’t belong here. She belongs in the city, chasing her big life.’
Shannon smiled as he thought of the Jannette he’d come to know over the past weeks. ‘I’m not sure which Jenny you’re talking about, but the one out there at the dining table looks a lot more at home here than she probably feels in the city.’ In fact, he knew she did. But he wasn’t about to tell Robbie about her stalker situation. That was for Jannette to decide when or if she told him.
‘I trusted you, Shannon. I thought she was safe with you.’
‘She is.’ Safer than you know. ‘And I will look after her. Always. That’s a promise.’ Always. When Robbie didn’t say anything further, Shannon stood straighter. ‘We’ll be married in a month at the courthouse. We’d love for you to be there, if you can bear it.’
Robbie scoffed then. ‘At the courthouse? You’re not even going to give her a big wedding?’
‘If you asked Jenny, you might find she doesn’t want a big wedding.’
He loosened his hold across his chest and ran a hand through his hair. He’d expected Robbie to be disagreeable, but if it had been Robbie and Sylvie telling Shannon they were getting married, he would have been happy for them. Robbie was a bit more stubborn than him though.
‘And if it doesn’t work out?’
Shannon knew what Robbie was asking without needing to clarify. Both of them had spent their school years as outcasts compared to the rest of their class. They’d mostly kept to themselves, not that it was all that hard since everyone was too cliquey and well
-set in their little groups to include a farmer’s son and a country hick. For many years, Robbie and Shannon had been the only friend the other had, and that friendship had carried on past school.
‘Our friendship means a lot to me, Robbie. Nothing has to change between us.’
Shannon could see a tic in Robbie’s jaw. It looked as though he wanted to believe him—hell, even Shannon wanted to believe it—but knew what would be inevitable should Shannon and Jannette’s marriage end—or rather, when it ended, since they’d already agreed on that. But Robbie didn’t know that. And the more Shannon thought of it, the more he questioned whether it really would need to end.
But yes, it would.
By the time Jannette’s stalker situation was resolved, she would probably want to go back to her city life. And Shannon wouldn’t be able to stop her.
‘You and I both know that’s not true,’ Robbie said, breaking the silence.
In normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be. But these weren’t normal circumstances. Even so, he wasn’t sure it would be any better. If they told Robbie the reasons for them getting married after they ended it, would he still want to be friends with Shannon?
He forced a smile, knowing he already had his answer. By marrying Jannette like this, he was giving up on his friendship with Robbie. But he couldn’t leave her to figure it out on her own. He felt it deep within him—the need to protect her. And that meant marrying her, if only for the assurance that she would be where he could keep an eye on her and be there within minutes. And hopefully her change of name and living with Shannon might throw her stalker off. His thoughts drifted to the other reasons why a marriage would suit her.
Financial stability.
Keeping her childhood home.
Maybe she’d pursue her dreams of having a baby, and having a roof over her head, money in the bank, and someone to look after them both would certainly be a comforting thought. He imagined Jannette with a small child tagging along behind her, complete with tiny blonde pigtails and those baby blues.
Jannette would make a great mother. He didn’t know if he could be more sure of anything than he was of that. A strange pang of jealousy surged through him at the thought that the child might have no resemblance to him. He tried to push the thought aside, but another child—a boy a little older than the girl—made his way into the image. Brown hair, green eyes, and an Akubra hat of his own. A lump formed at the base of his throat.
‘Do you love her?’
Something had shifted in Robbie’s voice. Almost like he was close to being on board with the whole ordeal. Shannon could still see the image of Jannette with two kids—his kids—clearly, and he tried his best to swallow through that lump. Do you love her? He knew Jannette had only said they were in love to convince Robbie. Surely she didn’t really love him. But that’s not what Robbie was asking, was it? As he processed the idea alongside the image his mind had conjured up, his heart swelled.
‘Shannon, do you love my sister?’
Shannon looked up at his best friend, his mind running wild as he fought to process what it all meant, his mouth working, but no words escaping. The way his body responded when she looked at him with those baby blues. The way her smile made his whole world brighten. How he would do anything in his power to protect her.
And the way he’d watched her from the sidelines all those years ago …
‘I think I always have.’
Chapter 11
‘We need to lay some ground rules.’
Jannette waited for Shannon to respond as he settled into his seat on the porch. They’d made it a habit this past week now that they were officially engaged to be married—and with Robbie’s blessing, which had surprised her. She still had absolutely no idea what Shannon had told him behind those study doors to win him over, and when she’d asked, all he’d give her was that he’d said what he needed to. What exactly that was, Shannon wouldn’t say. And she had a feeling she might never know. She supposed that was what he meant by asking if she trusted him.
Still, she’d noticed he was even quieter through the remainder of their dinner, and she’d caught him watching her on occasion, something different in his gaze. Had Robbie said something to him that made him question his proposition? He was, after all, the one who first made the suggestion. Chances are, he could just as easily change his mind.
The week following the dinner had been weird. Even though they’d made a habit of having a cup of tea on his porch of an evening—in part to keep convincing Robbie they were in love and in part to discuss if there’d been any advancement on either of their situations—their daytime encounters had felt different. Like Shannon was evasive, or hiding something from her. She wasn’t sure what to make of it, but she kept reminding herself of what he’d asked at the dinner.
Do you trust me, Jenny?
That’s all she had to do. Trust him. But that didn’t mean they didn’t need to talk about things. While they had to act the part of a happily engaged couple around Robbie and they’d fumbled their way around that whenever they’d needed to, they should probably come up with a plan so it was easier in the future. But how did you pretend you were in love without agreeing on boundaries first?
‘Okay,’ he said slowly, sipping his tea. ‘And what kind of rules would they be?’
‘Just for how we should act around other people, and boundaries for when we’re married.’
Her heart skipped a beat at the thought that she’d be married in a few short weeks. Realistically, the boundaries in their marriage were probably already set, but unless they were spoken out loud so that it was clear, Jannette wasn’t sure the boundaries would be kept. It wasn’t him she didn’t trust. She wasn’t sure she could trust herself with him. He was, after all, not only kind and sweet and generous but also incredibly handsome. The time she’d spent at the farm had only confirmed that more—along with the fact that she still had feelings for him. She didn’t know if she could trust herself to not fall completely for him without proper boundaries.
She was sure she could see his eyebrow shoot up in the dim light and a hint of a smile trace his lips, though she could have been seeing things. ‘Reasonable. And you have a list?’ He directed his gaze to the folded paper she’d put on the table between them.
‘I do,’ she said, feeling ridiculous she’d even written a list. What happened to talking it out and deciding on it together? Her list had started off as talking points but had ended up almost more like a rulebook.
‘Well, let’s hear it then.’
She cleared her throat and picked up the piece of paper. ‘Well,’ she started, a shake in her voice, ‘I thought we could talk about how we act in front of other people first, you know, so we’re clear.’
‘Naturally.’
‘I’m thinking very little on the public displays of affection thing. I’m sure we won’t see all that many people who really know us or would even know if we’re the kind of people who are into that kind of thing.’
‘So basically no making out in front of anyone.’ He said it so matter of factly that Jannette wasn’t sure how to continue. The thought of making out with Shannon …
She cleared her throat again. ‘Especially no making out in front of anyone. Perhaps an occasional hand hold or embrace if the need calls for it.’
‘Kissing?’
She swallowed as the heat swelled in her belly at the thought of his lips against hers. She licked her lips. She could still taste him from their almost-kiss that seemed like an eternity ago.
‘Cheek only,’ she said, trying to keep her voice as steady as she could.
‘And when did we fall in love?’
Jannette tried to relax. She’d thought about this. They needed to get their stories straight from the start so no one got any mixed signals. It was only natural. ‘When I came back to the farm and we saw each other again after seventeen years. It was like love at first re-sight.’
‘Doesn’t really sound long enough,’ he said, surprising her. ‘Wh
at if we had always felt something for each other but had never acted on it until now? Like we’d written it off as a childish crush until we’d met again and realised it was so much more?’
He looked at her then, an intensity passing in the space between them that made Jannette feel like her body wasn’t even hers. Had he known she’d had a mad crush on him when they were kids? That she still did? Is that what Robbie told him in his office? She’d never told Robbie of her crush, of course, but he would have known. She tried to talk, only a squeak escaping, before she cleared her throat again. ‘D—do you think we could pass that off?’
‘Sounds a bit more convincing than love at first re-sight, don’t you think?’
She swallowed again, trying her best to get the butterflies in her stomach under control and hoping he couldn’t hear her heart pounding in her chest. ‘Okay, childhood crush turned something more. Um …’ She paused as she continued trying to read the sheet in the dim lighting. Each of her points seemed to blur into a mess. Eventually another point became clearer. ‘No sex.’ His eyebrow shot up. ‘And no dates,’ she hurried to add.
‘No dates? How am I supposed to know what your favourite food is?’
‘My mum’s chicken soup.’
His lips curved into a grin. ‘Expensive tastes.’
She smiled back. ‘Very. And yours?’
He paused for a very brief moment before tearing his gaze away and staring down at the cup in his hands. ‘Your mum’s chicken soup.’
The smile stayed on her face, though she wasn’t sure what to think. ‘Seriously though.’
‘I’m very serious.’ The tone in his voice showed he was. ‘Her chicken soup was the first meal I had here.’ He looked at her again and her heart pounded harder. His eyes were darker, even in the dim lighting, and she could feel the pull between them. ‘It’s where I met you.’
