by Zoe York
“You’re very beautiful, Lily…” Harper? Mattson? Which name would she take? Even though he knew it made sense for her to keep her own name, given the nature of their commitment, he found himself wishing she’d take his, accept it as part of the deal. She was part of the clan now—officially—and in his heart that’s where she would always belong: as a Mattson.
He slowly lowered his lips to his wife’s, brushing them in a teasing manner. She opened her mouth and he consumed it with his own, their kiss full of desperation.
Her hands, which had been flat against his chest, rose up, swooping around his neck, locking him closer. They paused momentarily to come up for air, then dipped into the kiss again, forgetting their surroundings.
The judge eventually cleared his throat, bringing them back to the present.
“Well,” he said, “I hope you two have a nice long honeymoon planned, away from prying eyes.”
Ethan gazed upon the flushed woman wearing his rings, his own glinting fresh and new, and hoped it took a long time for them to convince his business partners that Lily was the new owner.
From across the engagement/just-got-married party, Lily could see Ethan eyeing his family with reservation. He was pulling back, putting up walls around himself, no hint of a smile in place. She kind of got it—the party was overwhelming, filled with people who were stunned and excited for them, while chastising them for rushing in without allowing them to be present.
And upset.
Members of his family were definitely upset, but desperately trying not to show it.
Lily watched from her spot with Mandy, where they were setting out appetizers. Ethan’s father, Cory, had pulled him aside from where he’d been chatting with his grandfather.
As the men passed her, Ethan’s dad collected her, herding the newlyweds toward his kitchen. She gathered up a few dirty plates as she went, making herself useful. Her brother, Moe, caught her eye as she passed, giving her a subtle thumbs up of solidarity. She wondered if he and Amy still had their marriage pledge to get married when Amy hit thirty if they were both still single. If so, what a messed up family they were when it came to marriage. Her mother had only married her father because she was pregnant with Moe. Then she’d stayed around long enough to have Lily, but left soon after. Every few years she remembered Lily’s birthday and sent a card, but, overall, motherhood really didn’t seem to be her mom’s thing.
In the kitchen, Ethan’s shoulders slumped and he didn’t look up as Lily placed the dishes in the sink. She went to his side, unsure what her momentary role was. She wanted to hook her arm through his, express solidarity, but felt he wouldn’t appreciate her touch.
“Sorry, Dad,” Ethan muttered.
“You couldn’t even have us stand as witnesses? You had to run away? And today—after we’d talked?”
“I told you we were eloping. I told you we were getting married today.”
“You know how important a wedding was to Trish. Are you ashamed to have us stand up for you after all we’ve done? Is that what this stunt was about?”
Lily felt her mouth pop open and Ethan stiffened at her side.
“Mr. Mattson—”
“Dad.” Ethan interrupted her, his voice firm. “We said we didn’t want a fuss, didn’t want to burden you with parties and expenses.”
“We’re family, Ethan! Family.”
Cory attempted to stare down Ethan, who had looked up, his expression stony.
Her new father-in-law turned to her and she mustered a weak smile, feeling ashamed for the way they’d shut out Ethan’s family.
Mandy slipped into the kitchen for more cream for the coffee and, grateful for the interruption, Lily pulled it out of the fridge, as well as a plate of cream puffs. She handed them to Mandy, wishing she could join her friend with food prep rather than be stuck in here with two volcanoes about to erupt.
“I hope you’re up to the task of standing up to this man,” Cory said to Lily, after his daughter returned to the living room.
“I—I am,” Lily stammered.
“We know what we’re doing, Dad.”
“Well, you two sure don’t look happy.”
“Maybe because you’re chewing us out for doing what we wanted.”
“How do you think I felt, hearing the news from my friend in Derbyshire?” His father’s voice was low, humiliated.
“I’m so sorry,” Lily whispered.
Cory’s shoulders fell as he took in her expression. He held out his arms, pulling her into an embrace. “Aw, I’m sorry, Lily. I just wanted to see you in a dress. You’ve always been like a daughter to us and always will be.” He laughed and held her out in front of him. “And now you are! It’s wonderful to have you as part of our family, and you will always be welcome here even if you and my son ran away together. We are truly happy for you.” He gave a sigh and a sad smile.
Lily knew they were forgiven and that he was only expressing his well-earned disappointment.
“We’re so sorry,” she stressed.
“It’s called eloping,” Ethan snapped.
“Ethan,” she chided.
His frown softened as he glanced at her. He tugged at his ear. “Sorry, Dad.”
“We love you, Son. And we just want to be a bigger part of your life, is all. Ever since your accident—”
“I know, I know,” Ethan interrupted.
“—you push us aside. Things are different for you now and it’s okay to—”
“I’m happy. Okay? Let’s not have a fight just because we see things differently.”
The men stared at each other, shoulders stiff, fixed in what appeared to be an ongoing battle.
“I should call my dad,” Lily said quietly, patting her thighs for her phone. No pockets. She was still in her suit from their morning meeting to sign their prenuptial agreement. Wow. Things had moved fast. Engaged to married in less than twenty-four hours. No wonder everyone’s heads were spinning.
But her father still didn’t know she’d wed or even gotten engaged.
Lily glanced around, trying to recall where she’d left her phone. Ethan pulled it off the top of the microwave, where she’d set it while arranging a plate of cheese earlier, and handed it to her. Her father was going to be delighted to hear she was working on owning a place, thrilled that her new man was Ethan. But he would also start applying pressure, thinking she had enough money to help him. And she didn’t. Not yet.
As for her mother? Lily didn’t even know where to find her. Her aunts, uncles and cousins might possibly take a passing interest though, as would her old classmates and friends from the city when they saw her post a line or two about her new relationship status on social media.
Ethan left the kitchen with her, acting like a bodyguard as he cleared a path through the roomful of people who felt more like family than those related to her by blood. Lily smiled in a daze, taking hands that reached out as she passed, accepting everyone’s congratulations.
It was good to be back in Blueberry Springs again, back at home with the Mattsons.
Ethan set her up in Mandy’s childhood bedroom—not his own—and Lily sat on the edge of the bed. She glanced at her phone, noting and discarding a text message from Tanner. He had regrets. Should have given her more credit in the kitchen. Blah, blah, blah.
What would it take to get rid of him? A message saying she’d married Ethan?
“Want me to stay?” Ethan asked, one hand on the doorknob.
Her new husband. A whole new life. A fresh start.
This was going to work.
“I’m okay,” she said. Her voice lacked the perky confidence she’d expected it to have, and for a second Ethan’s usual shields seemed to come down. She found herself giving him a soft smile. Ethan was always there for her. The guy looking at her now, unguarded, ready to sweep in and help if she gave the word, was the one she’d always had a crush on. He was also the man who had kissed her on the side of the road—word of which had made it back to Blueberry Springs a
lready. And then the tender “I do” kiss. Toe-curling and real.
“Really,” she said more firmly.
And just like that, his shields went up again, their little connection breaking. She smiled in relief as he left her to deal with her dad. She and her husband had a business agreement, and she knew it wasn’t safe for either of them to ever let it feel like something more, for even one tantalizing second.
“I hope nobody gave you too much grief,” Ethan said, unlocking his front door. His phone app had triggered the lights when they’d drawn close, giving the place a welcoming feel. Well, as much as the empty house could.
Maybe Lily would add a few things to liven up the place. Although, hopefully, not with those cheesy Keep Hanging in There cat posters she’d liked in high school. He’d begun giving her one for each birthday before she moved away, partly because he’d loved her delighted reaction.
“Everyone was fine.” Lily looked nervous and had both hands on her suitcase’s handle, as if she was an orphan worried that one wrong word would find her turfed out of her new home.
“How did your dad take the news?”
“He asked if you’re wealthy.”
“Wealthy? Really?” Ethan closed and locked the door after them. He hadn’t seen Mr. Harper in years and the comment surprised him.
“Sorry.” She tried to brush off the subject, which told him there was something there. “He’s just looking to retire and was hoping I’d found a sugar daddy in my new husband.” She gave a laugh.
Husband.
Wife.
Would he ever get used to those words in relation to the two of them?
He had a wife. Was married.
His gaze slipped from Lily to his ring finger.
The gold band felt surprisingly comfortable and he liked the style she’d chosen.
“How much does he need?” he asked.
“Don’t give him a dime.”
He bet Lily would, though.
“We’ll set you up in the guestroom,” Ethan said.
Lily hauled her suitcase into the room and Ethan hovered in the doorway, feeling awkward. He should have carried her bag. Should have had flowers or a welcome sign or something.
“I made the bed for you.”
He couldn’t figure out what to do with his hands. They felt loose and in the way.
“There are towels in the bathroom. Do you take long showers? I don’t have a real schedule…so I…can shower whenever. And I sleep on the right side of the bed.”
“What?” Lily looked up, eyes wide.
“In case—in case anyone asks. You know, like in the movie where they get married for a green card? Never mind. I’m going to go do some work.”
As he backed away, she said calmly, “If anyone asks, I expect you to stare them down, implying that it’s inappropriate of them to think of your wife in such an intimate setting.” She rested a hand on the bed, leaning forward, eyebrow raised.
“Right.”
“Although maybe I shouldn’t live out of a suitcase.”
He looked around the room. No bureau. “What if we have overnight guests?”
“Ethan?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re freaking out.”
Definitely.
She moved closer, wrapping her arms around him. He froze, unsure what to do.
She’d looked happy when they’d said “I do.” And yet he knew she was here for only one reason.
He knew so little about adult Lily and yet had promised her everything. Everything but the one thing that would make their marriage real.
“Hug me back,” she said, snuggling closer. “I don’t bite.”
“Fine.” He hugged her loosely, not wanting his body to take a hike down Wrong Way to Think about Your Wife Boulevard.
“Closer,” she said, leaning against him. She was warm, felt right. In the back of his mind he felt a glimmer of hope. One that said, Hey, man. Maybe this could work. Just go with it and see.
He watched her, noting the small smile on her face, the lashes resting on her cheeks as she leaned against him, eyes closed. He wanted to brush that stray strand of hair off her cheek, wrap his arms around her soul and never let go.
What a quandary. How was he going to act like they were happy newlyweds when he was afraid to touch her, afraid to give in to that spark he felt every time their skin brushed, afraid that the next time their lips met he’d be unable to pull away until he’d satisfied them both?
He was going to have a difficult time being a gentleman, and only hoped she became like his sister had during her first year in business. Mandy had been stressed, snarly, and nobody ever saw her unless they stopped by her café.
Then again, he’d just handed Lily, an expert in the food industry, two complete, fully-staffed businesses that he ran on the side of his new web venture.
He only hoped for her sake that the string of back luck that had followed him since putting them on the market would wane. No more unexplained failing refrigeration units. No more shipments going rotten for no apparent reason. None of it.
“That feels nice,” she murmured, a contented smile still on her lips.
“What does?”
“The back rub.”
His hand stopped moving. Without realizing it, he’d been stroking soft circles onto her back, soothing her as though it would settle his own mind.
In some ways it had. He felt calm, less freaked out.
But it was time to let go of his wife. And yet he knew that when he did he was going to be struck by loneliness, and the fact that this was going to be a very long year.
Chapter 6
“Will you show me around the restaurant today?” Lily leaned against the small breakfast table in Ethan’s kitchen. It was a three-bedroom house—one for each of them plus an office for Ethan—but the kitchen was minuscule. A galley affair with a dented electric stove that nobody had even bothered to level. For someone in the food business Ethan lacked most of the tools she considered basics.
However, according to the storage company, they could have her belongings here within a few days to a week, and then she’d be able to really cook up something good. In the meantime, she supposed she’d suffer through Ethan’s overdone scrambled eggs.
He pushed back from the table, blinking twice. “Right. I should probably introduce you to your staff. Transition you in.”
She nodded slowly, wondering if his plan had been to just dump the businesses on her and go his merry way. Her father had been happy to hear she’d married Ethan and had asked when she’d own the restaurant outright. Despite his lack of financial stability, he was determined that she would be the first in the family to be fully independent, no longer worrying about being the expendable one on the factory floor or the girlfriend about to get kicked out of a kitchen. Even Moe worked for someone else, though everyone thought he owned the pub he managed.
Lily poked at her eggs.
“Do you normally cook yourself breakfast?” she asked. How could a man in charge of a restaurant and a catering business dry out eggs so badly?
“I usually get an egg off Leif’s grill—the few benefits of owning a restaurant.” He looked at his own untouched plate. “You don’t have to eat these. I kind of forgot about them in the pan.”
“So you don’t cook?”
He wrinkled his nose in reply.
He avoided cooking, but had made her breakfast. That was sweet.
“How do you manage the catering if you aren’t into cooking?”
“Lots of sandwiches,” he said, eyes twinkling.
“Does your staff know I’m taking over?”
He shook his head. “Although if they have two brain cells clicking around in their heads they’ll have figured it out by now.”
“We’ll have to act as though we’re newlyweds,” she reminded him.
He stood, dumping his eggs into the trash. “We should go. I have a lot to do today.”
“Ethan?”
“Nobody expe
cts affection from me.” His glance took in her jeans and sweatshirt once again, as he had when she’d left her bedroom earlier, and she still couldn’t decipher the look.
“I unpacked some of my things into your closet while you were showering.”
He froze, his plate angled toward the dishwasher, his expression unreadable.
She added quickly, “You know…in case. I thought my stuff should be in your room. So I put my suitcase in there, but then I realized a real wife would unpack, so I took half your closet.”
She grinned at him, loving her new role, as well as having a little bit of power over the man who usually called the shots.
“My things will smell like your perfume.” He was blinking slowly as though trying to compute the takeover.
“You don’t like it?”
“It’s…” He was looking around the kitchen, his plate still in hand. He seemed lost. “It’s…well. We’re married,” he said finally, finding a place for his plate, closing the dishwasher. He started the machine without soap. “It’s smart thinking.”
She paused the machine and added soap before starting it again.
“Here.” She handed him a travel mug filled with coffee.
He stared at the cup for a beat before accepting it.
“Most people would say thank you,” she teased. He was so off balance it was cute. It was like he’d been living as a bachelor in a locked-up bunker for years, thinking the rest of the world no longer existed. And then boom. Here it was.
He glanced at the cup again, then her. “Thanks.” Ethan gave the microwave clock a quick glance. “I have to be online at eleven and there’s a lot to show you.”
He led her out of the house, locking the door after them.
“Can I get a key?” she asked.
Wordlessly, Ethan unlocked the door and headed back inside. She waited on the front step, waving at their lawyer as he jogged by in the late dawn fog. If memory served, that meant it was going to be hot and dry today, yesterday’s rain already forgotten.
