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“Pleasure to meet you.” I gently disengaged myself from Brendan and shook his hand.
“Brendan didn’t mention anything about a wife a few weeks ago when we spoke.” His gaze sharpened as he looked at me. “Which is odd considering that this is exactly what I wanted for him.”
Brendan didn’t really think that he could fool this man, did he?
I glanced back uncertainly at him. “You wanted Brendan to be married? That’s very neighborly of you.”
“I wanted Brendan to be settled and happy.”
“I see. Well, I’m afraid that we’re a long way from either.” Clearing my throat, I tried to look sheepish. I needed to play this role perfectly. “Brendan and I got married when we were young and foolish. We should have gotten a divorce a long time ago, but we…” I slid my hand into Brendan’s, linking our fingers together. “We just didn’t, for some reason.”
The old man narrowed his eyes. “So you’ve been married for years?”
I nodded. “Since I was eighteen. Six months ago, I approached Brendan again, thinking we should probably just make things final but…” I let my voice trail off uncertainly as I glanced back at Brendan.
He smiled softly at me. “I guess I’m not ready to let her go just yet.” He turned his attention back to the older man. “And what you said to me in that meeting hit me between the eyes, Harry. You aren’t the only one living with regrets. After I left you, I couldn’t get Jillian off my mind. I went to see her and…”
He stroked a hand down my hair. It wasn’t hard to smile back at him this time as all the feelings I used to have for this man came flooding back.
“So you’re going to see if the ashes still have any flame? How charming.” The old man chuckled, but he didn’t seem fully convinced. “I didn’t know that Brendan had it in him. Are those your bags in the driveway? Are you moving in?”
“We’re seeing a marriage counselor,” Brendan interjected quickly. My eyes widened, and I took a step back. Inside, I bristled. Marriage counseling was a serious thing, not some tool for him to use to get a land deal. “She advised that since we’ve been apart for so long, we should move back in and see if we still like the people that we’ve become.”
“Like?” Harry cocked his head and stared at us. “Don’t you mean love?”
“Baby steps,” I muttered.
I was more than a little pissed, and Harry could tell. He chuckled, a sparkle in his eyes. “I can see that you two have some work to do. I think I’ll check in frequently and see how things are going. This sounds like it’s going to prove very entertaining.”
Entertaining? Having the one man we were trying to trick around so often would be a nightmare, and Brendan didn’t make it any better. “Would you like to join us for dinner?”
“No, I’m actually on my way to dinner. I just had to see things for myself. Mrs. Ward, I can’t wait to get to know you a little better. Brendan, we’ll talk later.”
He walked slowly back to his car and climbed in. As soon as he was out of sight, I rounded on Brendan. “A marriage counselor? Are you kidding me?”
“I had to say something. He was already suspicious,” he defended. “I’m not actually going to make you go to marriage counseling.”
“That’s not the point, and you know it. It’s not okay to lie about that kind of thing.” Marching away from him, I grabbed one of my bags. “Can you please show me to my room? I need a shower and to change.”
He didn’t even move. “This whole thing is a lie, and you’re pissed that I lied about counseling?”
I faced him. “It’s one thing to fake a reconciling marriage, but when you include us getting professional help, and we don’t make things work, then you’re giving counseling a bad name.” I didn’t even know why I was arguing with him. I would never make him understand.
“No amount of counseling could have helped us anyway,” he muttered under his breath.
I could tell from the look on his face that he immediately regretted the words, but I felt like he’d just slapped me in the face. Whirling around, I dragged my luggage behind me as I headed toward the house.
It was going to be a long couple of months.
CHAPTER TEN
Brendan
Jillian looked around the bedroom with narrowed eyes. “This doesn’t look like the guest room,” she said slowly.
“Really? What makes you think that?” I teased.
Crossing her arms, she gave me that annoyed look she did so well. “For one thing, the bed isn’t made. Your clothes are all over the floor, and it smells like you.”
“You know how I smell?”
“Brendan, I agreed to move to the ranch for a few months, but I did not agree to share a bed. Quit messing around and show me to my room. My actual room.” She reached over for her luggage, and I quickly blocked the door. Having her in my room was more intimate than I expected, but I wasn’t just messing with her.
