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“Well, we are legally married, so she doesn’t really have to pretend on the last part.”
Bran cleared his throat. “Are you sure she’s happy about it, though? Sounds like there’s a lot more stressful parts than good parts. And she has to feel insecure about the marriage.”
“Why would she feel insecure? Honestly, she has all the control. We signed a no-fault postnup agreement. She can divorce me any time she likes. But she knows I need to stay married until the adoption is final.”
“Jarrett, are you even listening to yourself? You’re talking about this marriage like it’s some kind of business deal.”
“I’ll tell you this much, I’m glad I didn’t make this deal with Carlie. She’s changed. She isn’t the same person I fell in love with nine years ago.”
“That’s one possibility,” Bran said. “But I wonder if she was ever the person you were in love with.”
“What do you mean?”
Bran let out a sigh, which usually meant he was choosing his words carefully.
“All I’m saying is that the Carlie I met didn’t seem like your type. It makes me wonder why you were so attracted to her in the first place.”
He’d been asking himself that question lately. But he didn’t like the idea that he could’ve wasted nine years of his life wishing for something that was never real.
“That’s beside the point. It won’t help me deal with Rylie tonight.” Jarrett pressed on his brows, trying to relieve the pressure behind his eyes. “She told me to stop being nice to her. What does that even mean?”
“I don’t know, Jarrett. Women are confusing at best. My guess would be she doesn’t mind that you’re nice, but she doesn’t like your motivation. Like Steph gets mad if I’m nice to her because I want to get on her good side for some reason. So why were you being nice to her in the first place?”
Because he cared about her. A lot. Because she was good and loyal and self-sacrificing. Because he couldn’t be close to her without wondering what it would be like to kiss her.
“Because I owe her, Bran. She’s giving up a lot and putting up with a lot… all so I can adopt Gabe. The least I can do is be nice to her.”
“Is it possible she wants more than that? Like a real relationship?”
“No way. She’s the one who set the boundaries and demanded we stay completely platonic.” He paced the floor in frustration.
“You can always go with my fallback line… the one I use when I know I’m in the doghouse and I’m not sure why. It’s great. It works every time.”
“What is it?”
“You were right. I was wrong. I’m so sorry. I was thoughtless and inconsiderate, and you deserve better. Can you ever forgive me?”
“That’s it? You don’t specify what you did?”
“It doesn’t seem to matter, as long as I admit I was wrong, which I probably was. She’s usually right about these things.”
“I don’t think that will work on Rylie.”
“Hey, you do what you want. All I know is it works for me.”
With Bran’s parting good luck wishes, Jarrett ended the call and went in to talk to Rylie. But all he found was a Rylie-sized lump under the bed covers. Not a speck of her face was exposed, not even her nose.
Jarrett wanted things with Rylie back the way they were. The truth was he was quite content with Rylie as his parenting partner. Though he didn’t want to admit it, Matthew might’ve done him a favor.
He cleared his throat, looking for signs of movement, but she didn’t stir. It was just as well. He wasn’t sure what to say to her anyway. Maybe everything would be better tomorrow after she got a good night’s sleep. He checked on Gabe before setting the monitor application and placing the earbud in his ear.
A piercing cry woke him from a dead sleep, and he scrambled off the floor and down the hall before he was even fully conscious, soothing Gabe with soft pats on his back.
“Hey buddy,” he whispered, the echo of his own voice in his head. He removed the ear monitor and checked the time—1:21 a.m. It was going to be a long night.
* * *
Rylie’s eyes popped open,her heart pattering with fright when she saw the time, 6:35 a.m. She tried to convince herself Gabe had slept through the night, but panic made it hard to breathe. She knew there was no reason to think he might’ve died during the night, but that didn’t make her heart stop racing.
