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I nodded.
“Good.” Archer shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the custom-made loafers on his feet. “Good.”
A few moments of silence passed. The heat soaked into me, and I wanted to melt at his leather-clad feet. It’d always been like that with him. Once I was in his orbit, I didn’t want to go anywhere else.
“I met my uncle.”
This time, it was my brows that popped. “Which one?”
“Cameron. He asked if I wanted to meet the rest of the family.”
“You gonna do it?”Are you going to, Delaney. There’s no reason to shorten words when you should be smart enough to enunciate.Briony was a bitch. If I ever saw her again, I’d enunciate that.
Archer didn’t seem to notice. “I don’t know. I didn’t realize how small Coal Haven really was. It strikes me that you know him better than I. That you know the rest of my dad’s family when I don’t.”
I snorted. I’d told Archer I’d heard of them. I hadn’t gone into detail, and he hadn’t asked. Perhaps that should’ve been a big ol’ red flag about our relationship. Archer had been cool with not knowing much about me or how I’d grown up, and I’d been the same. “Knowing them is different than liking them. None of them liked me. Even your cousin dumped me as soon as a new girl moved to town.”
His lush lips formed a troubled line. “That you dated a cousin of mine is unnerving.”
“High school sweethearts.” Grief wove through me like it often did when I thought of my ex. I’d been so mad at him, so terribly hurt. But we’d grown up together. He’d been a friend in addition to my boyfriend. “He died a few years ago.”
He frowned. “A few years ago? You didn’t come back for the funeral?”
I looked away, staring at the slate-gray siding of the clinic. “No.”
He waited, like he thought I was going to say more. Not coming home for Derek’s funeral when I was supposed to be a happy newlywed had left me with complicated emotions. How did I tell my husband the situation?By the way, not only have I heard of the Barrons, I was really close to one of your cousins for years. Grew up with him and thought I’d marry him. But meeting you was a total coincidence—mostly.
I had considered how I’d arrive in Coal Haven for the funeral, and how while everyone was talking about what a tragedy Derek’s death was and what an awesome guy he was, and oh, poor Kennedy, they’d still have the wherewithal to ask what I’d been up to. Where I had been.
I wouldn’t have been able to answer the first question, much less the slew of them afterward. The land issues from my grandparents’ day had spilled over to Ma and the Barrons as adults. The older Barrons weren’t as well liked as they thought, but they were successful farmers and ranchers. They had oil money, and Cameron had a prominent position at the refinery. They were respected. Envied even. It’d been bad enough to have Bruce, Cameron, and Kira’s disproval when Derek and I had dated, but I had also suffered the looks and the rude comments about not being good enough for Derek.
So, no. I hadn’t come home. I’d added it to the giant pile of regrets.
“We need to talk, Delaney,” Archer said quietly.
We’d had plenty of time to talk. “You want an annulment. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to deal with it.”And with you.
He made a disgusted sound. “Not the annulment, dammit. You’re my wife. And I don’t even know you.”
I sent him an appraising gaze. “Do you think you would’ve married me if you had?”
His brows slammed together. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
I rolled my eyes. “Please. Pretty little arm candy for the southern boy climbing the corporate ladder. As soon as I stepped out of that role, you were done with me. The second I crossed you—done.” He ground his jaws together, and I kept going. “You want to know me? People don’t usually like what I have to say. Ballbuster, bitch, you name it, I’ve been called it. The Barrons fucking hate us and not just because we have land they want, but because we don’t think their shit smells like roses and we’re not afraid to say it. I get dirty when I work, and I stink, because that’s what happens when you work in cow shit. If I never get another manicure again, it’ll be too soon, but I don’t mind dressing up. I just don’t care whose name is on the label.”
He continued to stare at me like he couldn’t pair what I was saying with the woman he’d known.
I rose and brushed my ass off. “I’m going inside to wait for my brother.”
“And the annulment?”
Of course he was still pursuing it—that was what he’d come here for. But a little part of me died. I’d been right.
A question rose in my mind. I hadn’t thought of it earlier thanks to the shock of seeing him. “Why now?” The way he stilled made me push. “Why now, Archer? Why not last year? Last month? Why. Now?”
His expression clouded with guilt, and he glanced away.
A chill swept through me until it was like I stood in a freezer instead of outside in July. Just because I’d honored my vows didn’t mean he had. “Let me guess. Briony found the perfect future little wife for you? Another one of her friends, so you can go on a cute little double date with her and Wilson? How nice for her you’re going to be back on the market. I sure was a wrinkle in her plans.”
