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Val walked over and stroked the mare’s soft-skinned neck. “How are you, girl?”
“Catch,” Drake called.
The tossed apple caught her by surprise, but she snagged it deftly, and shot him a look that earned her a ghost of a smile. Ignoring him for the moment, she fed the mare the fruit, while offering gentle words of welcome and praise. “How long may I use the buggy?”
“It’s yours, so until the wheels fall off, I suppose.”
She studied him. He was the most generous person she knew, but after last night, a gift like this was the last thing she’d expected. “Drake, I’m sorry about yesterday. I—”
“No apologies needed. It was a trick question. I was wrong to put pressure on you that way. We’ll marry and when your father leaves, we’ll dissolve it. Henri has a nephew who’s a justice of the peace. I’ll ask if he can handle the ceremony, unless you prefer a church?”
She shook her head. “A justice is fine.”
“When would you like it done?”
“Sometime in the next week to ten days?”
“I suggest sooner as opposed to later. If your father has suspicions and asks around, you want him told that the marriage is real and that it’s a love match. No one jumps willy-nilly into an arranged marriage.”
Her eyes shot to his.
“Do you think you can pretend we have a love match?”
She cleared her throat. “Yes.”
“The reception I’m sure Mama and Reba are already planning will help with the legitimacy, and we’ll move all your belongings into my room, since I no longer have a house we can occupy.”
She froze.
“LeVeq wives share bedrooms with their husbands.”
She was a bit overwhelmed. On the one hand, she was glad he’d thought so far ahead, but on the other hand, she realized, she hadn’t thought this through at all.
“I’ll add your name to my accounts, so you can draw money when needed.”
“That isn’t necessary.”
“Do you have funds of your own?”
She paused and admitted, “A small amount.”
“Then it’s necessary.”
“Drake—”
“Valinda, if you need to purchase chalk or hairpins or a pair of shoes, you shouldn’t have to ask for the money to do so. I trust you not to spend me into the poorhouse, so allow me to help you in this way.”
Having no true counter, she let it go. “Okay.” She wondered what her parents would think of him and his family. Would they be impressed? Would the ruse of a love match convince her father to return home and allow her to live her life in peace? And what about after? If she had to go to New York for some reason after she and Drake had dissolved the ruse, could she convince him to accompany her? Suppose he married someone else in the interim? How would that sit with whoever he married, and why did the idea of him marrying someone else not sit well, at all? Deciding to stop thinking about the clashing moving parts of her harebrained plan before she lost her mind, she glanced up at his distant bearded face. “Is there anything else?”
“Not that I can think of at the moment.”
“I want to open the school the day after tomorrow. Will you help me spread the word?”
“I will. Do you need me for anything else right now?”
She thought to herself, yes, she needed him to accept her apology, so they could go forward, but she refused to beg. She had her pride as well. “No. I’m scheduled to teach Sable’s orphans today. Now that I have a buggy, I’ll go to the Quarter later and let Eb and Dina know about the school.” She had no idea how many students she might eventually be teaching. It could be two—it could be fifty. The freedmen were hungry for education, especially for their children.
“Then be careful on the roads. I’ll see you later.”
