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I pursed my lips together. “School, medical costs, housing.”
She gasped, her hand flying up to her mouth. Embarrassment surged through me. Ridiculous. I’d been absurd to consider this arrangement for even a moment.
“I didn’t say yes,” I added quickly.
“Why not? Are there other conditions?” She lowered her voice. “Does he want sex stuff, Nora?”
I shook my head. “No. He wouldn’t ask for anything like that.”
“Well, boo,” she pouted. “That would have been perfect. Still, that’s not a bad deal.” She grabbed her latte, taking a sip. “He’s clearly getting the better end of this deal, but I don’t think that should stop you.”
I bit back a laugh. “He’sgetting the better end of the deal? Did you hear me? He’s going to take care of my health insurance. I’d live in that gorgeous old house. And he’ll pay for me to go to school.”
“He’d haveyou. And if he’s looking to schmooze with some investor business-y people, there’s no one better to have in his corner. Smart man.”
“But it’s wild, right? I can’t marry someone I barely know.”
“Well, first off, you do know Andy. You’ve known him for years. Second, most marriages throughout human history have been between people who barely knew each other. And third, Andy is devastatingly handsome.”
“Devastatingly handsome?” I raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you don’t want to marry him?”
Thea rolled her eyes. “No, I just know how to appreciate an attractive man when I see one. He’s hot. Remember back in high school when we played Pierce? He was the only one worth looking at.”
“Him being devastatingly handsome doesn’t really help in this situation,” I mumbled into my coffee.
“Good point. You should negotiate some banging into this arrangement. For both of your sakes.”
“Be serious.”
“Iambeing serious. Not about the banging part, but the arrangement sounds fair to me.”
“He’s going to be spending thousands of dollars on me, and I’m…what? Providing conversation?”
“Well, no offense to your possible fiancé, he could use the help. The guy is brilliant but he’s not exactly Mr. Personable. And you? Well, you’re Nora. To know you is to love you, and Gary took advantage of that for way too long. Think of Andy’s offer as the pay increase you deserve.”
“That’s sweet.”
Had I come to Thea because part of me knew she’d tell me to go along with Andy’s crazy plan?
Becca would have said no, immediately and without hesitation. And Bunny, well, Bunny was a loose cannon. She’d been married enough times to know the value of a well-timed proposal. If I hadn’t been so sure she’d tell my brothers, I might have gone to her.
But I walked into Thea’s workshop. Maybe I came here knowing she’d tell me to call Andy and tell him yes. And now, I’d whittled down my reasons for saying no to a single roadblock.
“What about my brothers? If they don’t immediately pick up that I’m lying, they’ll flip if they find out.”
Thea rolled her eyes. “You give them too much credit, Nor. They’re your brothers, but they’re also men. They’re oblivious.”
“You think they’ll just accept that Andy and I have been seeing each other behind their back for the past year?”
She shrugged. “Probably. When was the last time either of them asked you about your love life?”
“Never,” I answered without hesitation. She had a point. Len hardly asked me any questions, period, and Cal and I kept our conversations to television shows and teasing.
“Exactly,” Thea smiled. “If they press you, just say they never asked, so you never offered any information. And Cal doesn’t have a leg to stand on, hooking up with Becca behind everyone’s back? Just tell him he set the example. I’ll vouch for you. If they start poking around your backstory, I’ll say I knew this entire time.”
She tossed her empty latte cup into the trash with a pleased smile.
“You just love knowing something they don’t,” I laughed. Thea’s confidence eased some of the tension in my chest.
