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Everlee couldn’t keep living like this, and I couldn’t stand to see her suffering.
CHAPTER 3
Everlee
“I’m marrying her today,” I overheard Tripp quietly telling his brothers as he waited on me out on the drive next to his truck.
My eyes almost bugged out of my head. He was what? Did I not get a say in this? It was my life. What if I didn’t want to marry him? What if I wasn’t ready to even be married yet? Good Lord, we’d just met yesterday!
This man had to be out of his mind. Maybe I had traveled across the country only to meet a psycho.
There had to be something in the air up here because Tripp was out of his ever-loving mind if he thought we were getting married today. Completely insane.
“You’ve got our support,” I heard Eli speak up. I choked on air. “She needs all the help she can get.”
I loudly cleared my throat and crossed my arms over my chest. “Excuse me?” I asked.
Tripp cursed and pinched the bridge of his nose. I heard Jesse snicker, but at my dark look, he quickly shut up. I arched a brow at Tripp, my temper ready to explode. “Please tell me my ears were deceiving me when you said we were getting married today,” I hissed.
He shook his head. “This wasn’t how I wanted you to find out, but—”
What in the world did he mean this wasn’t how he wanted me to find out?
“But nothing!” I snapped. “You didn’t think you needed to talk to me first?” I demanded. “We were supposed to see if we’re compatible before we jump into a marriage, and now all of a sudden, you’re deciding for both of us?”
He nodded, his jaw tightening as he got ready for a fight. And boy, I was about to give him one. “Yes, I am, because you need the help, Everlee. Your health is at stake here, and I can help. If you want, we can divorce later down the line, and I’ll gladly pay alimony. But us getting married today is not up for discussion.”
“You’ve lost your mind!” I yelled at him. “I’m leaving.”
I turned and stormed inside the house to get my bag and find a way off this damn mountain and to the airport before Tripp could come up with any more wild ideas. “Like hell you are,” he barked from behind me. I slammed the door in his face, but he pushed it back open, storming in after me. “How in the world do you even expect to get off this ranch without a ride, Everlee?” He grabbed my waist, and I screeched when he threw me over his shoulder and began to cart me back out of the house. His brothers had dispersed, leaving me on my own. They were just as bad as Tripp!
“Put me down!” I yelled, beating on his back.
“No,” he growled. “You have an appointment with Dr. Turner, and we’re not missing it. And then we have an appointment after lunch at the courthouse to get married.”
I slapped my hands on his back, hoping to hurt him, but he didn’t even flinch. I yelled a curse that was definitely unladylike. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this furious. “Can’t marry me without my documents,” I retorted, suddenly remembering he needed certain things from me to marry me. And boy, I was thankful I remembered that. He couldn’t force me into this.
He chuckled and opened the passenger door of his truck. My stomach sank at the sound of his amusement. “Good thing I already had a background check done on you, so I know both of your parents and their birth places, and I snuck in your room last night while you were sleeping and took your birth certificate and your social security card.” I gaped at him when he deposited me in the passenger seat and grabbed the seatbelt. Leaning across me, his face close to mine, he clicked the seatbelt into place and whispered in my ear, “Try to get out. I can play this game with you all day, sweetheart.”
With that, he stepped back and shut the door. I glared at him through the windshield as he rounded the truck, my head beginning to pound.
I was officially beginning to regret going along with Charlie’s hair-brained idea to do this stupid mail-order-bride thing. Tripp might think he was doing the right thing, and while I knew it would help me in the long run, taking my choices away from me was the quickest way to turn me against someone.
And I was on the road of turning my back on him.
Dr. Turner was an aging man with white hair and deep blue eyes. He was also the kindest doctor I’d ever come across. The moment I stepped into his office, I was at ease. He didn’t make me feel dumb for my lack of knowledge about my diagnosis or stupid for not having the money to get put on medications to help me, unlike so many doctors I’d seen in the emergency room back in Miami.
“Alright, girly. What I’m going to do today is put you on a pump,” Dr. Turner began to explain to me. “I have one right here in the office that we can start you on today. I want to see you again in two weeks to see how you’re doing with it, and then we’ll go from there.”
I frowned. “I’m not sure I can afford—”
“She can afford it,” Tripp said, interrupting me. I scowled at him, but he just ignored me. My hand itched with the urge to slap him right across his perfect face.
Dr. Turner tried to hide his smile but failed. Great—now the doctor was amused by us.
“I also recommend going on a gluten-free diet,” Dr. Turner told me. I sighed and rubbed my forehead. That was even more money. Gluten-free food was not cheap.
“She’ll be making the switch, and I’ll make the food transition easier,” Tripp told him when I didn’t say anything. I glanced up at him, my jaw clenched. Tripp just gently grabbed my hand in his and gave it a little squeeze. I yanked my hand away and curled it into a fist. Tripp raised a brow at me, but I just stubbornly ignored him.
