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“Have a seat. Take a load off. I’ll go find Callum.”
Nova sat on the Bannons’ front steps and resigned herself to wait. She was annoyed until she got distracted by the horses working in the arena. What beautiful creatures they were. Majestic even. If she married Gunner and lived on a ranch, maybe she could ride horses around. That alone was reason to say yes to this crazy scheme.
Brooke came back wearing a smile that warmed Nova from head to toe: Callum had said nice things.
Brooke sat beside her. “I’m so glad that I made you wait.” She laughed. “So, Callum instantly started singing Gunner’s praises. He said that Gunner was kind and selfless and had the work ethic of a good horse.” Brooke chuckled. “That’s high praise coming from Callum.”
“I can imagine. Anything else?”
“I asked him about what Finn said, specifically the phrasebig dumb oaf, and he got really defensive. He said that people have definitely made that assumption about Gunner, and that no, he’s not going to be teaching any calculus classes, but it wasn’t fair to call him dumb. He said, and I quote, ‘Just ’cause a guy doesn’t feel the need to prove to everyone how smart he is, doesn’t mean that he’s dumb.’”
Nova felt her chest swell with pride for the man she hardly knew—the one she was about to marry. “That’s pretty poetic there, Callum.”
“He has his moments. He also said that Gunner has kept that ranch running since he was a teenager, and that no dummy can pull that off.”
“Wow,” Nova said after a moment. “Thank you, Brooke.”
“You bet. Now are you going to tell me what’s really going on here?”
Nova definitely didn’t want to do that. “Just between us?”
“Of course.”
Nova sighed. “You know the situation I’m in with the custody of my siblings.”
Brooke indicated that she did.
“Well, Gunner needs some help on his ranch, and he has offered to marry me so that I can live with him, and so that we can convince child services that I am capable of caring for those kids.” Only a few words into her sentence, she regretted starting it.
She could hear her words through Brooke’s ears, understand them through Brooke’s experiences, and knew what Brooke was going to say.
“Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds?”
Nova’s blood started to simmer. “I’m sure it sounds crazy to you with your PhD and your billionaire husband, but I live in a van.”
Brooke didn’t say anything, and Nova wondered if she’d been too harsh.
“I’m sorry, Nova. I didn’t mean to judge you.”
They were quiet for a moment as Nova tried to calm down. “I know,” she finally said, “but I really need to be a mom to those kids. I don’t want them going to some stranger. I am what’s best for them. And what’s so bad about marrying a friend? People used to do it all the time. What was it called in the olden days?”
“I don’t know, an arranged marriage?”
That wasn’t the one she was thinking of. “He is kind, he likes kids, he needs my help ... it sounds like a pretty good deal to me.”
Brooke clicked her tongue. “It does sound pretty convenient.”
“Marriage of convenience!” Nova almost yelled.
Brooke laughed. “Oh yeah.” She sighed. “Nova, let me talk to Callum first. Maybe there’s something we can do to help.”
“I know you have a gazillion dollars and all, but I’m not sure that gives you any pull with child services.”
“I wasn’t suggesting we were going to bribe a child services employee,” Brooke said, sounding a bit testy. “I was thinking maybe we could help you find a place to live—”
“No, thank you.” Nova stood. The hurt look on Brooke’s face brought instant guilt. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
“What’s the difference between accepting help from us and accepting help from Gunner?”
