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“I was a little worried. I thought maybe you were still mad at me.”
“I’m not. It’s just...this isn’t real and we didn’t spend a ton of time planning it. It was a hurry-and-make-it-legal thing. That’s all.”
“Good. Because I want you to be in my wedding.”
Emotion made her chest feel like it was expanding. “I want to be in your wedding.”
“Good.” Elsie paused for a second. “I know your wedding happened quickly, but it was real. Are you really never going to...?”
“He said he isn’t into it.” She thought of the kiss and her cheeks warmed.
“Are you into it?”
The thought made her brain short out. “I don’t... He’s Gus. I trust him more than I trust anyone. I... Sorry. He’s not my best friend or anything but he’s a protector. He’s...”
“It’s okay that you have a different relationship with him than you do with me. You trust him. He’s always been there for you.”
He had been. A strong silent presence that she somehow had always known would back her up.
“That’s what this is,” she said. “It’s just more of the same. Him protecting me.”
“Do you want there to be more?”
“I think that would be one too many things on my to-do list. I’m already his farm wife. His house is a wreck.”
Elsie laughed. “Yeah. I’m going to have to do some work to civilize Hunter. I know he’s not quite as feral as Gus, but...”
“There are whole packs of wild animals that are less feral than Gus,” Alaina said.
And they smiled at each other.
“Are you happy?”
She shrugged. “I think I have to wait and see how everything pans out. I’m just kind of anxious to get to the changes. Like get them over with. So he and I have moved in together. But I need to get the house in order. And then when the baby comes... I just need to be able to get a handle on where this is all going.”
“I think unfortunately you’ll find your feet and then more stuff will just change.”
Alaina didn’t like the sound of that at all. She wanted to arrive at a place of certainty. Where everything was well ordered and it was a perfect and proper place.
“Don’t tell me that.”
“Well. With your busy schedule let’s actually hang out. Let’s not be those people that get...lost. Because of men and all of that.”
“All right. Let’s make sure.”
And she left feeling a little bit lighter than when she’d arrived. She went hunting for Gus around five o’clock, and found him standing out in the driveway with a pretty blonde woman that Alaina had never seen before. She was elegant. Something Alaina had certainly never been accused of. Wearing pearls and a very understated sheath dress with navy blue sling-back shoes. And she was just...pretty.
Gus looked at ease with her. In a way that he never did with her. Of course, she’d never really seen Gus when he wasn’t with her, so she didn’t know that he could look like this. Relaxed.
She skulked into view, and made her way over to the two of them. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Alaina. Alaina McCloud. Gus’s wife.”
The other woman grinned warmly at her, and did not respond to the slight spikiness in Alaina’s tone.
“Elizabeth Colfax,” she said. “I’m going to be the licensed therapist and consultant at the facility.”
“Once we get everything cleaned up.” Brody’s voice came from the barn, and a second later he appeared. And Alaina watched as Miss Elizabeth Perfectly-Put-Together went stiff. Her smile was still there, but she had gone rigid. Obviously, she was bothered by Brody McCloud. “Yes. Well. I look forward to that. Thank you for the productive meeting,” she said. “But I have a drive back to Portland. So... I’ll see you in a couple of months.”
Gus took his hand out and shook hers. “See you then, Elizabeth.”
