Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25316 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 127(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25316 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 127(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Sarah takes a deep breath. “I’m going to say I’m thankful that you’re honest about it. A lesser man would feed me lies on top of the breach of trust. But I guess it’s just a wake-up call about what this all is.”
“What are we going to do about the engagement?”
“I told you, I don’t know. Logic and business sense tells me I should just ignore this. Pretend like our engagement and marriage is actually one of love. Maybe take this as permission to go find my own lover. But I don’t know if I want to be part of that. It all seems like a bridge too far, Jack.”
I nod along. “You’re your own woman, Sarah. Whatever you decide to do, I’m not going to protest it.”
There is a part of me that wanted to be the one to break it off. That now that I had an inkling of what love actually is, I couldn’t just use marriage as a tool. It was something that was meant for love.
But I knew how much it meant to Sarah. She didn’t deserve to be in that situation any longer than she had to be.
Sarah picked her bag up. “I’m going to head to bed. I want to run far, far away from here, but I don’t want to give off the idea that anything’s gone wrong.”
“I’m sorry,” Lily says, finally piping up from her silence. “I’m sorry I’m putting you both through this.”
“You did nothing but act on how you naturally feel, hon,” Sarah replies. “This is all just a complicated mess. A better world wouldn’t put us through it.”
Sarah heads off toward one of my guest rooms to leave me and Lily all alone.
Lily has tears in her eyes. I rush to her side, pulling her head against my chest. “Don’t cry. I never want to see you cry.”
“I just don’t get it,” she says, the sounds muffled by my chest. “Why are you two even getting married?”
“For business,” I say, something I’ve repeated way too many times.
“It’s the twenty-first century. Can’t you just go to a lawyer? Draw up some paperwork? And work like that? That’s how you do business, Jack. You don’t have to have a wedding for all of that.”
“I’m afraid we do in this case,” I say, stroking her hair gently.
“That’s absurd.”
“No, I mean it.”
“Explain yourself, then. I’m not getting why you’re so intent on marrying Sarah. You two clearly don’t love one another. You literally floated the idea of you two having side pieces, and that’s not even for some kink or something. It’s just you two being apathetic to the other cheating.”
“Maxwell Perry is fifty-four years old. He could well live for another fifty years, if not longer.”
Lily looks at me with a cocked eyebrow.
“He will keep control of the Perry ranch until one of two things happens. One, he dies. Or two, his eldest child is married.”
“That’s... that’s not how inheritance works?”
“For the Perry ranch, it is. Something I always found admirable about them is they’re a bit forward thinking. They want the next generation to take over when they are ready, and marriage is what they use to signify that. They don’t want the land to stay in the hands of someone who might not have a stake in it existing ten years from now. So the ranch part of the inheritance is given when the marriage happens to ensure its continued prosperity.”
“So... you want to marry Sarah so she gets control of her ranch?”
I nod. “She wants it too. She doesn’t like her father much, and I guess this is the only way to get him out of her life. I want to end this stupid family feud, so I’m playing along. We’ll bring the ranches together and create a brighter future for the both of us and the town of Greenbluff.”
“In spite of you having no feelings for one another?”
“She’s nice. That’s literally all I can say.”
Lily’s shoulders sink. “Now I feel horrible for getting in the way, again.”
“Don’t. You’ve done nothing. As Sarah said, you’re just acting on your feelings. And I’m just acting on mine.”
We share another longing glare into one another’s eyes. And then, another kiss.
I don’t know what will happen between Sarah and I.
But I do know that I love Lily, and I will do whatever it takes to make her happy.
6
LILY
The next week is equal parts awkward and wonderful.
Jack and I get along so well, but we can’t shake the feeling of what happened with Sarah. He’s been holding off on doing anything more explicitly romantic, but I guess just being in his company laughing and talking will do.
For now, at least. I can’t imagine both of us keeping it in our pants forever, or we wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.