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  She should have just said no, but somehow, when he asked her that particular question, she couldn’t make herself spit out the lie. “I can’t get into it now, Matt. You need to give me time, okay?”

  There was dead air from his end for several long seconds. She pulled the phone away from her ear to see if he’d hung up. But he was still there. At last, he asked solemnly, “Ais, what’s going on?”

  “I will explain, I promise. I just can’t do it now.”

  “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

  Only in her heart, in her sense of herself. Because who was she, really? “I’m not in trouble. I promise you.”

  Matt gave it up. “All right. I’m here. Whatever you need.”

  “I love you, Matt.”

  “Love you, too. See you Monday.”

  She called her youngest sister, Grace, next. That went a little easier than with Matt. Aislinn trotted out the same lies she’d told the others. Grace got excited. “I’m so happy for you, Ais! I’ll be there. Can’t wait.”

  Once she’d invited all of them, Aislinn called Jax to let him know the guest list was going to be a little longer than they’d planned. He didn’t pick up.

  But an hour later, as she was getting in a little time in her studio before heading to Sand & Sea to relieve Amanda, her phone lit up with his name.

  “Aislinn.” He sounded worried. Strange how she could tell that just by the way he said her name. “Sorry. One of the fillies sliced up her right flank somehow—and then jumped the fence and took off. We had to track her down and get her stitched up. I left my phone in the house.”

  “No problem.”

  He asked bleakly, “Is something wrong?”

  She hurried to reassure him. “No, nothing. Honestly.”

  “We’re still set for Monday, then?”

  “Yes, we are—and I just thought you should know that three of my brothers and my three sisters are coming, too.”

  “That’s nice,” he said.

  She’d been so busy dodging their questions, she hadn’t stopped to appreciate how they’d all stepped right up to support her on her “special” day. “Yeah. It is nice, isn’t?”

  “So that’s six, then—plus the two of us. Eight. They allow six at a wedding in the clerk’s office, six including the bride and groom.”

  “Well, there will be more than six. And what about Erma and Burt? I mean, I know they’ve both lived at the ranch forever. Will they be disappointed not to be included?” She felt silly as soon as she asked the question. What did Erma and Burt care about attending a hasty wedding for a marriage between strangers with a three-month expiration date? “Or maybe not?”

  “They’ll be fine.” Something in his voice said they wouldn’t be happy about being disinvited, that they might even want to come.

  If they did want to be there, she was not going to be the reason they couldn’t. “Just bring them.”

  “That will make ten total. It’s not going to fly.”

  “Bring them. We’ll work it out somehow.” Right then, she remembered Percy and Daffy. “Er, and Jaxon...?”

  “I’m not sure I like the way you said that.”

  “Well, I just thought of my great-aunt and great-uncle. They would be so hurt if I didn’t ask them to be there, too.”

  “Your great-aunt and great-uncle,” he repeated, sounding like maybe he was getting a headache.

  She decided they should think positive. “You know what? Don’t worry. It’s a wedding, after all. I’ve got a feeling the county clerk won’t mind bending the rules a little.”

  “Last I checked, twelve is twice as many as six.”

  “Don’t be sarcastic.”

  “Aislinn, I don’t think they’ll go for twelve.”

  For a woman unsure of her identity, she did have a lot of close relatives. And now she was getting a headache. “I’m going to have to think this over and get back to you.”

  “You’re upset.”

  “No, really. I just need a little time to work it out.”

  “Wait. You know what? Don’t worry.”

  “But—”

  “I mean it. Bring your brothers and sisters and your great-uncle and great-aunt to the Marriage License Bureau just as we planned. I’ll take it from there.”

  They said goodbye and she called Valentine House next. Daffy answered.

  When Aislinn invited them to the wedding, her great-aunt said that of course she and Percy would be there. Then she asked, “Are you sure?”

  “I am, Aunt Daffy.” In spite of her thousand and one doubts about this decision, it came out sounding downright confident.

  * * *

  On Monday when they all met at the county offices, Aislinn learned that Jaxon had made other arrangements for the ceremony.

  They got the license from the clerk, and they had the waiting period waived. And then they all trooped together on foot to a church two blocks away—even Percy and Daffy toddled along with zero complaint, smiling and chatting. They were both in great shape for being well into their eighties.

  The church secretary greeted them at the door of the rectory and led them to a small chapel.

  It was so pretty, that chapel, with a stained-glass window above the altar and simply fashioned mahogany pews. Aislinn loved it—though she felt just a smidge guilty for the circumstances. God probably wouldn’t approve.

  Then again, it was a real marriage even if it did have a termination date. And she was entering the union with the best of intentions: to help a good man keep the land that he loved.

  On second thought, she decided, God would understand.

  Percy gave her away. The church secretary played the wedding march on an old upright piano as Aislinn walked down the aisle in the white street-length dress Harper had helped her choose the day before. It was sleeveless, the dress, with a layered, high-low A-line skirt. She’d paired it with nude heels and a smart little birdcage veil and she carried a bouquet of white dahlias, calla lilies and roses.

  Her groom wore a charcoal-gray three-piece suit with a snowy-white shirt. Just looking at him made her heart beat faster than it should. The way he gazed at her as she came toward him holding Great-Uncle Percy’s arm, well, if she wasn’t careful she might almost start believing dangerous things.

  The short ceremony went by in a hazy kind of glow, like some sweet, old-fashioned dream she was having, where she and Jaxon held hands and promised a forever that wasn’t really going to happen. He’d even brought rings for her, an engagement ring in white gold with channel-set diamonds flanking a beautiful round center stone, and a wedding band to match.

  Just like a dream, it all flew by so fast.

  All of a sudden, the minister said, “You may kiss your bride.”

  Jaxon folded back her little veil and framed her face between his wonderful, rough hands. Tipping her chin up, he kissed her slowly, gently. She sighed against his parted lips, mindful of her forbidden fantasies five years ago, when she had secretly dreamed of a moment just like this.

  She could almost wish...

  No.

  She wished nothing.

  It was what it was and she was happy just for this. A pretty little ceremony, her family—that probably wasn’t her family at all—around her. A good man for her groom.

  A few gorgeous moments where all the lies seemed true.

  * * *

  Jaxon took everyone to lunch at a great place right on the Columbia River. They had champagne and her family offered toasts to happiness and love and forever. She could have sworn that once or twice even Burt cracked a smile.

  Afterward, they all walked out together to their cars in the parking area on the landward side of the restaurant. She hugged them all—her brothers and sisters, Percy and Daffy. They wished her happiness and congratulated Jaxon on being such a lucky man.
r />   They were so dear, really, all of them. She almost hated to see them get in their cars and pickups and drive away. Burt and Erma left, too, but Percy and Daffy lingered.

  Daffy began chatting with Jaxon, about the weather, about the history of the four-mile Astoria-Megler Bridge that soared out over the Columbia, visible from there in the parking lot, connecting the Oregon and Washington sides of the river. Percy pulled Aislinn aside to remind her to call the detective agency in Seattle. She promised she would take care of that right away.

  After more hugs and well-wishes, Percy and Daffy climbed in the giant Lincoln Town Car they’d owned since the beginning of time and headed for home, leaving Aislinn and Jax standing alone in the nearly empty parking lot under an overcast sky.

  “It went well,” he said, his gaze holding hers, causing a hopelessly romantic buoyant sort of feeling in the center of her body.

  Get a grip, girl. “Yes, it did. Thank you, Jax. For the church, for the beautiful lunch.” For that perfect wedding kiss. “For all of it.”

  He gave a careful kind of nod. “I like your family.”

  “Yeah, they’re great. The best...” She didn’t know what to say next. Awkwardness had suddenly descended. Their little wedding fantasy was over.

  Hello, reality. How have you been?

  He asked, “Do you need anything from your place?”

  “I have a bag packed for tonight, thanks.” She shot a thumb over her shoulder in the general direction of her red CR-V. “And my car’s loaded down with a bunch of other stuff I’ll need while I’m living at Wild River—I mean, why waste a trip, right?”

  He pushed back the sides of his jacket and stuck his fists in his pockets. “I forgot to ask. Do you have to work today?”

  “Not until Wednesday.” Amanda had disapproved of her getting married when Keely couldn’t be there. But in the end, she’d wished Aislinn love and happiness and assured her that Sand & Sea could do without her for two days. “I thought I would take tomorrow to try to move everything else I’ll need while I’m living at the ranch.”

  “Whatever you want to bring, we have plenty of room.”

  “You sure? I have two German angora rabbits—we are talking large. And furry. And I make jewelry, so I’m hoping there’ll be somewhere I can set up my jeweler’s bench and equipment.”

  An actual dimple tucked itself into his left cheek. “You have rabbits?”

  “I do, yes. Harper and Hailey will take care of them until tomorrow. But where I go, Luna and Bunbun go, too. And they are porch rabbits, meaning that at my house, they live on my enclosed front porch. They’re going to need a little room to roam—but on a clean surface, and with a barrier against predators. They can’t wander around on the lawn or anything. Their fur traps debris.”

  The dimple in his cheek got deeper, but he had sense enough not to laugh or otherwise mock her babies. And really, he was being great about this, raising no objections to making space for her workshop and her special-needs pets. “We’ll work it out,” he said.

  They ran out of words then and ended up standing there in the parking lot, just looking at each other as the Riverfront Trolley clattered by on the tracks not twenty feet away.

  Funny how easy it had all been, to play the role of newlyweds in love for the family. He’d put his arm across her chair in the restaurant, leaning close to her more than once to whisper in her ear: “More champagne?” and “Pass the water carafe,” and once even to pay her a lovely compliment. “Aislinn Winter, you do make a beautiful bride.”

  It struck her then, as she stood there with him in the parking lot, struck her like a blinding light shone straight in her eyes. “We are actually, legally married.”

  He chuckled, a dark and delicious sound. It made her feel like that college girl again, yearning for a certain good and beautiful man who would never be hers. “Yes, we are.”

  “Legally married, and we hardly know each other.”

  Hands still in his pockets, he shrugged. “We’ve got three months together. I’m guessing by the end of that time, we’ll know each other just fine.”

  Three months. During which her possible bio-dad had somehow expected them to discover love and forever—or maybe not. Really, they had no way of knowing what that crazy old man might have been thinking.

  And now he was gone. She would never have a chance to ask him.

  Jaxon was watching her. He pulled his hands from his pockets. “So, how about we stop by Kircher and Anders to hand over that temporary marriage certificate the minister gave us?”

  “All right.”

  “And after that, we’ll go home.”

  Chapter Four

  Wild River Ranch was as green and inviting as Aislinn remembered.

  When her car emerged from the cover of the trees that lined the twisting highway, the grassy, rolling land stretched away on all sides with the stable, barns, paddocks and training pens in the heart of it. The Youngs River had cut a twisting path through the low places. All around rose stands of fir and spruce and pine, making a dark green blanket that climbed the nearby hills.

  Aislinn followed Jax’s enormous gray Chevy Silverado crew cab up the winding dirt driveway to the main house. White, with black trim, the two-story house had a wraparound porch.

  The row of three garage doors was around on the far side. Jax led the way there and she pulled up beside him in the wide driveway.

  As two of the doors trundled up, Jax signaled her to take the empty space in the middle. They drove in and parked.

  He got out and strode around the front of his pickup to meet her as she emerged from behind the wheel. “Let’s just bring your suitcase in for now. Leave the rest. We’ll deal with it later.” He followed her around to the hatch in back. “I’ll take it.” He grabbed the handle of her bag before she could reach for it.

  She followed him through a door to a covered breezeway that led into the house. In the laundry room, he paused long enough to pull open a cabinet and take out two keys, a business-size card and a garage door opener.

  He handed them over. “The door opener works for the space where you just parked your car. The big key opens the dead bolts on the front and back doors. The other is the main house key. That’s the Wi-Fi password on the card.”

  She took them with a murmured “Thank you” and dropped them into her shoulder bag.

  They moved on, into a large, white kitchen with granite counters and good-quality appliances. He glanced back at her. “Hungry? Want something to drink?” When she shook her head no, he turned and led the way into a big, comfortable-looking family room and from there into a study at the front of the house.

  “Come on in.” He ushered her in first. There was a seating area across from the desk. He shut the door, set down her suitcase and gestured toward the camel-colored leather sofa. “Have a seat.”

  Not sure what, exactly, they were going to do in his study, she went where he indicated and took one end of the sofa. He claimed the leather armchair directly across from her.

  “I always wondered what the house looked like from inside,” she said. That summer she’d worked for him, she’d gone home to Valentine Bay every night. The ranch office where she would pick up her paychecks was in a big trailer near the stables. There’d never been a reason for her to enter the main house. “I like it—or what I’ve seen of it so far, anyway. It’s roomy and simple. Nice and open.”

  “Judy redid it. It needed a little TLC. And the job kept her happy for a while.”

  She remembered what he’d told her last Monday, when she’d run from the lawyer’s office, that his ex-wife had not been a big fan of life in the country—and a neutral response seemed the best way to go. “Judy had good taste.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed, his cool expression and vague tone letting her know that he didn’t plan to dwell on the subject of his ex-wife. “I want to talk a littl
e about what Martin intended for this marriage of ours. The will says we have to live together in this house and not sleep with other people. It doesn’t say we actually have to share a bedroom or have sex with each other.”

  “So, um, you brought me in here to talk about our sleeping arrangements?”

  “I did, yeah.”

  Really? What was there to talk about? “I don’t see that it’s a problem. Even if whoever Kircher and Anders sends over to check on us notices we have separate rooms, so what? Martin never specified we had to share a bed. A lot of married people don’t sleep in the same bed.”

  “True.” He shifted in the chair, bringing up one hard-muscled leg and hooking his ankle across his knee. His jacket had fallen open to reveal his buttoned-up vest over a hard, flat stomach and a broad chest. Though she knew she shouldn’t, she let her gaze wander downward to the heavy bulge beneath his fly. He went on, “But we still haven’t talked about which bedroom you want to sleep in.” His voice, in the silent room, was suddenly like raw honey poured out slowly.

  Stifling a silly gasp, she jerked her gaze up from his fly. His fine eyes were waiting. He was hiding a smile, damn him. A flush tried to spread upward over her cheeks. She sat straighter and refused to blush or glance away. “What’s to talk about? We hardly know each other.”

  He had those steady eyes on her, pinning her. “We’re married.” He didn’t add, You had a big crush on me once, but to her it seemed the words were there, in the way he looked at her, in that smile he wasn’t quite letting her see. “We’re married,” he said again, as though she hadn’t heard him perfectly well the first time. And then he added, “And I would very much like to share a bed with you.”

  Her mouth almost dropped wide open. She really hadn’t imagined he would suggest a sexual relationship between them—at least not so soon. He’d always seemed like someone who would want to get to know a woman before jumping into bed with her.

  Or was that just her college-girl fantasy of him? Had she made up her ideal man and put Jaxon Winter’s face on him?