“Screw you. She’s not pregnant. When you know someone is right for you, you just know. I guess we didn’t need to wait around what with dad’s contract and everything.”
“I hope you didn’t just do this for the land, Jackson. She sure does seem to like you an awful lot. If you go and break that poor girl’s heart—”
“I’m not going to break her heart; I can promise you that. She said yes to this marriage just as much as I did. Now, just because you can't seem to find your own love, it doesn’t matter much to me. I found someone I want to be married to, and that’s that.”
“All right,” he said. “If you two are happy, then I guess that’s all I could ask for. Mom sure does seem tickled pink with her.”
“Yeah, and Dad can’t seem to crack a smile. God, you’d think being nice to someone would kill him.”
“Just give him time. He’s still riffed y’all did a simple ceremony and not something befitting a Wheeler wedding.”
“I guess he’ll just have to wait until he springs a contract on one of you guys,” I offered.
Hailey looked over at us, her eyes flickering to the drink in my hand before she smiled at me. I could tell that she needed a little backup. Leaving Walker at the bar, I made my way back over to her and sat down on the arm of her chair, handing her the glass. She sipped at it though I could tell she wanted to take a few shots. Somehow my mother had already steered the line of questioning to kids.
“I was just asking Hailey if she thought you two would start trying right away. I know you had a bit of a whirlwind romance. Can we expect the same for some grandbabies?”
“Mother!” I scolded her. “That isn’t something we’ve talked about, and I promise when we do, you won't be the first one to know. As a matter of fact, no one will because that’s a conversation for a husband and wife.”
“Oh, don’t get your panties in a bunch,” my father said. “She was just asking. Now, if we are done with all of this, I’d like to eat my meal.”
Before anyone could agree or disagree, my father left the room and stormed to the dining room. Everyone else followed obediently, with Hailey and me following at the end. I took her hand and held her back a little way from everyone else as I whispered into her ear.
“How are you holding up?”
She shrugged. “I’m pretty sure your mother realizes I don’t know the first thing about kids, and your dad hasn’t stopped glaring at me since I asked what the difference between a Holstein and Brahmas were.”
I laughed. “That sounds about right. Don’t take it too personally. Around here, everyone knows about cattle. Hell, even my little sister knows the difference. It’s something that’s bred into us from an early age.”
“Well, sorry, I don’t know what kind of burgers I eat, but I could run the finances and accounting for this place better than anyone else. Just because I don’t have his line of knowledge doesn’t mean I’m an idiot.”
“Just give it some time. Before long, you’ll have him eating out of your hand like everyone else.”
“I guess that’s not something we need to worry about, is it?” she whispered. “Considering I’m only going to be around for another eleven months. I don’t really need everyone to like me.”
Her words struck me. Even though I knew that we had a business arrangement, something inside of me had changed. I no longer wanted her there just to keep up the ruse. With each minute that we spent together, I could feel my need for her growing.
Hailey would wake each morning and rush for coffee before putting much thought into clothing. With the house empty so early, I hadn’t minded one bit. The tight cut of her boy-shorts and the way her loose tops slipped down over her shoulder drove me wild despite my best attempts at not looking. Her pert little body called out to me, begging to be touched.
The first night we’d been a married couple, I was sure that she wanted me to kiss her. Not doing so was a regret I’d kicked myself for all week. She’d laid down next to me on the couch, pressing her body into mine. It was impossible that she hadn’t felt my excitement that night. Even if she’d