my eyes.
“No. Look, he offered to marry me—”
“—Nate?”
“I said no.”
Rick took a little walk, huffing as he paced. “Why?”
Why didn’t anyone understand? “I won’t get married just because I accidentally conceived child.”
“That’s the way it’s done.”
“It’s not the right way for me!” I bit my lip. “I know I’d be happy with Nate. I can’t stop thinking about him. I’m completely overwhelmed by him. But I can’t marry him for the wrong reasons.”
“If you fell for him, then how can it be the wrong reason?”
“Because we’ve only been together for three months, and I’ve only been honest with him for like, eighteen hours.”
“You care about him.”
“I do, and that’s why I want to do this right. I want to know what we have is real. I’m not afraid of being alone in this. I’m afraid of losing Nate forever.”
Rick pulled me close. “Mandy, you will never be alone. You have your family. You have me. I promise you.”
I’d missed his hugs. He always knew what to say. I rested my head on his shoulder.
“It means a lot to me,” I said.
“It’s the truth. I want you to know if Nate doesn’t come through for you…I will.”
“You’re very sweet.”
He stroked my back. “This isn’t about being sweet. I know you don’t think it’s the right thing, but Nate offered to marry you so he could provide you with stability. It wasn’t just about how he felt, it was him taking responsibility.”
I hugged him closer. “Taking responsibility is a slippery slope into feeling resentment.”
“No.” Rick shook his head. “Not always. We’re men. We like to protect our woman and our families. What better way than to live with you, stay with you, take care of you?”
I sniffled. “I guess. But if I want more than that…?”
“Then you work at it.”
“I don’t even know if he’d ask again. Or what I’d say.”
Rick hesitated. “Mandy, I just want you to know you have more than one option here.”
“I do?”
“Yeah. You have me.”
I pulled away. Rick wasn’t smiling. He looked…serious.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“You can marry me.”
I froze.
He wasn’t…he didn’t actually mean…?
His divorce was hardly finalized and he offered to marry me?
“We’re not in love,” I said.
He nodded. “I know. But we’re friends. You and I have something special, and it’s something rare. I’d provide for you, keep you safe, give the baby a good home.”
“Rick—”
“Don’t answer now, because it’s probably confusing for you. But know that you will never be alone. Marriage is about more than fairy tales and cupids. It’s an agreement between two people with mutual interests who care about one an other. I hope you understand that.”
I didn’t.
I couldn’t.
I had no idea what to say or if I could even produce the words to puff out any sort of unflattering squeak. I swallowed.
A loveless marriage…but one that was built on friendship. If I hadn’t felt that thrill in Nate’s arms, I’d have thought Rick’s offer was the only logical way to approach a relationship.
But I’d felt the truth when Nate moved in me. Our passion wasn’t lust or selfish desire but a shared trust. In those few moments together, I found an eternity of happiness. Nate was everything I wanted, and what sparked between us was the beginning of perfect bond between two imperfect people.
“Thank you, Rick.” I pulled him into a hug. “You have no idea how much you mean to me.”
“I didn’t even get to use my line on you yet.”
“What’s that?”
He winked. “I’m a cardiologist. I’d never break your heart.”
I groaned. “A woman would be crazy to resist you.”
“Are you crazy?”
I bit my lip. “Rick…I…”
A shadow dropped over us, the light blocked from the doorway to the fellowship hall.
Oh no.
I knew exactly who it was. And I knew why he had stormed off.
Rick swore, but I left him outside, racing through the church.
What had he seen? What did he think he overheard? I rushed into the parking lot, staring through the darkness to stop him before he left. I hadn’t run fast enough.
“Nate, wait!”
His car peeled out of the gravel lot. He was gone. I sunk onto the stairs.
How was I going to get him back now?
21
Mandy
“You waxed off my eyebrow!”
Lindsey’s frantic cry launched me out of the stylist’s seat. My sister was missing an eyebrow, and I nearly lost an eye. The stylist shrieked and tossed her scissors down.
Mom flipped shit. She kicked the girl struggling to paint her toenails as she heaved herself from the chair. Trays crashed and magazines scattered. A bottle of