Page 49 of Happy Wife

“Hey, I kind of like Hot Mean Lawyer.”

“You might not be taking this seriously. But I happen to bevery serious.” And as he handed me the phone, I could feel him watching my reaction. “Tell me what you think about this.”

His new contact card said: Husband.

“What are you—” My breath caught at the top of my throat.

I looked up, and he was tying his drink straw into a ring.

“Nora Davies.”

Is this real? If the ring is a straw, does that still make the proposal real?

“Mm-hmm,” I whimpered, wondering if it was possible to faint from happiness.

“I didn’t think I could ever be happy like this. I didn’t think I’d ever feel this light and hopeful about the future. Knowing you has brought me to life. And you have become everything that’s good about my life. And I want to spend the rest of it feeling that way.”

His eyes were soft and pleading, and I could see the hand that offered up the makeshift ring trembling just a little. We had been dating less than a year, and we had never discussed marriage.

“Marry me, Nora.”

It reminded me of the first time he asked me on a date—he was out on a limb again, asking a question he didn’t quite know the answer to.

“Yes,” I whispered. And then with a quiet giggle, “Yes, please.”

He pulled me against him and kissed me in a rush. Then he carefully slid the plastic ring on my finger. “I’ll get you a real one when we get home.”

I was still half weeping, half giggling when he kissed me on the forehead and said, “This next part is going to sound crazy. But hear me out. Marry me tonight.”

“Really? Seriously?” I felt giddy, like we were scheming some kind of secret mischief.

“Totally. Seriously.”

Cynics would have told you that this was the moment it all went to hell. I was too young. We didn’t know each other well enough. He was a workaholic. And we couldn’t have rushed into things much faster. We shouldn’t have rushed into things at all.

But we loved each other.

And so on the white, sandy beaches of Nevis, we got married. I wore a gauzy white dress I found in the hotel gift shop, and theconcierge, who had agreed to be our witness, brought me a bouquet made of fresh flowers from around the property.

Then, we stayed in bed for days, living off room service and champagne.

And all the while, there was a tiny voice in the back of my head that couldn’t join in the celebration. A whisper of hesitation I couldn’t shake no matter how hard I tried. When the corner of my eye caught on the drink straw on my left hand, the whisper got louder.

It’s too soon. Too good to be true.

But he seemed so certain, so I let myself believe him.

Chapter22

“Jesus. Fuck!” the voice boomed from down the hall. “What in Christ’s name were you thinking, Will? You fucking eloped on a goddamn beach? You didn’t think about what that would expose us to?”

Will answered calmly, “I really didn’t think my personal life had anything to do with you, Fritz.”

“Like hell!” Fritz roared.

Autumn found me in the kitchen, pretending not to listen to Fritz and Will fight in Will’s home office. Or, to be more accurate: pretending not to listen to Fritz yell while Will responded in a voice now too low to hear. I did my best to look composed even though I felt like a kid about to be sent to the principal’s office. I looked down at the outsize diamond now sitting on my finger. True to his word, Will had replaced the plastic straw with a massive stone and diamond pavé wedding band within a few days of our return from Nevis, but I kept the plastic ring in my jewelry drawer. The sentimental feeling I got when I spotted it was in sharp contrast to the shame I felt listening to Fritz yell.

Am I in trouble for getting married?