He was deeply gratified to know she didn’t mean what she’d said. She wanted him with her.

“I’m not leaving you.” He meant more than she realized he was saying.

“Thank you.” Mary Jo sounded both relieved and embarrassed.

“I’ll stay here with you and we’ll wait for Linc.”

Mary Jo sent him a grateful look. “Thank you,” she repeated.

He held out his arms for Noelle, and Mary Jo handed him the baby who settled instantly in his embrace. He smiled down at her, tickling her chin with his index finger. Outwardly he remained calm, but he was thinking furiously, wondering exactly what he should say to Mary Jo—and how he should say it.

“I should start packing,” she said.

Mack raised one hand, stopping her. “Don’t.”

“But—”

“I have an idea that might work.”

She blinked. “What kind of idea?”

“An idea that’ll let you stay in Cedar Cove.”

Her expression grew hopeful. “What?”

Mack gathered his resolve. “You could marry me.”

The color seemed to drain from her face, and for a few seconds he was afraid she might faint.

“What do you think?” he asked, terrified that she’d reject him outright. His heart felt as if it had shot into his throat and lodged there.

“You don’t mean that.”

“I do.”

Mary Jo leaned against the wall. “That won’t solve anything,” she said.

Mack disagreed. “The next time David comes around, he’ll be dealing with me, your husband. He’ll be speaking to both of us. Trust me, if he does try this trick again, it’ll be the last time.”

“You don’t have to marry me to—”

“It would give me the authority to tell him to stay away from my family.”

“But—”

“I’ll legally adopt Noelle.” He watched as her eyes flared with what he assumed was happiness. Then almost immediately her face fell.

“David won’t let you adopt Noelle, especially if he’s planning to use her to manipulate his father for funds.”

Mack shook his head. “He’ll surrender his rights if we pressure him for child support. We could probably prove without too much trouble that he’s an unfit father.” Mack suspected that as soon as David Rhodes realized he wouldn’t be able to use his daughter as leverage against Mary Jo and his father, he’d be willing to sign over all parental rights.

Mary Jo seemed to consider his proposal. “It’s…very nice of you to offer.”

She was going to reject him. Mack held himself rigid, bracing for her next words.

She must have sensed his disappointment because she quickly added, “I need time to think about this.”

Mack checked his watch. “You have an hour and twenty-five minutes.” He didn’t mean to make this sound like an ultimatum, but there was a practical reason for the time limit.

She obviously understood what it was. “Before Linc arrives?”

Mack nodded. “I’d like to explain all this to him, so he’s comfortable with me as his brother-in-law.”

“And if I say no?”

Mack expelled his breath. He didn’t want to contemplate that possibility. He’d deal with it if he had to and would volunteer his protection and friendship regardless, but…

“I’m hoping you will agree to marry me,” he said.

She turned away from him and her shoulders rose, then fell. “First my brothers and now you! Why do all of you feel you know what’s best for me and Noelle?”

Mack closed his eyes and recognized that he’d gone about this wrong, but he wasn’t sure how to rectify his blunder. “You’re right,” he said in a low voice. “I don’t know what’s best for you. The problem is, I don’t think I could bear to live without you and Noelle.”

She turned back to look at him, her face tense. She met his gaze, her eyes dark and speculative. Finally she nodded. She’d reached a decision. “Okay. But I want to wait six months and…and this is important. I won’t sleep with you.”

“Ever?” he gasped.

“Not while we’re engaged.”

“But you’ll stay in Cedar Cove?”

She nodded again.

That lightened his mood. Still, there was this six-month engagement she was insisting on. “Why wait that long?” he asked.

“It’ll give both of us enough time to decide if a marriage will work. At the end of six months, we can reevaluate. If there’s no physical contact between us, it would be easier for either one of us to break off the engagement and walk away.”

Mack’s mouth went dry. He didn’t know how to respond.

“Take it or leave it.”

“Ah…”

“Should I assume our arrangement’s off or do we wait six months?”

“Okay, okay, if that’s how you want it.”

Mary Jo relaxed and held out her hand for him to shake. “Then we agree?”

“I guess.”

“Becoming engaged is serious, Mack. ‘I guess’ is not a sufficient answer.”

He swallowed tightly. It was either accept her terms or risk losing her and Noelle. The baby gurgled and smiled up at him. “Okay, we’ll do this your way,” he muttered and they shook hands.

“So we’re engaged,” Mary Jo said.

Engaged. To the woman he loved. But it seemed more like a business deal—and not a very advantageous one, either.

Twenty-Nine

“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Linc felt obliged to ask. He and Lori Bellamy stood in front of the Kitsap County Courthouse nearly three weeks after their initial meeting. Their hands were tightly clasped. Linc wore his best suit. Fact was, he only had the one suit—and he might be wearing it a second time this year at Mary Jo’s wedding. Her engagement to Mack McAfee wasn’t a complete surprise, and it did give him a certain measure of reassurance.

Lori was so beautiful in her pink dress it was an effort not to stare. She responded with a delicate nod. “I’m ready if you are.”

“Did you tell your parents?”

“No.” Her eyes connected with his. “Did you tell your brothers? And your sister?”

Linc shook his head. He didn’t feel it was necessary for his brothers to know just yet.

“You have the license?”

Linc patted his suit pocket. “Right here.”

“We’ll need witnesses.”

Linc had forgotten all about that. “Someone from the judge’s office can stand up for us.”

Lori swallowed hard and looked away. “I didn’t tell anyone because I knew if I did, everyone would try to talk me out of it.” She blushed slightly, her right hand clutching the small bouquet he’d bought her. “I want to marry you.”

“Me, too.” Linc wanted a wife, an “old-fashioned” woman who shared his values and wanted to make their family her career, at least while their children were young. Although he didn’t know Lori well, what he did know suited him just fine. They’d had a number of intense conversations, mostly on the phone.

“If anyone knew I’d agreed to marry a man I’d seen a total of four times, they’d think I was mentally unbalanced.” She looked up at him. “Can I ask you something before we go inside?”

“Of course.”

“Linc…” She turned away from him.

“Yes?”

“Do you love me?”

Linc had been afraid she might ask this, and he wished he knew what she wanted to hear, what she expected him to say. As tempting as it was to lie, he didn’t feel that would be a good start to their marriage.

“No,” he said, then immediately qualified his answer. “I don’t love you yet, but I like you more every time we talk.”

“We talk a lot, don’t we?”

Every day, which pleased him. They needed to lay the groundwork for their relationship, set everything in place and work out any disagreements before they said their vows. As a result of their lengthy conversations, he’d made concessions and so had she. He felt that marrying this woman was the right decision, despite their short acquaintance.

“I put in an offer on a commercial property off Harbor Street—the one we talked about.”

Lori suddenly averted her eyes. “My father owns that piece of land. I didn’t know until recently.”

That shouldn’t complicate the situation as far as Linc could see. “I offered a fair price,” he said.

As soon as they were married, Linc intended to move to Cedar Cove and set up his own car repair business. He’d move in with Lori until they found a place of their own. Lori said she wouldn’t be comfortable in Seattle; she preferred to live in a small town. She worked at a dress shop in nearby Silverdale and would continue to do so until they had their first child. Linc believed he could make a success of his new business. He planned to become a silent partner in Three Wyse Men, the family repair shop, leaving its day-to-day operation to Mel and Ned.

“I’m not changing my mind about our marriage,” Lori assured him again.

“Me, neither.” Linc squeezed her hand. Together they walked up the steps to the courthouse.

The ceremony itself was shockingly brief. It hardly seemed legal that they could be practically strangers one minute and married the next.

Linc hadn’t expected the emotion that overcame him when the judge pronounced them husband and wife. In that instant, he experienced a rush of tenderness for Lori that nearly brought tears to his eyes. He was baffled by it, and a little embarrassed, too.

He realized with astonishment that if he hadn’t stopped to help her that night, none of this would be happening. It would’ve been an ordinary Friday afternoon.

Lori didn’t say anything, either, and he wondered if she’d felt the emotions he had. If so, she didn’t mention it. In fact, neither of them had anything to say until they were seated in Linc’s truck.

Lori smiled at him. “Hello, husband,” she murmured.

Linc returned her smile. “Hello, wife.”

Wife. What a powerful word that was. A word that said companion, friend, partner…lover.

As he started the engine, he asked, “Is there anyplace you’d like to go first?” It was a few minutes before five.

“Maybe we should have an early dinner.”

“Sure.” Linc hid his disappointment. He’d hoped she’d suggest they go straight to her place. He’d brought his suitcase and wanted to unpack, settle in before…He’d been looking forward to sleeping with Lori. So far, their physical relationship consisted of a few less-than-chaste kisses. Her response to their tentative lovemaking had led him to believe they’d definitely be sexually compatible.

“I’d like to introduce you to my sister before we do that,” Linc said, trying to take his mind off their wedding night.

“You mean now or…after?”

“Now.”