“Miss Foster!” Emily practically yelled when I walked into the drama room the next Monday. “We thought you might never come back.”

“And the sub was awful. We watched the movie more times than we rehearsed. I think she has a crush on Marlon Brando,” another girl, Jade, said.

“Pity he got so gross when he got older,” a third piped up. The rest of the class laughed until I lifted my hand, a sign they knew meant they needed to settle down.

“How was your holiday?” Emily asked the moment things quieted, bringing the attention back to herself as she was wont to do.

I smiled as I held out my hand for them to see. Besides Alesha, these girls were the closest things to friends I had. Sad, I know, a grown woman considering sixteen-year-olds as friends.

“Is that a ring on your finger? You’re engaged?” The girls rushed the front of the room and gathered around me to get a closer look at my bling.

“Married, actually,” I said, making them gasp even more.

“We didn’t even know you had a boyfriend.”

I just smiled and shrugged, knowing that any further details would be highly inappropriate in the current situation.

“So, it isn’t Miss Foster anymore?”

“No. Now it’s Mrs Cartwright.” I said it with pride. Finally, I wasn’t the sad, fat and single girl anymore. Now I was a married woman. I never realised how much I’d wanted that title until the moment I said it out loud.

Mrs Nathaniel Cartwright.

When Nate pulled up outside the school to pick me up from work, there was a gaggle of teenage girls trying to get a glimpse of him. Word had spread pretty quickly around the students and even the faculty that I’d run off and gotten married. That’s when the speculation began about what he looked like, whether he was big like me, and the most offensive one—whether I’d paid for a mail-order groom. I couldn’t wait for them to eat their words, but at the same time, I kind of wanted to keep Nate to myself and rushed towards the passenger door so we could leave without satisfying their curiosity. I had more pride than that.

Although, the decision got taken out of my hands when he got out of the car to open my door for me. A collective gasp rose from the peanut gallery.

“Oh my God. He’s so tall. And hot!” I heard one girl exclaim, like it was such a shock that I could land a man like Nate.

“I don’t believe it,” another said.

The whispering that followed made me a little snappy, and I almost told them all to fuck off before one girl from outside the group, a girl named Edith who was little and round like me, moved in front of me with her hands clasped together as she looked between me and Nate. She whispered, “Congratulations, Miss,” before scurrying away. If she’d been a cartoon character, there would’ve been love hearts in her eyes. Just seeing her reaction was all I needed to cool my jets—now she knew that big girls scored hot guys too. I was the best role model ever.

“Your fan club, duchess?” Nate asked as he leaned past me to open my door. The girls all kept staring, so he smiled at them and gave a little wave.

“More like sceptical spectators,” I muttered as they made gasping noises.

“Then let’s give them something to gossip about,” he said, wrapping me in his arms and kissing the life out me as the girls cheered him on with squeals and giggles. It felt like I was on the red carpet with a movie star.

“You’re going to get me sacked.” I laughed as he stood me back up. “I’m lucky they let me come back as it is.”

“That’s an idea,” he said, waggling his eyebrows. “Then you’d have more time to devote to me.”

With a playful slap against his chest, I slid into the passenger seat and waved goodbye to the girls. Some of them looked as though they might combust if Nate hung around much longer. Take that, skinny bitches. It was the most cathartic experience of my life, and I needed to remember to put a photo of Nate and me on Facebook so all the snooty bitches from my high school days could drool and be jealous at the sight of my gorgeous husband. Which reminded me…

“Do you think we can we stop in at my aunt’s before we drive all the way back? I’ve only spoken to her once since the wedding, and she worries about me. Plus I really would like it if you’d meet her.”

Pulling away from the curb, that tongue of his moved over his lips. “Will she recognise me?”

“Recognise you?”

“Yeah, from the detailed description you so helpfully provided the police sketch artist.”

“Well no, I don’t think so. No one recognised you from that sketch. The likeness wasn’t really the best, was it? Don’t think recalling details is my greatest strength. The sketch looks more like Hugh Jackman than you.” I chuckled.

“I don’t look like Hugh Jackman?”

“Well, er, no. There are similarities, which is why I kept likening you to him when I was describing you to the sketch artist. I do think I went a little overboard though. Now poor Hugh is probably wanted for burglary.”

“Poor Hugh,” he repeated with a chuckle before asking for Aunt Maya’s address.

“So, yes?” I clapped as he steered in the right direction.

“Yes, duchess. I’ll meet your aunt.”

“She’s going to love you.”

“I don’t trust him,” Aunt Maya said the moment we were alone. “He’s too good-looking, and what do we really know about him?”

“Aunt Maya,” I warned, pulling mugs from the cupboard to make tea.

“You have to ask yourself these questions, Holland. He married you after what, one weekend? What if he’s after your money? That inheritance from your parents isn’t small.”

“He’s not after my money, Aunty,” I responded in a hushed tone. “He doesn’t even know about it.”

“Are you sure? There are all those cyber hackers these days.”

“I’m sure. Is it too much to ask for you to just be happy for me?”

“Of course I can be happy for you. But I’m going to look out for you too. You’re my number-one priority in this world, not some muscle-bound surfer type. He is a surfer, isn’t he? He looks like he’d be a surfer.”

“I haven’t seen it yet, but yes, he does surf when the desire arises.”

“See? I can pick a man just by looking at him,” she insisted.

With my lips pressed together, I shook my head as I regarded her. “I love him. I want to be with him,” I told her, just as I heard the water turn on in the bathroom. Nate would be back out in a minute. “Please, Aunty. Be nice.” I gave her a pointed look. She held up her hands and went back to preparing tea.

“Anything I can help with?” Nate asked when he returned, dropping a casual kiss on the side of my head.

“That depends,” Aunt Maya said. “Did you wash your hands?”

“Sure did,” he said, holding them out palms up. “Want to sniff them to make sure they smell like soap?” He wiggled his fingers.

“I think I’ll pass,” she retorted, although I was sure I saw her lips twitch.

“Then what can I do?”

“You can get the milk from the fridge.”

Nate fetched the milk while I placed teabags inside each mug and Aunt Maya poured the water.

“So, tell me, Nathaniel,” she asked when we were seated around the dining table, a plate of chocolate biscuits between us all. “What is it you do for a living?”

I almost choked on my biscuit as soon as I bit into it. Why hadn’t I thought about this part? We hadn’t discussed what he was going to say.

With a charming smile, Nate finished his sip of tea, then placed his mug back on the table. “My family owns a series of small businesses. I help manage those. I also lease out some of my land to hobby farmers. They run some cattle and sheep on the acres at the back of my property.”

Aunt Maya’s eyebrows lifted. “Land?”

“Nate owns eighty-three acres right across from Bells Beach, Aunty. You can see the ocean from nearly every window. It’s beautiful. You should come see it some time.” I glanced at Nate to make sure I wasn’t overstepping by inviting her. He seemed unfazed.

“And what about that brother of yours? The one who married Alesha? Does he do the same as you?”

“There are five of us in total. We all help in some capacity.”

“Your family’s business portfolio must be extensive if it can keep five brothers busy. Exactly what are these holdings?”

“Aunt Maya,” I hissed, finding her prying rude while also knowing that the more questions she asked, the less answers she’d get, which would cause a problem.

Nate sat back and wiped a hand over his face. “Let’s see, there’s a storage facility, a laundromat, two bars, a caravan park, a surf shop, my two youngest brothers run a landscaping business—oh, and there are a handful of real estate holdings on top of that.”

“Your family has fingers in a lot of pies,” Aunt Maya responded, while I wondered if any of what he said was true. Either way, my aunt seemed appeased that he was independently wealthy enough not to be after the five-hundred-grand inheritance I had placed in a term investment as my early retirement plan.

That meant she could move on to other things. “Explain something else to me, then, Nathaniel. What possessed you and your brother to elope with two women you only just met?”

An uncontrollable grin spread across Nate’s features as he draped an arm over the back of my chair. “Love at first sight,” he stated without flinching. “I saw Holland and couldn’t imagine the rest of my life without her.”

When his eyes landed on me, I couldn’t help myself. I leaned over and kissed him.

“Good answer,” Aunt Maya said when I finally released him. She was leaning with her elbows on the table, her chin in her hand. “OK, you win. I like him.”