I didn’t say a word to Laurie before I stood and left the room. I wasn’t hurt—I was completely crushed. And what the fuck was with him wanting me to lay down next to him in some intimate farce while he cut me open, and then proceeded to pour salt on the wound.

Grabbing my jacket, I patted my pocket for my keys and phone, then went downstairs. I slipped out the door and pulled it quietly shut behind me before any of the kids could hear me leaving.

Chuck was mending a patch of fence near my truck when I made my way out back to where I was parked. He looked up and grinned my way with his toothy, fake-ass smile as I walked around to the driver’s door.

“Something wrong today, boss man? Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help,” he said in a helpful way that made me feel like crap for doubting him.

I shook my head as I yanked open the door to my truck. “Nah, man, don’t worry about it. Turns out I’m not quite as married as I thought I was. But nevermind about that—keep an eye on things around here, if you don’t mind. I’m taking off for a while.”

After I drove around aimlessly for about an hour, I found myself parking in front of my grandmothers’ house. Grandma Dot was outside watering her begonias when I pulled up. I groaned, knowing that I couldn’t change my mind about stopping here now that she’d seen me.

Grandma held her hand up to shield her eyes like a visor while she watched me park and jog over to where she stood. After she greeted me with a hug, she leaned back and examined me. Her eyes searched mine with concern, but she didn’t mention it—yet.

“Good to see you, boy. Let’s go in and see if we can’t finagle a cookie or two out of your granny.”

“Libby, get in here, woman. Come see what the cat dragged in,” Grandma called out as we walked inside. She led me into the cozy little dining room where my grandmothers shared their meals at a little round table that could be opened into a large oval with the addition of several leaves when company dictated it.

Given the size of the room they kept it in, that wasn’t really an option though. As it was, there was barely enough room for the three of us to sit comfortably around the table without bumping into any of the bric-a-brac that Granny collected.

After we’d made small talk for a good half hour, and I’d drunk half a pot of tea and eaten several of the homemade cookies that were large enough to cover my palm, Granny Libby covered my hand with hers. The corners of her mouth were pinched together, and her eyes filled with worry as she spoke.

“What’s going on, Dean? And why aren’t you with Laurie right now? Tell me what’s wrong, honey.”

I took another sip of tea to settle my stomach before telling them the truth of my marriage, and how we’d never actually intended for it to be real but now that it was, I needed to figure out how to get an annulment or a divorce—as soon as the farm went through probate, of course.

Grandma Dot sucked in a breath. “And how does Laurie feel about all this? Because I need to tell you, those babies sure think that you are there to stay. And honey, the way you look at that boy? I think you want to stay too. Are you really going to sit there and tell me that you don’t have feelings for him?”

“You know what, I honestly don’t know if I do or not. I thought I did, but I thought Laurie wanted it too, and I was obviously wrong about that.”

I leaned back in my chair and pinched the bridge of my nose as I looked up at the ceiling. Blinking my watery eyes, I cursed the seasonal allergies that must be affecting me before I continued with my thoughts.

“See, the thing is… I’ve never had feelings for anyone before. And I know that now, because every time I ever got dumped? It never felt like I was donkey-kicked in the gut like this when the relationship ended. I don’t know, do you think it’s because of the kids that it hurts so bad this time?”

Granny rolled her eyes. “No, honey. It hurts because you love that boy, you goof.”

I thought about that for a second, remembering my conversation with the hogs earlier and how happy I’d been. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it didn’t matter. I shook my head and tried to explain to my grandmothers.

“It’s too late, Granny. He told me he wants out—he even wants me to find a replacement for the farm. He doesn’t even want me to work there anymore! But then, he’s all over the place lately, you know? One minute he’s happy, then he’s sad, then he’s pissed, then he’s excited… I think the grief is messing him up. Then he told me he should’ve known that I’d find a way to be free of him after we got the certificate in the mail today and I vowed that I’d go figure out a way to get it dissolved. That tells me right there that he doesn’t have feelings for me. If he did, how could he even think that?”

Granny sighed with a sad smile as she patted my hand. “Honey, I sent that in for you boys. I thought I was taking a load off your minds and helping you. I had no idea this was a fake arrangement, or I never would’ve done that. But I’ll tell you this much—it’s not grief messing him up. It’s called being pregnant, you silly boy.”

Grandma nodded in agreement. “Listen, Dean-o, this is what you’re gonna do. You’re gonna stop in town, and pick up a pound of fudge, a pint of his favorite ice cream, and a bouquet of roses. Then you’re gonna haul your ass back out to that farm, drop to your knees and beg that husband of yours to keep you.”

I thought about their words for a second, my mind flashing on recent moments with Laurie—dancing in Kade’s studio, sitting hand-in-hand for long hours at Chris’ bedside while we’d hoped and prayed that the boy would wake up, watching him walk up the aisle at our wedding with all three of his beautiful children, that romantic moonlight kiss that I’d screwed up on our honeymoon, even scattering his Gramps’ ashes—yeah, every single one of my recent memories since Laurie had come back into my life was filled with a strong thread of affection between the two of us.

I stood up so fast that my chair banged into the wall behind me. I winced and looked at Grandma with my best apologetic smile.

“Trust me, the next time I’m over, I’ll paint whatever scratch or ding that chair made in the wall—but I need to get out of here right now. I need to get to town.”

Grandma waved off my worries. “Don’t worry about it, get out of here—go get your man, honey.”

I was still smiling an hour later until I pulled into the driveway of the farmhouse. I swerved over to the side and jumped out of my truck to run over to see what the hell was going on when I saw Laurie standing on the porch with all three kids clustered around him while the sheriff and Mrs. Adams stood at the base of the steps.