He couldn't wait until Monday to let his best friends know the news. As soon as Donovan dropped Becca off at her house, he texted Kent. “Meet me at the pub. Drinks are on me.”

Kent sat on the bar stool furthest away from the door in front of the large screen television, and Keane was stationed in his spot behind the beer taps. His friends knew him so well he didn’t have to say a word. They knew.

Keane set the first mug of beer in front of Donovan. “Let me get this straight. You just said remember that crazy idea we had twenty years ago? Let’s do it? And, she said yes?”

Donovan answered candidly, “I did mention a significant loss of money was in the works if I didn’t get married.” He took a swig of beer and swallowed. When he said it aloud, it sounded rather cold. “There was a kiss after she agreed to help me.” He might as well get all of it out there. If there was a kink in his plan, they’d see it and help him make the necessary adjustments.

“There was no date per say or hanky panky that we don't know about." Keane placed the second mug of beer in front of Kent. "You told her that you were marrying her for money and she went along with it?”

“I know it sounds harsh.” Even if it was true, Donovan didn’t like the hint of sarcasm he heard in Keane’s voice. Then again Keane had said proposing without a courtship was a bad idea. Donovan knew Becca. If he turned romantic out of nowhere, Becca would have grown suspicious. Then when he told her the truth she'd have been hurt. No, it was better to tell her the truth from the get go. 

“I’m not judging,” Keane waved away the miscommunication. “I didn’t know we had that sort of a woman in our town. Do you think there are more like her?” He quickly added, “I’m just asking for a friend.”

Donovan and Kent guffawed at their friend’s solicitation. After his wife’s death, Keane had been a committed bachelor. He was friendly enough and talked to the women in town, but that was as far as it went. Even after her death, he was still married to his first wife. The wedding band on his left hand was evidence of it.

“It took me five holes of golf to get her to say yes and four more to convince her it was a good idea.”

“You proposed on the golf course? How did you manage that?”

“I let her beat me at the first hole. After I made it, I pretended to put her ball in my pocket. When she accused me of stealing her ball, I pulled the ring box out of my pocket and handed it to her.” Donovan’s voice retold the story with more confidence than he felt. He had worried that she'd notice the bulky box in his pocket. Or worse, what if the box fell out before he was ready to give it to her? He’d lose the element of surprise.

“And she said yes?”

“She said no,” he admitted. However, he expected no. One of the things he loved about Becca was her level-headed approach to situations. Donovan waved his finger to indicate he had a counter plan. “Of course, she said that she didn’t want to ruin our friendship. That was when I brought up the agreement we made in our twenties.”

“And that worked?” Kent, who had been listening silently since he sat on the stool beside Donovan, joined the conversation.

“No. But I knew I had seventeen holes to wear her down.”

“How exactly did you do that?”

Donovan felt the chemistry between them in the water the day before. If he hadn't had a bigger prize in mind, he'd have done something about it. Not being one to kiss and tell, he lied, “I explained that marriage is not hearts and flowers. It’s two people coming together to form a team to make it through life. Since we were already a team, it was only right that we made it official.”

Kent shook his head. “You’re not telling us something.”

One of the benefits of being friends for a lifetime was the ability to see hints of emotions people would rather hide. Donovan saw it in Becca all the time. She’d pretend to be confident, but something in her voice always gave it away. Now, it was working against him. Kent and Keane had probably picked up on something he didn’t want them to know. Donovan had every intention of marrying Becca when they were in their twenties. He had never admitted it to either Keane or Kent because he didn’t want them to call him out for not following through. Love was complicated. Loving a best friend was that much more difficult.

To shake them off the trail that was too close for Donovan’s comfort, he tinted the truth by giving only half the information. “I told her if she didn’t like it after six months we'd go back to how it was before we got married.” Of course, it wouldn’t be an issue. As soon as Becca saw how well they got along, she’d stay with him. The proposal wasn’t under ideal circumstances, but the intent behind it was sincere.

Donovan had spent most of their adult life on the outskirts of Becca’s life watching her choose men that weren’t right for her. He’d helped her see a couple times that the guys she dated were dirt bags. Because of the way the truth came about, he couldn’t exactly press the issue. He waited for a sign that there was some interest beyond friendship from her. None came, so he pretended to be satisfied with them being friends. Thanks to a little prod from his grandfather’s will that was about to end.

“Seriously, some guys have all the luck.” Kent pushed his empty glass in Keane’s direction. “Which is why he’s going to buy the next round too.”