Nineteen
Rose did her best to keep her mood up. She wasn’t exactly in a position where she could afford to lose it, after all. She had to keep herself under control, and if she had learned two things, the first was that control was essential. The other was not to believe everything you heard on television.
None of that meant that she was just going to ignore the suggestion, or the humiliation of being asked in a televised interview.
Bryce’s car pulled into the garage. The door closed behind it. Rose bounced Violet on her knee, and the baby cooed happily. On the floor, Sarah was clutching at her foot in her sleep. For an instant, there was a feeling of stillness. It was about to be broken up, and she wasn’t sure that she felt particularly bad about it.
He came through the door.
“I’m home,” he called. She could hear him slipping his shoes off. The leather soles clattered on the hardwood floor as they dropped. Rose squished Violet. The girl made a pleased gurgling noise.
“Welcome home,” Rose called out.
There must have been some hint in her voice of what was going to come, because he didn’t respond until he stepped into the room, and then he leaned against the door-frame with a tired expression.
“Something wrong?”
“I don’t know,” Rose said. It was a lie. She knew what was wrong. She wasn’t sure whether or not there was something incorrect.
“You look upset.”
“I’m not upset,” Rose answered. It was a lie, of course. She wasn’t particularly certain if she had any right to be upset. But she was upset, that much she knew for certain.
“Okay, then. What’s the problem?”
“No problem.”
Bryce was tall; when he reached down and wrapped one of his big hands around Sarah’s midsection and picked her up easily, it was almost awkward-looking. The girl squirmed in his arms as she woke up. Sarah was a sweetheart, though, and she kept her fussing to a minimum when she woke.
“You’re going to have to tell me at some point.”
He was right, of course. Rose knew that much.
“I just heard something.”
“Heard what?”
“At the interview taping.”
“You had one today?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“And what did they say?” He didn’t sound like he was worried about it. He sounded like someone getting ready to engage in some hard-core gossip. And for all the trouble it was going to cause, he probably was getting ready for exactly that.
“It was about you.”
The look on his face reminded her why she was drawing this out the way that she was. He raised an eyebrow. It was almost amused.
“Oh? That’s new. Anything interesting?”
“Very interesting,” Rose said. She turned Violet around and wrapped the girl up in her arms, looking down at her as she dropped the bomb. It felt as if it would help to soften the blow somehow. “They seemed to think that you were already married when we had the wedding, and that it’s null and void.”
Bryce let out a long, low breath. One that didn’t sound like a denial in spite of everything. It set her off.
“So it’s true then?”
“No, it’s not true,” he said. She thought for a moment that she detected a but there. It didn’t come.
“So what’s the claim, then?”
“It’s a lie. Simple as that.”
“They had paperwork, Bryce. Notarized and everything. Are you telling me that someone faked all that?”
“I’m not telling you that at all.”
“What, then?”
“There was a woman before you. There always is, I guess.”
“And?”
“And it wasn’t a good fit.”
“So, what? You just moved on to the next marriage?”
“I never married her.”
“Bullshit.”
He let out a sigh. “Look, you don’t want to believe me, then don’t. But I’m telling you the truth.”
“And let’s say I chose to believe you.”
“I never lied about what this was, Rose. You knew the score.”
“I thought things had changed.”
“I like you, Rose. I’d even say I love you. You’re useful, you’re attractive, you’re smart. I like the girls. I like having the three of you around.”
“But what?”
“But that’s different than when we met. You knew the score.”
“So why didn’t you tell me?”
He let out a long breath. “I’m tired of fighting about this. I’m tired.”
Rose let her head drop. She leaned over.
“Bryce?”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. It felt good.
“What?”
“I don’t want to do this any more.”
“The marriage?”
“The business.” She pressed her head into his shoulder. “The marriage, I’ll keep.”
He pressed a kiss into her head.
“That’s fine.”
“Promise? You won’t be mad?”
“Promise.”
“Bryce?”
He squeezed her again. Sarah twisted into his chest and started drooling. He seemed to ignore it.
“What?”
“I don’t want you to leave me.”
He let out a long breath and pressed a kiss into her head.
“Then I’m not going to.”
“Good.”