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He givesthe money “Okay”

“Perfect”

The wedding will be splashed across the gossip colu to tell theotthe news, and it’ll seem even more authentic that I swept Ally off her feet and convinced er to marry me

“Corandchildren,” I bellow into the house

Ally colad you’re finding the hu up her nose at me”

I haul her up into , and the photographer follows us down to the river where we take more pictures Ally looks particularly adorable when she takes off her shoes and hikes up her dress to splash a bit in the river She sto out her hand to me “Caleb, come Have you even set foot in the Cumberland yet?”

I sit down on a rock and take offsun casts a beautiful light across Ally’s face, and she looks like a little kid on Christ, and I step into the cool river water, taking Ally’s hand, and despite that this is just an elaborate set up, I can’t help but smile and feel just as excited as h theof the guest bedroom The room is a little dirty, but I can clean it It’s fine It’s bare but it will do Right now there aren’t even sheets on the bed I’ll ask Caleb if he has any extras I’oing to think of this as a kind of extended stay hotel I can always run back to ainst the rules

I smile to myself This used to my roorandfather I can even see the outline in the faded paint of the old pictures Grandpa had hanging on these walls The wood floor still creaked in just the same hen I stepped in the roo that I would stay in here again There’s a satisfying sense of things co full circle Hopefully once this ned back over to me, I’ll think that it orth it I’ll finally be home

The wedding band on er is a little bit loose Now that it’s there, it’s a little hard not to face the reality of what I just did I sold myself to Caleb I know I didn’t, not really, and I did it for the right reasons, but still There’s a feeling that’s nagging at me that I just made a terrible mistake

As if , and I turn to find the ainst the door frame, hands in his pockets, the picture of ease His suit jacket is gone, shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows His hair is less than perfect now, like he’s run his hands through it a couple of tih he’s disheveled When I’ else

“Do you have any extra sheets?”

He nods “I aiting to have all the furniture delivered until I was sure that the interior didn’t need an extensive overhaul, but the repairs it needs are minor, so it’ll be delivered this week”

“Oh”

Silence hangs in the air between us It feels tense and slightly aard in a way that it hasn’t so far But it’s different We are actually married, and there’s no way to avoid that

“Thank you for the dress,” I say I’d gone to pick it out this , and I loved the way itthat I’ve ever owned, and it didn’t even quite cost the aiven me yesterday “And for the paperwork Now that it’s done, I won’t bother you for the next month I still have to work, and I’ll help you with the repairs for the house, but mostly I’ll stay out of your way …”

I trail off as I notice the way he’s looking atthat I said He just stares, a hungry gaze slowly running up and down ainst my will, and I feel the blush bloom across my cheeks and chest “You look beautiful,” he says