Just Married! by Shirley Jump Cara Colter Page A

discovered something more valuable than the property.
    The woman beside him appeared to be a person incapable of subterfuge, incapable of deceit. How many people were there in the world who would be so true to themselves? He could tell how badly Sam wanted to stay in her store, but she had been unwilling to lie to do it.
    But, he reminded himself, there was an irony here. She did lie to herself, the clothes he had disposed of this morning being a perfect example.
    Now as they pulled away from Annie’s Retreat, he could tell she was relieved the playacting was over.
    “I hated that,” she said.
    “I should never have asked you to do that,” he replied. “It was an impulse. I regret it.” But even as he said it, he knew his regret was not one hundred percent. He thought of her fingers on his back, as she teased him, played with him; he thought of nipping the delicate lobe of her ear.
    And was aware he wouldn’t have missed that for the world.
    She misunderstood him. “I know. You could have asked a thousand girls who could have pulled that off better than me. But Annie and Artie were just such nice people. I hated that they wanted us to have that property when it was all a lie.”
    He said nothing, digesting what she was telling him about herself.
    “So, are you done?” she asked. “You aren’t going to try to buy it?”
    “I’ll back off for the time being. What did you think of the property?”
    She was silent, as if she did not want to give anything of herself away to him. Not that he could blame her. But he had already seen things, and she seemed to know it was too late to hide them.
    “I loved it,” she admitted reluctantly.
    “So did I.”
    “But I loved it just the way it was. I mean a few things needed work, the paint, the flower beds, but it would be a shame to change it. A crime.”
    “Unless you were going to raise six kids there,” he teased her.
    She delighted him by blushing. “Just trying to play the part.”
    “Don’t give up your day job.”
    “Don’t worry, I won’t. Unless I get evicted from my building. Then I’ll put out my new sign, Wife for Hire.”
    He chuckled, and her stance toward him softened a bit.
    “I did like your idea about the one wall in the, er, back bedroom,” she admitted.
    For a reason he wasn’t about to investigate, he was sorry she hadn’t called it the nursery. Which is probably why he changed the subject, tried to get it back to the nice, safe area of business instead of the very gray area of nurseries.
    “I’m glad you’re not going to buy my building,”she said thoughtfully, somber. “It sounded great, but it made me uneasy, too. I don’t want to feel indebted to you, but it’s more. Ethan, being the youngest in a family, the only girl, I think I’m used to the boys bailing me out. I don’t want to rely on other people to fix my problems.”
    He was struck by her simple bravery.
    “I didn’t keep my end of our bargain,” she continued. “You can have the outfit back, too.”
    “You know,” he said quietly and carefully, “there’s a fine balance between being independent and being alone. Sometimes it’s good to rely on others, to share your burdens.”
    He remembered the joy that had lit her eyes when she had first twirled in that outfit, and cursed himself for stealing that happiness from her.
    “And sometimes it’s okay,” he continued, “to accept a gift. It’s no threat to your independence. I want you to have the outfit.”
    She shrugged and he suspected the outfit was going to enjoy approximately the same fate as the flowers she had caught just last night.
    Suddenly he wanted out of this mess he had created for himself. Even if he didn’t buy Annie’s Retreat, he would never be able to shake the vision of this girl twirling in front of the mirror and him, her hair and her skirt giving her a gypsy air, never be able to quite escape the memory of her handresting on the small of his back, or her quick intake of air when