Page 85 of Unexpected Entanglement

twenty-eight

“There you are. Is everything okay?” Rowan finally found Chris on the porch, texting on his phone. She’d wondered why he’d never shown up for coffee or breakfast.

Chris glanced up at her from his seat. “I just checked in with Walt and Jane. They’re set to arrive this afternoon with the drapes and the other stuff we asked for.”

“Good to know. I was about to head over to the staff quarters to prepare their rooms,” Rowan said. “You’re sure they’ll be okay there? The rooms are pretty basic.”

“They’re better than basic. They’ll be fine,” Chris said. “If I can sleep there, so can they.”

“What do you mean, if you can sleep there?” Rowan frowned, not following him.

Chris shrugged. “You’ll need my room for the wedding guests.”

“Yeah, but I thought…” she paused. “…you could move in with me.”

He looked at her as if the thought had never occurred to him. “Wouldn’t that complicate things?”

Rowan stuffed her hands into her pants’ pockets. “Nobody needs to know where you sleep. Besides, the staff thinks you’re my fiancé. What would they say if they saw you bunking in the staff quarters?”

“Right.” He nodded.

She shifted on her feet. “Things are about to get complicated with my family coming.”

“Why?” Chris asked flatly.

Rowan frowned at the absence of his usual cheerful mood.

What’s going on?

“What are we going to tell them about us?” Rowan presented the dilemma she’d been thinking.

“We don’t have to tell them anything. After all, we’re just a temporary arrangement,” Chris said shortly.

That answer felt like a physical slap that Rowan just stood there, stunned. He only said what she herself had told herself, but it was an enormous shift from the way they’d left things earlier.

“Right,” she murmured.

“Maybe I should go,” Chris suddenly suggested.

“What?” Rowan jolted.

Chris fiddled with his phone in his hands. “My presence complicates the situation. You don’t have to explain anything to anyone if I’m not here. Jane can run the wedding.”

“Where the hell is this coming from?” Rowan demanded, searching his face.

Chris avoided her gaze and got on his feet. “I just had a reminder of why I came here. And my dad has been texting me to—”

Rowan cut him off, glaring at him. “You promised me two weeks. You’ll stay for two weeks.”

Chris finally met her eyes, but with none of the joviality she’d come to like about him.

“I’m holding you to your word.” Rowan stood and told him, “Obviously, I can’t keep you here if you really need to go see your dad. But I need you for this wedding. I’m asking you for one more week, then you’re free.”

I’m not ready to lose you just yet.

Before Chris could answer, the rumble of an incoming car got their attention. A truck approached the main house.

“Is that Gibbes? What does he want now?” Rowan said, annoyed their conversation was disrupted.

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