"I'm not abandoning my life. I'm... restructuring it."
"By moving to the middle of nowhere for someone you barely know."
"Maya, I know this sounds crazy, but I need you to trust me on this. Can you help me or not?"
Another pause. "Of course I can help you. I just want to make sure you're not making a decision you'll regret when the honeymoon phase wears off."
"The honeymoon phase involved waking up with no memory of getting married. I think we're past that."
"Fair point. Okay, give me your apartment keys when you get back to Atlanta, and I'll keep your plant babies alive while you figure out if mountain life suits you."
"Thank you. Really. I owe you big time."
"You owe me the full story when this either works out brilliantly or crashes and burns spectacularly."
After I hang up, Jason is watching me with something that might be relief.
"Feel better?" he asks.
"Feel like less of a crazy person who abandons all responsibilities for a man," I admit. "Though I'm still questioning my sanity."
"So what do you say, Mrs. Wallace?" Jason stands, offering me his hand. "Ready to go home and figure out how to be married?"
I look at his extended hand, at the wedding ring that matches mine, at the signed contract that represents both our professional success and personal complication.
"Ready," I say, taking his hand and trying to ignore how right it feels. "But I'm keeping my own credit cards."
Jason laughs, the sound warm and genuine. "Deal. Anything else?"
"I'm not cooking every night."
"I'm actually a decent cook. Anything else?"
"No country music in the truck."
"That's a hard no. Country music is non-negotiable in Nevada."
As we go through the early check-out process, hands joined and wedding rings catching the afternoon light, I realize I'm about to embark on the most unprofessional, impractical, potentially disastrous arrangement of my career.
And for the first time in my carefully planned life, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when I stop trying to control the outcome and just let myself experience what it feels like to be Jason Wallace's wife.
Even if I have no idea what that actually means.
7
JASON
The drive from Vegas back to Whisper Vale feels different than the one that took us there three days ago.
Natalia sits beside me in the rental car as we wind up the mountain road toward Whisper Vale, her hand resting on my thigh in a gesture that's become natural despite being new. She's changed out of the business attire she'd worn to the breakfast meeting and into jeans and a soft sweater that makes her look more approachable, more like someone who could actually belong in my mountain sanctuary.
"It's beautiful," she says as we round the curve that reveals the full vista of mountains stretching to the horizon. "I was so nervous the first time I drove up here that I didn't really appreciate the view."
"You were nervous about meeting me?"
"I was nervous about everything. The whole situation. You were a new client in a remote location. I was stepping way outside my comfort zone." She turns to look at me, her expression soft. "I never imagined it would lead to this."
"Accidentally marrying your difficult client?"