Page 33 of Single Dad's Fake Bride
"Have you talked to Theodore about this?"
"Not yet. I wanted to see what the board's next move would be before involving counsel." I swirled the bourbon in my glass. "Now I know."
"And the substitute teacher?"
I found myself hesitating, which Juan would undoubtedly notice. "Her name is Sadie Quinn."
"That wasn't what I asked."
"I approached her yesterday."
"And?"
"She didn't say no…"
Another pause, longer this time.
Juan had known me since college, had been the best man for a wedding that never happened when Eloise's mother disappeared.
He understood my tendency toward understatement when it came to emotional complications.
"Harrison," he said carefully, "are we talking about a business arrangement or something else?"
I thought about Sadie curled in that hospital chair, exhausted and alone.
About the way she'd laughed when I told her she was hard to ignore.
About Eloise's immediate attachment to her and the genuine care I'd observed between them.
"I'm not sure," I admitted. "I kind of actually like her. But you don’t marry someone you like."
"That's honest, at least." Juan's voice carried a note of concern.
"But if you're going to make this work, you need to be sure about what you're asking and what you're offering."
"I know what I'm asking. Five years of her life, Juan. But who would give that up?"
"And what are you offering?" he continued, and I sighed.
The question should have been simple, but I found myself struggling to answer.
"Financial security and protection."
Right?That's what I wanted to give Miss Quinn.
"That's not what I meant, and you know it."
I did know it.
Juan was asking about the parts of the arrangement I hadn't quantified yet—the emotional complexity of sharing a home with someone who wasn't quite a stranger but wasn't quite a partner, either.
The reality of building something that looked real enough to fool a board of trustees while navigating whatever genuine feelings might develop along the way, because I wasn't foolish enough to believe nothing would or could develop.
I already found myself drawn to her.
Even if all we had was a strong friendship, I knew something would brew up between us.
"She's in the hospital right now," I said instead. "Her mother was admitted last night with alcohol-related complications."
