Page 54 of Won't Back Down

“No.” There went that stubborn tilt to her chin.

“Why not? This is the easy answer.”

“Because I’m not going to dignify this insult to you by having legal paperwork drawn up to that effect. That suggests I don’t trust you. This is just one more way my father’s trying to take a dig at you, just like he always has.”

Her insult on my behalf was sweet but impractical. “Wren, I don’t give a rat’s ass what your father thinks of me. Let me sign the paperwork. I didn’t marry you for your money, so this changes nothing.”

The attorney studied her for a long moment, a nostalgic smile tipping the corners of his mouth. “You remind me so much of your mother sometimes.”

Willa blinked, taken aback. “Excuse me?”

“The younger her, before she met your father. She could be very stubborn, too.”

“You knew my mother back then?”

“Of course. We both grew up here on the island. Went to school together.” A faint trace of something that might have been sadness or disappointment flickered over his features. “She was a very different person before John.”

I could only imagine. “Willa’s got stubborn genes going back multiple generations, on both sides. But let’s talk about this.”

We went a few rounds about it, but in the end, I signed the document he’d already prepared.

As we stepped out of the office, O’Shea’s secretary hung up the phone. Her eyes gleamed with the kind of excitement that only presaged good gossip.

“That body that was found isn’t Gwen Busby.” Her cheeks colored as her gaze slid to Willa. “Sorry.”

Willa just shook her head. “We already knew. We came from the police station.”

“Did Chief Carson say who they thought it was?” O’Shea asked.

“Only that it was an adult white male, which doesn’t exactly narrow the pool much.”

The lawyer shook his head. “It’s such a damned shame. I don’t know what this world is coming to. But I’m sure the police will get to the bottom of it.”

He had more faith in Carson than I did. It wasn’t like the guy had all that much experience investigating this sort of crime.

Willa stayed quiet on the drive home. Nancy’s announcement about the body had probably gotten her thinking about all that shit again. Not until we carried our couple of bags of groceries into the kitchen did she break her silence.

“Why were you so willing to sign a post-nup?”

She was still upset about that? I set my bag on the counter. “Because I seriously don’t care what anyone thinks. I’m 1000% not after your money. Why does it bother you so much?”

Her eyes lit with something that might have been a battle light. “People have looked down on you all your life for circumstances that were beyond your control. Everything you’ve ever had, you fought and worked for yourself. You could have become bitter and angry and money hungry. You could have become all the things that they’re accusing you of being. But you didn’t. You have always been one of the kindest, most honorable men I have ever known, and I resent the hell out of them for trying to diminish you like that.”

I stared at her, this kind, big-hearted woman who somehow had so much compassion despite everything she’d been through. She saw injustices and wanted to do something about them. So few people had ever thought me worth that. My brothers. Some of their family. Mostly, I’d learned a long time ago that the opinions of small-minded people didn’t matter. But her opinion had always mattered to me. I knew how much she hated conflict, so the fact that she was ready to go to war in my name… well, I didn’t know how to describe what that meant to me. But this reaction still felt unnecessary. The thing was signed.

“I appreciate your desire to defend me. Truly, I do. But I still don’t understand. Me signing that piece of paper doesn’t change anything between us.” Yet she was acting as if it did.

“Won’t it?” There was an odd blend of challenge and quaver in her tone. “If this is the last attack they can make, doesn’t that mean that once it’s resolved, I’m safe and you’re released from your responsibility here? Is that what you want? For all this to be over?”

Fuck no, that wasn’t what I wanted. That had never been what I wanted. But a real marriage wasn’t what either of us had signed on for in the beginning. I was a means to an end, not a true match for someone like her. At least one of us needed to remember that before we slid in any deeper. Still, I wouldn’t lie to her.

“No. No, I don’t want it to be over.” Despite the circumstances, these weeks with her had been some of the best of my life. “But that was always the plan, Wren.” It was the truth, so why the hell did I feel like Roy had just torn out my guts?

She flinched as if I’d struck her, and I was deathly afraid she was about to cry. I couldn’t stand the idea that I’d caused her any kind of pain. But when she looked back at me, it was temper filling her eyes. “Because that’s what you actually want? Or is it because you don’t think you’re good enough? For me? For this? For us?”

The accusation struck me speechless. Because that was exactly what I thought.

She must’ve seen it in my face because she closed the distance between us, reaching up to cup my cheeks. I couldn’t have broken her gentle hold to save my life.