Finally, Mara spoke. “So what are you going to do?”
“I love him,” Kristin confided. “He gave me the choice of whether or not I wanted to make this marriage real without any restrictions. He even offered to make sure I was financially set up for life. But I don’t want his money. I want him. But I have to be realistic. Sooner or later, he’s probably going to miss his life in California. I’m not sure what to do right now.” She let out an audible sigh.
The women all gave her a sympathetic look as they talked about her options. Even with everything laid out on the table and her choices clear, Kristin wanted Julian to be happy with her choice. She couldn’t move permanently, because her parents would still need her. She was their only child. What would happen if Julian woke up one day and figured out that he missed his old life, that he wanted his adoring fans and movie contracts? Kristin would be nothing except the one person who was keeping him in Amesport. She never wanted him to resent her that way, and she didn’t want to hold him back from a career he’d busted his ass to establish.
The women were silent for a few moments after they discussed her choices, until one of them, thankfully, changed the subject.
“Beatrice was right again,” Emily said in a solemn voice. “That’s five out of five on the Sinclairs. Hope doesn’t count because Beatrice never had a chance to make her match.”
Hope chuckled. “I think I did a pretty good job on my own. Jason was meant for me long before either one of us knew it.”
“I heard she gave Xander a chain with an Apache tear,” Tessa shared. “Micah told me. She drove out to his house. I’m surprised he answered the door.”
“Who has the other stone? Who is he going to love?” Kristin asked cautiously.
Tessa shrugged. “Nobody knows.”
Kristin found it hard to imagine any woman would want to take Xander on like he was now. It was going to have to be somebody pretty damn special. Although she did hurt for Julian’s little brother; he was a train wreck.
After catching up on other news in town, Kristin finally stood. “I’d better go. I have to work tomorrow and my boss is a slave driver,” she teased.
Sarah, her boss, looked over at her and smirked. “You notice I’m still here. I might just be late myself.”
Kristin’s lips formed a genuine smile. Sarah was the smartest, most organized physician she’d ever worked with. If her boss was one minute late, she’d be worried. “I’ll cover for you,” Kristin said with a laugh as she put on her coat, knowing Sarah would be in front of her first patient by nine o’clock sharp.
Shivering as she started up the SUV, she knew she could very easily spend the night at her apartment here in town and save herself the drive out to Julian’s house tonight and again in the morning when she went to work. But for some reason, her heart balked at the idea of not going home, even though she hadn’t yet decided where she’d be when Julian returned.
Home.
It was the house where she’d learned how incredibly happy she could be with a husband she loved. It was a place where she could see her things combined with Julian’s, and his bed was a location where she could fall asleep faintly inhaling his scent.
What if he changes his mind? What if he’s had time to think about us and he wants to be free?
She shook her head, muttering to herself, “That’s all bullshit, Scarlet, and you know it.”
The comment sounded so much like Julian’s that she smiled and then headed for the highway toward his house.
Julian had laid his heart on the line. The ball was in her court.
She just wished she knew exactly which way to run to retrieve it.
There was only one thing she knew for certain: by this time tomorrow, they were going to resolve this situation once and for all.
CHAPTER 23
“What if she’s not there? What if she decided she wants to leave?” Julian asked Micah, after he’d spilled the whole story about what had happened with Kristin before he’d left for California, when Micah came to pick him up at the small Amesport airport.
He knew he could have gotten a car, but he’d called Micah to come take him home instead. The thought of a ride with a silent driver hadn’t been very appealing.
“I still can’t believe you married her when you were both drunk off your asses,” Micah replied. “That sounds like something I would have done.”
“I knew what I was doing. I wanted to marry her,” Julian grumbled.
“Then why are you worried? She’ll be there. It’s pretty obvious to me that you’re crazy about each other.”
Julian was crazy about Kristin. He just wasn’t sure it went both ways.
“I hope so,” he answered distractedly as Micah maneuvered onto the two-lane highway.