His Temporary Wife (24 page)

Esme stared at her aunt in shock, then wheeled and raced out of the kitchen. Outside
the heat and the shame slammed her, and she stopped and retched until her legs shook.
She took Cattle Guard Road for the last time, stopping indecisively at the highway.
She could turn left and head into Truth. She could turn right and go to Witches Haven,
where Rafael was waiting for her. She could turn right and drive on, beyond Witches
Haven to the interstate and not stop until she hit Rose Creek. She turned right and
headed home.

• • •

Esmeralda turned in front of the mirror and looked at the too thin woman modeling
a dress that looked pretty and meant nothing. Empty. Like a model at a photo shoot,
she’d taken a job. She’d do it to the best of her ability.

Tears stung her eyes and she blotted them with a lace handkerchief—the something borrowed
and blue, Lillie Mae explained in a scribbled note she sent upstairs along with the
handkerchief.

She walked over and glanced out the window. So many people were scattered around,
ruining the landscaping. Her mother and father were center front, conversing with
the justice of the peace who’d driven out to administer the vows. Her eyes narrowed.
She didn’t see Beto anywhere. God help him if he ruined the wedding.

She flinched at the thought that the wedding could be ruined. How did you ruin a summer
job? If anyone could, though, it would be the Salinas family. Her parents and brother
had been in the house since Wednesday, interfering, sponging, taking advantage of
every moment of hospitality and luxury they could. She’d stayed away from them, mostly,
not even feeling guilty as Connie and Rafael tried to please them. Watching Rafael
reassured her that at least he had his anger issues under control. If he could stand
Beto, then she was perfectly safe.

A knock on the door startled her. She opened it and Marc stepped into the room, smiling.
“You look amazing!” Then he turned his head a little, studying her from different
angles, and frowned. “Although I bet that dress didn’t fit so loosely when you bought
it. How long ago?”

“A week.”

“Ha! I knew it. You’ve lost weight since I met you in Cotulla. My guess is you’re
a little worried about this job. But I’m convinced you can help Rafael. He’s been
so different since Cody died. He blames himself for letting his parents down, and
he actually thinks he can make them feel better like this.” Marc caught one of her
hands and gave it a comforting squeeze. “You know, Rafa’s staying here in Truth. He’s
decided he’s ready to quit globetrotting.”

“I’ve heard that.”

Marc smiled gently. “You stood this town on its ear from what I’ve heard. Knocking
a town on its ass and showing it you’re not afraid is a good way to go in.”

“I can see why Nana Ellen calls you ‘
los cuates
.’ You behave like twins. Marc, if I asked you something, would you be honest?”

“If it’s not about me, sure.”

“What kind of woman do you think I am—really? I’m marrying a man for money. For maybe
two months.”

“No.” He shook his head slowly. “You’re taking a temporary job to bring happiness
to two people Rafa and I both love. You’re making Rafael forget some of his pain over
Cody by making it easier for him to try to win custody of a kid he loves. Why would
anyone look down on that, Esme?” He glanced at his watch. “Almost time, my cold-footed
bride.” He made it to the door, then added, “You know what I’d do if I were you, though?
I mean, if the temporary part bothers you?”

“Stand him up at the altar?” Esme asked hopefully and he laughed.

“Nope, just turn it into a permanent position. You know it’s yours if you want it.”
He closed the door between them, and she could hear him whistling all the way down
the stairs.

• • •

Rafael reluctantly handed Justin back to Nana Ellen when she came again to reclaim
the toddler, pointing out that the wedding ceremony was minutes away. He wished he’d
stayed on the back porch a few more minutes, watching his nephew play with Chief and
Luc. The two dogs were banished to the screened area until the wedding guests left,
and Justin was enamored. They kept turning mournful eyes on him as Justin hugged them
and chattered at them, but clearly they didn’t know what to make of the baby.

Rafael glanced at his watch and wondered if Esmeralda was up there, worrying too much.
She’d moved in a week ago, and though he had insisted she take his bedroom, so that
she could get comfortable there, he’d barely seen her. The couch in his study hid
a pullout bed, but on most nights, he’d simply crashed on the sofa itself.

The spacious upstairs would have held a small army, and he and Esme had their own
space—until guests arrived. On Wednesday, Esmeralda’s parents and brother came in,
claiming they wanted to help with preparations. They made themselves completely at
home, taking over two of the bedrooms and expecting to be waited on, fed, and entertained
constantly. He steered clear of Beto when he could, and noticed that Esme rarely spoke
to any of them, a situation that worried him.

Then Nana Ellen arrived with Justin, an assistant nanny named Veronica, and half the
nursery items from the Houston house. Esme seemed taken with Justin and in awe of
Nana Ellen, who even with her advanced age could bark out orders and organize with
the best of them. Luckily, the woman who had spent many years chasing after him seemed
to like Esmeralda, too, so he had one less problem there.

Marie, on the other hand, had become sullen and withdrawn. He wasn’t sure why, since
he’d explained the whole situation. He’d tried to be positive and professional to
his assistant, but when he’d heard her make a snide remark to Beto about Esmeralda,
he dressed her down and warned her that he wouldn’t tolerate indiscretion or insults
directed at his fiancée. She was off Saturdays, and he hadn’t seen her at Witches
Haven the entire day.

A hand on his shoulder startled him.

“Ready?” Marc asked. “We should go to the gazebo, because—wow!”

Rafael’s breath caught a little as Esmeralda paused on the top stair. The dress she’d
chosen flowed over her body in a liquid silver stream. Sequins glittered and created
tiny rainbows that danced around her in a celebration of color and sparkle. She looked
down at him, though, and didn’t smile, and his heart sank a little. Again he wondered
why she’d seemed sure of her decision when she’d kissed him that day on the rock,
and so withdrawn since she’d moved in after leaving her aunt.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” she told them, as she reached the bottom of the
staircase. “Go away.”

“We’re going,” Marc assured her. “Look, if it doesn’t work out, I’m free—”

Rafael glared at him. “Don’t, Marc,” he growled. “Not even joking, okay?”

“Someone twisted his tail awfully early today.” Marc walked over and kissed Esmeralda
on the cheek. “Go get married,” he told her. “Your presence is needed outside, Rafael.
The groom doesn’t walk the bride down the aisle.”

“I’ll be there in a minute. Are you okay, Esme?”

She laughed, but the apprehension in her face was clear. “Sure. My mom’s been telling
me all morning how I’d better not screw up this one shot in my life, my brother’s
plastered, and the aunt I came to Truth to live with hates me.”

He wasn’t sure what he could say. He wanted to say “and your fiancé loves you,” but
he couldn’t. He didn’t love her. And if the breathlessness he felt around her, the
constant dread that he’d wake up and the summer would be over, argued that he might,
maybe, love her after all, he refused to accept that. He wasn’t really her fiancé;
he was her boss. He reminded himself of that sternly. She didn’t look ready to face
any new dilemmas, and he didn’t push her to tell him what was wrong.

But he had to touch her. He caught her hands and squeezed them. “You’re incredibly
beautiful, Esmeralda.” He lifted her left hand and kissed it. The diamond and emerald
ring on her finger added its own sparkle. “This moment feels real,” he murmured and
meant it.

“They told me to come walk Esme out,” her father announced gruffly from behind him,
and he nodded.

“Go ahead,” he said, reluctantly letting her hands slip from his.

He rushed to get to the gazebo ahead of the bride, taking his place with Marc, and
listening as the music began and guests clapped. Smiles greeted Esmeralda as she made
her way toward him, and the sun on her dress was almost blinding. Lillie Mae, leaning
a little on the back of her chair, caught her arm and halted the procession, and he
saw Esme lean in to listen. He didn’t know what the old woman said, but Esme turned
bright red, and she wasn’t easy to embarrass.

By the time the ceremony started, he suddenly realized it didn’t feel like a job.
It felt like marrying a woman he could easily love.

• • •

The knock on the door startled her. Rafael? This was his room, and a husband didn’t
knock on his wife’s door on their wedding night. Besides, he’d been using the study
entrance all week, only coming through the master bedroom to rummage for clothing
or take a shower. The first day or two he hadn’t even showered here, and she assumed
that he’d used the guest room baths.

He stepped in and collapsed back against the door dramatically. “Please don’t make
me go out there again!”

“You brought it all on yourself.”

“Justin’s asleep, and only Marc and your family are still here. Well, plus two nannies.
I broke Luc and Chief out of the porch, and they took over the study. Maybe they’ll
dissuade Beto from walking in every five minutes.”

“When is everyone leaving?”

“Marc’s flying to Houston tomorrow and then he leaves for New Orleans. Poor guy. Never
a moment’s rest.”

“You sound like you care,” Esmeralda snorted. “And my family?”

“Your mother and father are leaving tomorrow. Beto asked if he could stay.”

“No! I knew he’d try to pull something like this! He …”

“He asked me for the room he’s in now until he ‘finds something’ and a thousand dollars.”

Her anger morphed into shame. “God, Rafael, I am so sorry. I—you didn’t agree to anything,
did you?” A thousand dollars? She thought suddenly of Paulette, and how Rafael admitted
to letting her use him. At least he had thought he loved her. He had thought of her
as a fiancée—not the drunk, vulgar brother of a woman who would be gone in eight weeks.

“I explained that with my mother and father coming home, and bringing their old high
school friends with them, there wouldn’t be room.”

“Are they bringing friends?”

“Not that I know of. I wanted to let him down easy. So he asked for me to pay for
a room for a month while he looked for work, and a thousand dollars to help him get
a leg up. Don’t worry about it, Esme. We can’t help who we’re related to. I told him
I could pay for one of the long-term cabins at River Court and loan him a hundred
bucks. Then I told him he could have had five thousand dollars and the room, except
he treats you like dirt and I won’t take that crap from anyone.”

“He must have loved that.”

“Yeah. But he took it really well, especially since he knows what I told him after
that—that I’d punch him in the face and press extortion charges against him if I saw
him again tonight.” He tilted his head, listening to the Lady Antebellum mix she’d
been playing all afternoon. “Seems like I’ve heard some of those already,” he said.

She went over and turned them off, knowing that songs about needing someone and good
times and not needing anyone were sentiments she couldn’t share with Rafael. Then
she turned to the dresser and absently began to brush her hair, hoping he’d leave.

He sighed and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. She wished he hadn’t.

As if he read her mind, he patted the comforter. “When I used to think about how I’d
spend my wedding night, this never occurred to me. Come sit down.” He laughed. “Since
that’s probably the closest together we’ll ever be in this bed.”

“No.” She put her brush down, and for a moment, she watched him in the mirror, remembering
that first time she’d seen him.

“Refusing a dare, Esmeralda?” he chided.

She turned and leaned against the solid wood for support. “Rafael, you’ve asked me
all week if something’s been bothering me. It has.”

“But you wouldn’t talk to me. We need to change that, Esme. Okay, out with whatever
it is.”

“I’d started thinking, when we talked that day on those rocks, when you took my word
about how I met Doug, when I started really thinking about you,” she hesitated, but
wanted him to know. “I thought today—tonight—might be different. I was going to ask
you to drop the hands-off promise.” She saw his eyes widen a little and thought he
might have taken a deep breath. She knew she had his attention. “And if you said no
to breaking the unwritten contract—well, I figured I could get you into that bed if
I wanted to.”

“But … that’s not where you’re going now, is it?” he asked softly.

“No. Rafael, why did you lie? Well, I guess you were honest in the first interview.
When you said you wanted to buy me.” Her voice trembled a little as emotion swamped
her and the day’s stress made her feel nauseous.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he protested. “What—”

“Why didn’t you tell me you gave Tía ten thousand dollars for me? Why didn’t you tell
me I didn’t have a choice?”

He was silent so long she thought he wouldn’t answer. Then he pushed himself up off
the bed with an oath that startled her and came across the room so quickly she couldn’t
move. Or run. He gripped both her arms near the elbows and gave them a slight shake.

“You listen to me, Esmeralda Salinas Benton.” The emphasis on her new last name was
unmistakable. “I do not buy women. I spoke stupidly that day, and I apologized. And
as for buying you, I would have cut out the middle man and gone straight to you if
I were interested in buying you.” He dropped her arms and folded his arms across his
chest, still furious. “You’re acting insulted, but I’m the one who should be.”