The whole thing still felt unreal.
I turned toward him.
“Can I ask you something?”
“You can ask me anything.”
“Why did you agree to marry me?”
His hands stayed steady on the wheel.
“I thought you knew.”
“I knew what my stepmother told me.”
“And what did she tell you?”
“That you needed the money. That you were willing to marry anyone who could offer a stable arrangement.”
Silas’s jaw tightened.
“She told me you needed a husband who wouldn’t ask questions.”
I looked at him sharply.
“She said that?”
“Yes.”
“And what did you believe?”
“That she was lying.”
The answer surprised me.
“Why?”
“Because you didn’t look like someone who wanted to escape responsibility. You looked like someone who had been carrying too much of it.”
I stared at him.
He continued watching the road.
“I saw you once before today,” he said.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago. At the public library.”
I tried to remember.
The library sat in an old stone building near downtown. I had gone there after Marlene had accused me of wasting money on a certification course. I’d spent the afternoon applying for jobs and trying not to cry in front of strangers.
“You were sitting near the window,” Silas said. “You had a stack of papers in front of you. You read the same page for almost an hour.”
“I was probably distracted.”
“You were trying not to cry.”
My face warmed.
“I didn’t know anyone noticed.”
“I did.”
The road narrowed as we climbed higher into the mountains.
“Why didn’t you talk to me?”
“Because you looked like you wanted to be left alone.”
That sounded exactly like me.
I turned toward the window again.
After a moment, I asked, “So you agreed because you felt sorry for me?”
“No.”
The certainty in his voice made me look back.
“I agreed because I understood what it was like to have someone else decide what your life was worth.”
He didn’t explain.
I sensed there was a story behind those words, but I didn’t want to force it out of him.
“Did you know Marlene before this?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She contacted me through a legal services office.”
I frowned. “A legal services office?”
“She said she wanted a private arrangement. Something simple. No ceremony beyond the courthouse. No public announcements. She offered to cover my debts if I married you and kept the terms confidential.”
I felt a chill despite the warmth inside the truck.
“What debts?”
“Medical bills. Property taxes. Repairs.”
“And you accepted?”
“I accepted the meeting.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Silas glanced at me.
