A Man for All Seasons. HEATHER MACALLISTER
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unmarried men. That way, they’re not separating families. It’s less complicated all around. The deal is you sign a contract for a year or two years, work twelve hour days and live in on-site corporate housing.”
“You’re saying he’d rather do that than marry me?”
“It’s the cash,” Ty said. “You make a pot full. I’ve seen these guys when they come back stateside after finishing a contract. They party hard and throw a lot of money around. They get the flashy cars and the flashy women and it looks pretty sweet, especially when you’re stuck in a cubicle earning a lot less and about to take on a wife and mortgage.”
“Eric proposed to me,” Marlie clarified. “He is the one who asked me to quit my job and move halfway across the country with him.”
Ty nodded to himself. “Now what he did really makes sense.”
“Not to me.”
“Say I’m Eric.” Ty paused. “Do I look like him?”
“You look exactly like him,” Marlie said, and then watched the emotions flicker across Ty’s face. She added a gooey look and saw the beginnings of panic. Good. He was entirely too smug. “Except that Eric’s hair is dark and curly. And his eyes are brown.” She touched her chin. “He had a beard thing here and he wore glasses. He might have been a little chunkier than you, not that he was out of shape, but he was buying the relaxed-fit Dockers, if you know what I mean. But you two could be twins. From different families.”
“You could have said no.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
A slow smile slid across his face. “You’ll be okay.”
Marlie had not been the direct recipient of such a smile from Tyler. It warmed her middle and caused her heart to give a few syrupy thuds. Remember that he reconnected your buttons. Just don’t connect with him. She poked his foot with hers. “Keep channeling Eric.”
“Right. Eric.” Ty gazed up at the canopy. “So I’m Eric and these guys head out for drinks and whatever, but I can’t go because I have to taste wedding cake samples with Marlie and her mom and her girlfriends.”
“It was just me, you were late, and you’d been drinking beer, so none of the cakes tasted good to you.”
Ty looked at her. “For real?”
“Yes.”
“You were mad.”
“Well, yeah.” Eric had embarrassed her in front of the other couples who’d been there.
“When I told the guys, they gave me a hard time about being on a leash.”
“A leash?”
“Words to that effect.” Ty waved his hand. “There were more instances like that and I started thinking the ‘if onlys.’ If only I weren’t getting married. If only I could take a year or two and make some big bucks and buy the kind of car I really want, go where I want and do what I want. If only I didn’t have to follow Marlie around to caterers and florists and invitation makers—”
“I didn’t bother you with any of that. And I thought it would be fun to taste a bunch of cakes. You like cake.”
“Marlie, work with me.” Ty gave her an impatient look. “It’s not the details. I’m showing you his frame of mind and how he got there. While you were all involved with the wedding and the house, he was seeing a really great life pass him by. These guys had money and freedom and no responsibilities. What would he have? Kids and a giant mortgage.”
“He’d have me,” she said in a small voice.
“But you wouldn’t be you—you’d be a mother.”
“Of his children!”
Ty spread his hands. “I’m telling you the way a guy thinks.”
Truly, it was like watching a special feature on a DVD, the one where the director explained different scenes. “That’s the way all guys think?”
“Nah. Some guys are into it.”
“Is that the way you think?” It would explain why he never dated the PTA mom type.
Ty considered her question. “I’m in the middle—buying a house, but definitely not ready for a wife and kids.” He regarded her with a touch of sympathy. “He wasn’t ready, either, Marlie. You need to find a guy who’s ready.”
She’d thought she had. “Why didn’t he just tell me?”
“He felt guilty after dragging you halfway across the country.”
“I would have waited for him.”
“And he knew that.” Ty shook his head. “I hate to say it, but the guy actually did the decent thing. He just didn’t expect you to mope about it for so long.”
Men always stuck together in the end. “I’m not moping. I’m working.”
“Then you’re moping while you work.” He eyed her before swinging his legs over the side of the bed. “This is a great bed.” He leaned on his hands as he scanned the interior. “Too bad you have to get rid of it.”
3
“WHAT? WHY?” MARLIE asked.
Ty’s jaw hardened. “Because every time you come in here, you see it and think of your ex and what he did.”
And Marlie knew he was right.
“You don’t enjoy this bed. You hardly spend any time in here. Half the nights you fall asleep on the loveseat in your office.”
He knew? He would have had to come downstairs specifically to check on her. While she was sleeping. Her breath hitched. “I work late.”
“Because you’re avoiding the bed. You never would have chosen this bed for yourself and it will always remind you of a wedding that didn’t happen. Stop punishing yourself for something that wasn’t your fault and ditch the bed.”
“I can’t afford to.”
“Sell it,” Ty said, and Marlie knew he wasn’t going to let up until she agreed. “You know you could in about thirty seconds. Sell it to me. I’ll give you whatever it cost you. There. Done. Problem solved.” He looked pleased with himself.
Except… “It won’t fit in your room.”
“It’ll fit in my new house.”
“Which isn’t finished,” she reminded him.
“It’s getting there,” he said. “I meant to tell you, the city inspectors signed off on the new street plans and the council approved them this week. I drove by and crews are already replacing sewer pipes and widening the roads. The builder says once that’s finished, it’ll only be six weeks until I can move in.”
Sooner than she’d thought. But the road wasn’t finished yet. Besides, it was December and construction always slowed down in December. “So until then, your plan is to leave the bed here?”
Ty stared longingly at the screen behind Marlie. “I’ll put it in storage.”
That could work, but Marlie didn’t know if she was ready to handle the thought of Axelle and Ty having sex in her wedding present to Eric. “Actually, the carpenters have dibs if I sell it.”
“There’s no ‘if.’ You’re going to sell it.”
Ty was right. Somebody should have sex in her wedding present to Eric. “I’ll check to see if they’re still interested.”
“Do it.” Ty exhaled heavily. “But I wish you’d told me before I bonded with the bed. I had great things planned for this bed.”
“So did I.”
They