She spoke without hesitation.
“And you’ll do it alone?”
“I can handle it. I know I can,” she said. She prayed that this was the truth and that she had the strength.
He stood, sliding his hand down to lock with hers. He took a step nearer. “You don’t have to,” he said. “I’ve thought about it.”
Her flesh tingled at his nearness, but she did not move away. She felt she must stand her ground. “I’ve thought about it, too. I can do it.”
“You don’t have to face it alone,” he said, his voice quiet. “Briana—marry me. Marry me again.”
CHAPTER FIVE
HIS WORDS struck her like numbing blows, and his nearness overwhelmed her.
“No,” she said, her throat constricted. “I’d never ask you here for that. Never.”
“I know that,” he said. “But think about it. It’s best for everyone.”
She shook her head to clear it. “No. We didn’t get it right before. We—we just can’t live together.”
He bent so close she felt the warmth of his breath on her lips. “We don’t have to. Who says it has to be a conventional marriage?”
She stared at him, bewildered. “You mean it wouldn’t be real?”
Something flashed deep within his eyes—something he immediately shuttered. “Sham? If that’s how you want it.”
“I can’t—” she began.
But Nealie came stamping importantly down the stairs in her new boots. “I love these,” she declared. “I feel like I’ve got big furry rabbit feet. Like Bugs Bunny.”
Briana wrenched her hand from Josh, and he took a step backward.
But Nealie had seen. She stopped halfway down the stairs. Behind her big glasses, her eyes widened, and her face looked both hopeful and perplexed. “You were holding hands. Do you like each other again?”
“I’ll always like your mother,” Josh said. “I hold her hand once in a while. Like she was—my sister.”
“Oh, Nealie,” Briana said, desperate to change the subject, “you’re sweater’s buttoned all crooked. Let me fix it.”
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