I grabbed her face in my hands and kissed her, needing something to ground me. My mouth moved hard over hers, tasting the salt from her tears, the trembling sadness of her lips. I would not lose her. Not when I’d just found her.
I pulled back, continuing to hold her face, feeling tears in my own eyes.
“There is only one way you could ruin my life, Polly, and that’s by leaving it. I’ve found the love of my life, and two kids I love with my whole heart in just a few short weeks. I couldn’t believe it at first. But it’s real. I used to be so angry at your ex, for leaving you and the kids like that, but now I’m thanking my lucky stars. He left, because I was coming. Someone, somewhere, knew that this—you, me, Max and Ryla—was it. We were meant to be a family.”
Polly was full-on crying again, so I took a moment to brush my thumbs under her eyes.
“I want to be there on Max’s first day of high school. I want to be there when Ryla loses her first tooth. I want to clap and cheer and embarrass the hell out of Max when he graduates college, and I want to scare the shit outta all of Ryla’s boyfriends, then walk her down the aisle to the last one.”
I continued to cradle Polly’s face in my hands as I brought my forehead to hers. “It took me twenty-four years to find you. Don’t cheat me out of the next seventy-six.”
“Jace,” she whispered roughly, burying her head in my neck until her sobs quieted and breathing calmed.
When she finally pulled back from me, eyes red and puffy, hair wild around her face, I still thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
“You really think you’re going to live to be a hundred?” Her voice was hoarse and quaking, but she was teasing.
That was a good sign.
“Ryla may take a few years off,” I teased back, my own voice thick with emotion.
Polly settled back into the driver’s seat, looking utterly exhausted.
“What are we going to do? I asked him to give me a week to move out of the house, not that he agreed to it. If we moved out, I don’t have a place to go. What if he makes good on his promise to tell everyone about us, people in town do care, and I lose my job? I need health insurance. I can’t lose it.”
A wild idea, one that didn’t involve a black SUV, had been taking shape in the back of my mind. An idea that kept making itself louder in my head as Polly kept taking.
“Do you think your father will actually do this? It sounds an awful lot like a bluff. He’s so worried about the court of public opinion, yet he’s ready to throw his only daughter to the wolves? That doesn’t sound likely.”
Polly shrugged. “He certainly seemed serious.”
I hesitated. “I have a wild idea.”
Polly laughed mirthlessly, adjusting her dress. “Good, because I have none. Except for crying in Daisy’s parking lot.”
“Did you know that Tennessee doesn’t have a waiting period for marriage licenses?”
Polly’s head snapped up. “Waiting period for . . . no, I didn’t know that,” she said carefully, then scrunched her face. “Wait, how do you know that?”
“Sam tried to—” I stopped and held up a hand. “You know what? Never mind.” I leaned closer to her, letting a wayward grin come across my face. “Think about it, Polly. If we’re married, your father won’t have a leg to stand on. We’re only a dirty little secret to him if we continue to hide it. But if we get married, we’re calling his bluff. And if it’s a bluff, you’ll be safe. Your job is safe. Your health insurance is safe.”
Polly blinked. “And what about you? What if his threat to you isn’t a bluff?”
“I know two county sheriffs, have pull with important people in town, and have the truth on my side.” Was I happy about her father blackmailing me? No.
But was I worried? Also no.
Polly studied my face, then began to blink rapidly as she sat stock upright. “You’re really serious.”
I nodded, easygoing smile in place.
“You want to get married? To me?”
“Mmmhmm,” I drawled lazily.
Polly shook her head. “But that’s . . .well. I mean—that’s insane!”
“Insane enough to work.”
