Zoey doubted that—she’d just presented the only one. “What are you talking about?”
“We should get married.”
A shock of cold flooded Zoey’s body, like diving into the bay in January. Going under, under, under…Sounds hollowed, time froze.
Marry Linc? Her stomach flipped.
Marry Linc.
Just as suddenly, a rush of warmth. Like emerging back to the surface, stretching out on a sunbaked towel on the shore.
Okay, so maybe she hadn’t presented the only solution. Her chest tightened. “I can’t—you don’t—” She choked on her own half sentence. They’d never even discusseddating. Linc didn’t date. Well, he had at one time, apparently, as evidenced by the low-rise-jean-clad evidence in his house.
But her? Him?
Them?
It was as if Zoey’s secret wish and wildest dream collided in one simple statement.We should get married.Like it wasn’t completely life-changing. Like he was casually suggesting they grab a latte from Chug a Mug or take a bike ride down Bayou Boulevard, playing dodge ball with the potholes.
Like he wasn’t going zero to sixty with four words. How many times had they even hugged over the course of their friendship? And now he was going straight to?—
Linc cleared his throat, leaned forward a little. “Zoey?”
She blinked. Realized for the first time she hadn’t responded. “Um…”
“It makes sense.” Linc shoved his hair back. “I can’t do this alone. You don’t have anywhere else to go. And Amelia needs a role model…a solid family unit.”
Ah. So he was talkingpracticality. Of course. Her heart thudded.
But did he still think of her likethat? Someone he wanted to marry and be with…
“It’d be just in name, of course.”
Oh. All business.
“It’d legally be a marriage, but nothing has to change. We’d still be friends, exactly like right now.” His eyes softened, like he was suggesting something noble.
Nothing has to change…Her heart drifted toward her feet. He was after function, not romance. Silly girl. She should have known better. This time, the cold seeping through her limbs felt like someone had yanked her off her sun-warmed towel and tossed her right back into the water. She tried to find words. What should she say?
What did she want?
“There’d be emotional stability for Amelia. Financial stability for you. Parenting help for me.” He kept ticking off the pros on his tanned fingers. “I need help with her now, with these tours and the concession stand. And then when crawfish season comes, I’ll be gone weird hours—can’t leave her alone all the time. And hey, we’d even get a tax break. It’s the easiest solution.”
“Marriage isn’t a numbers game.” The words cracked in her throat.
“This one kind of is.”
Ah, so romantic. Then again, this wasLinc.
There were so many questions that Zoey had trouble narrowing them down. One slowly maneuvered above the rest. “What about later?”
“What do you mean?” Linc shifted his weight slightly, rocking the boat.
Or maybe she was rocking the boat, asking questions. If she wanted this…shouldn’t she just go for it? It wasn’t like she had a bunch of other men knocking on her door. There might be plenty of fish in the sea, but there weren’t a ton of fish in Magnolia Bay.
Or maybe that was because she held them all up to a particular six-foot-plus man-bunned standard.
“I mean, Amelia is fourteen. What are we going to do when she goes back to Kirsten one day, or moves out, or goes to college in five years?”
