The Manning Brides: Marriage of Inconvenience / Stand-In Wife. Debbie Macomber

you?”

      “Yes,” he said emphatically. “I want all the arrangements between us clear as glass before the blessed event. We’ll share the responsibilities.”

      When she didn’t respond, he asked, “Having second thoughts yet?”

      “Not … really. Is this everything?”

      “It isn’t.” He stood and opened the oven, checking the casserole that was baking inside. He let the door close slowly.

      “You mean there’s more?”

      “One small item.”

      “One small item,” Jamie repeated, assuming she wouldn’t have any more trouble with this than his other demands.

      “If we do decide to go ahead and have a child together …”

      “And I think we should,” she said, smiling over at him.

      “Fine. Great. Wonderful. If you’re sure.”

      “I’m sure.”

      “Good. In that case, I insist we get married.”

      Four

      Jamie was too confused to think clearly. Surely Rich didn’t mean what he’d just said. It made no sense. “Married … but … you can’t be serious.”

      “I’ve rarely been more serious in my life,” Rich answered, stalking to the far side of her kitchen. He removed two dinner plates from her cupboard and set them on the table. “Naturally, this wouldn’t be a conventional marriage.”

      “Naturally,” Jamie echoed, still too bewildered to understand his reasoning. “Then … why are you insisting on a wedding?”

      “I want the child to have my name. I don’t care if that no longer matters to most people. It matters to me.”

      “Oh.”

      “We’ll continue to maintain our separate residences. For all intents and purposes, nothing will change, at least not outwardly. Except that we’ll be sharing the care and custody of a child.”

      Jamie stood in front of the silverware drawer and closed her eyes, trying to force her heart to stop pounding so hard. Rich had made it plain this wasn’t any love match—not that she’d ever suspected it would be. Nevertheless, her heart had reacted fiercely to his insistence on a wedding. Because she couldn’t help associating marriage with love, despite a great deal of evidence to the contrary.

      “What about the pregnancy? I mean … how do you think I should get pregnant?” By the time the question was complete, her voice had dwindled to a whisper.

      “You could always seduce me.”

      Furious, Jamie whirled around and glared at Rich. She could feel the hot blush warming her cheeks, “I should never have admitted that. You’re going to throw it in my face at every opportunity, aren’t you?”

      “No,” he denied, but his eyes were sparkling with the blue light of laughter. “I agree with you. Sex between us would ruin everything. I don’t want to risk our friendship any more than you do.”

      The tension eased from between Jamie’s shoulder blades.

      “We’ll need to keep the marriage a secret.”

      “For how long?” If their child was to have his name, they’d eventually have to tell their families. Jamie wasn’t keen on facing her mother with a surprise marriage to go along with a pregnancy. Doris Warren wouldn’t take kindly to being cheated out of a wedding any more than Rich’s mother would.

      “We’d only stay married until the baby’s born,” Rich explained, revealing no hint of indecision, and certainly no doubts. He apparently had the whole situation worked out to his own satisfaction.

      Unfortunately, he’d completely unsettled Jamie. She’d had everything organized and none of her plans included marriage, even a marriage of convenience. The questions were popping up faster than she could ask them.

      “What are we going to say after the baby’s born?” she demanded.

      “That we’re getting a divorce.”

      Jamie felt the sudden need to sit down again. “That we’re getting a divorce?” she repeated. Already she could imagine her mother’s shock and dismay. Not only would Jamie have married without telling her, but she’d be obtaining a divorce.

      “It makes sense once you think about it,” Rich continued with matchless confidence.

      Maybe it did to him, but Jamie felt as though she were wandering through the dark, lost and confused, bumping into walls she didn’t know were there. It had all seemed so simple the night she’d approached Rich.

      He pulled out a chair and placed his foot on the seat, resting his right elbow on his knee. “We’ll get married at the courthouse as quietly as possible. There’s no reason for anyone to know.”

      “That much I understand…. I’m just not convinced it’s necessary.”

      “I am,” he said adamantly.

      “All right, all right,” she muttered, swiping one hand through her hair. What had seemed such an uncomplicated idea had suddenly taken on more twists and turns than a country road.

      “You’ll agree to the wedding?”

      “I don’t know yet.”

      “Don’t sound so enthusiastic.”

      “I’m not.” She sighed loudly.

      “As soon as the ink’s dry on the marriage certificate, we can make an appointment with the gynecologist….”

      “Good grief, what are we going to tell him?” Jamie didn’t relish that task. If Rich wanted to explain why two healthy, normal, married adults who wanted a baby would choose such an unconventional method, then more power to him.

      “We won’t tell him anything. He’s a professional—he isn’t going to ask a lot of questions. It’s none of his business, anyway.”

      “Rich … I don’t know about this.”

      “If you have doubts, then I suggest you spill them now.”

      “I’m not sure getting married is the right thing. We don’t have to go through a wedding ceremony for the baby to have your name. Couldn’t you legally adopt him or her after the birth?”

      “Why complicate everything?”

      “And marriage isn’t going to do that?” Jamie cried.

      “Marriage will accomplish the same thing now without the legal hassles of adoption later. As I said, it’ll be in name only.”

      “Yes, I know, but …” She hesitated, trying to shape her objections in the form of a reasonable argument. When she spoke, her eyes met his. “You’re going to think I’m terribly old-fashioned.”

      “The woman who asked me to be a sperm donor? Hardly!”

      Jamie had the feeling it would take a long time to live that down. “Yes,” she said vehemently, “I suppose it has to do with my upbringing, but I’ve always considered marriage sacred. Somehow, it just doesn’t feel right to sneak off and get married and … and then arrange for a divorce nine months later.”

      Rich was quiet for a moment. “I agree,” he finally said, “but this isn’t a normal marriage.”

      “What marriage is?” Jamie asked, thinking of all the friends she’d known over the years who’d married. Each relationship was different from the others. She’d stood by and observed how some couples had grown closer in their love and commitment. Others had drifted further and further apart until it was too late.

      “Nothing’s