“But what about Carlie?” Rylie asked the question that had to be behind the horrified look on Jarrett’s face.
“At this point…” Matthew looked directly at Jarrett. “You need to decide which relationship is most important. Gabe will stay with you until his chemo is completed, regardless of what you choose to do. But you’ll be having multiple home studies before the adoption can be approved and finalized. There’s no set timeline. It could easily be a year or more. And it will be hard to convince the social worker you’re in a healthy marriage if you divorce one sister to marry the other.”
“I can’t believe it.” Jarrett’s shoulders slumped as he sank into his chair. “Rylie didn’t sign up for this. I coerced her into it, telling her it would be a couple of months at most.”
“I’m sorry.” This time Matthew addressed Rylie. “To be fair, Jarrett and I only talked for a few minutes, and I was in the middle of a hearing. It’s not his fault he misunderstood.”
Rylie nodded, the movement making her lightheaded.
“I’ve lost Gabe,” Jarrett moaned. “I’m so stupid. I should’ve just waited until this week, when Carlie was well.”
Rylie didn’t want to point out that Carlie had been in LA this week. The chances that Carlie would’ve given up her opportunity to be cast in a movie were slim to none.
“No matter what, you saved Gabe’s life,” Rylie said, reaching across to put her hand on his arm and ignoring the thrill of that contact. “You’ll have the rest of this year with him, and maybe you can explain it to your caseworker. Tell her what happened. Maybe she’ll understand.”
Matthew scrunched his face. “Does this mean the other possibility is off the table? That would be your best option to keep Gabe.”
“Are you talking about me staying in a fake marriage with Jarrett for a year or more?” Rylie asked. “Because I don’t know if we could fake it well enough to fool that caseworker.”
“Don’t talk to me about anything fake,” Matthew said. “I want to be absolutely above board, here. I won’t help you commit fraud. At the very least, you’ll have to live in the same house, and you can’t date anyone else while you’re married.”
“I would never do that.” Jarrett lifted his head, as if the affront to his pride had brought him back to life.
“Honestly,” Matthew said, “if you’d been married to Carlie and she was off in Hollywood for three or four months, you might’ve been rejected anyway.”
Jarrett blinked like someone had thrown cold water in his face. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“These are your current choices, Jarrett,” Matthew said. “Do you want to throw everything into the adoption? Or would you rather just be Gabe’s guardian for a year and pursue Carlie, instead?”
Five seconds of silence lasted an eternity. “I’ll stay with Rylie and pursue the adoption,” Jarrett said. “If Rylie’s willing.”
Matthew caught her gaze and held it with shrewd eyes. She prayed he couldn’t read the emotions churning behind hers.
“Rylie, would you be willing to stay married to Jarrett and legally adopt Gabe if you’re approved?”
She fought the tears that threatened to break through her iron willpower. It was like Matthew was a preacher asking them to recite empty vows in a nightmare wedding.
Not trusting her voice, she nodded at Matthew, then squeezed her eyes shut and turned her face away, the humiliation more than she could bear.
Once the adoption was finalized, she would no longer be needed. Jarrett would dump her, for sure, but he would be nice about it. There wasn’t a mean bone in his body. If only he would act like a jerk, she could funnel her pent-up passion into anger, spew out some venom, and feel a ton of relief.
“You don’t have to do this.” Jarrett’s voice was raw.
Stop being kind! Can’t you see I want to hate you?
Like flood waters rising around her home, the truth seeped into her consciousness. Jarrett hadn’t chosen to be stuck in this marriage any more than she had. His dreams of finally marrying Carlie had just been destroyed, yet he was still thinking of Rylie. She swallowed her pride and stuffed it away.
“We can do this, Jarrett. We can do it for Gabe. I’ve seen people who hated each other stay together for the sake of their children. At least we’re friends.”
There were so many things she wished he would say. We’re more than friends, Rylie. Much more. I’ve finally realized we belong together. I thought I wanted Carlie, but I was wrong. Instead, he murmured two words that cemented her fate.
“You’re right.”
The wrinkles between his eyes proved he was anticipating the misery of living with her for twelve to eighteen months. And it would be miserable for Rylie, as well, but for a whole different reason. She would be tortured daily with a tiny taste of what she could never have. Like working in a chocolate shop and being told you can never eat the candy. What a sick joke fate had played. She’d wished she could take her sister’s place, and look what it had gotten her.
“Now we have to tell everyone.” Jarrett pressed his fingers to his temples. “I don’t know which I dread more... Carlie being upset or Finn falling on the floor laughing.”
With her emotions boiling close to the brim, Rylie gritted her teeth. “If Finn laughs about this when I’m around, he may find that mask he wears stuffed down his throat.”
CHAPTER 10
It took fifteen minutes to drive from Matthew’s office to Phantom Enterprises. For the first five of those minutes, the only sounds inside the car were the hum of the engine and the noise of traffic through the windows. Rylie sat with her hands in her lap, squeezing them together so tightly that her knuckles blanched. Jarrett wanted to break the silence, but he had no idea what to say. Should he thank her? Offer to pay her? Talk about the logistics of moving her into his house? Discuss how to break the news to her sister? Commend her for being altruistic? Encourage her that it would only be a year or so?
When he finally said something, it wasn’t his most brilliant speech. “Would you like a piece of gum?”
“What?” She turned to him with a how-can-you-talk-about-gum-at-a-time-like-this expression.
“I just thought you looked tense,” he said, gripping the wheel so hard he thought it might break. “When I’m tense, I like to chew gum.”
“I’m not tense.”
“Oh.” With one hand on the wheel he dug in his center console and found a stick of gum, which he promptly unwrapped and stuck in his mouth. It might not help his nerves, but it would give his tongue something to do besides saying stupid things.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed her mouth twitch in an almost-smile. “I suppose I might be a little on the tense side…”
He grinned, lifting his elbow to give her access to the console. “There’s more gum in the bottom.”
