“Forced isn’t the word I’d use. More like . . . steamrolled.” Caleb flexed his shoulders, which caused the towel to dip half an inch lower on his hips.
Snow’s mouth went dry.
“She caught me in the driveway when I came back after dropping you off,” he said, “and the next thing I knew, I was hauling paint cans and canvases up and down her stairs.”
None of this was making sense. The part about Hattie steamrolling someone computed just fine, but Caleb? And him doing manual labor? There was no way. Then again, maybe if the man in her kitchen would put on some clothes, Snow could think straight.
“Did you tell her who you are?” Snow asked.
“About that,” Caleb said after taking a drink of the milk. “We need to get this story straight. I don’t like lying to people, especially not someone like the nice old lady next door.”
Oh no. “What did you tell her?” Snow demanded, charging back into the kitchen.
“Relax,” he said, setting his glass on the counter. “I said I was your fiancé, but then she asked since when. I panicked and said two weeks.”
If he hadn’t insisted they include the engagement part, the time frame wouldn’t be an issue. “What did Hattie say?”
Caleb crossed his arms as he leaned a hip on the counter. “She did the math and assumed I’d asked you to marry me over the phone or e-mail.”
“This is a complete mess,” Snow said.
“I fixed it,” he argued, holding his hands up in front of him. “I told her I hadn’t done the official down-on-one-knee proposal thing yet because I don’t have a ring.”
Snow tapped her foot against the weight of mounting lies. The life she’d built was being twisted into some crazy work of fiction. How was she going to unravel all the lies after Caleb left? Would she even remember them all?
“You need to go,” she said, panic fogging her brain. “This marriage is over.”
Chapter 10
Caleb stepped toward his wife. “Excuse me?” he said, certain he’d heard her wrong.
“I can’t do it,” she said, her voice rising several octaves. “I can’t keep pretending like this.”
Making up a story had been her idea. He’d been willing to tell the truth, even knowing that he’d look like the hapless jerk who couldn’t keep track of his own wife. Or that locals would assume he’d done something to send her running. What a few strangers thought of him didn’t mean anything so long as he had Snow back where she belonged.
“We don’t have to lie,” he said, taking her by the arms. “Snow, baby, calm down. It’s going to be all right.”
“No, it isn’t,” Snow growled, pushing against his chest. “And I don’t want to calm down. You can’t charm us out of this mess.”
Now he was really confused. “This isn’t a mess,” he said, determined to remain calm. “This is our marriage. We haven’t done a great job of it so far, but we’ll figure it out.”
Snow stomped into the bedroom. “When is it going to sink into that thick skull of yours that I’m not right for you?” she asked, turning and throwing the jeans he’d left on the bed at his chest. “We’re not right together. There’s no fixing us, Caleb. There never should have been an us to begin with.”
Ignoring the jeans that puddled onto the floor in front of him, Caleb kept his voice calm. “What happened to the Snow I left at the store this morning? Where is all this coming from?” He’d suspected there’d been more to his wife’s leaving eighteen months ago than she’d admitted to so far. Now he was certain. “Help me understand what’s going on.”
Shaking her head, Snow said, “I keep messing up your life.”
“No,” he said, stepping over the jeans and taking her in his arms. “Don’t say that.”
“It’s true,” she mumbled with her face pressed against his chest. Her tears warm on his skin. “How do you not hate me?”
In their short time together, Snow had never struck him as emotionally erratic. They’d been back together less than twenty-four hours, and trying to follow her moods was like being stuck in a pinball machine. “Honey, I could never hate you.”
“Oh, yes, you could,” she said. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
Pulling back far enough to look her in the eye, Caleb pressed damp curls away from her face and smiled. “I promise you, there is nothing you can do that will change how I feel about you. My being here right now should be proof of that.”