“Can’t you think of anything else to say?” Josh asked with growing irritation. “That’s all you’ve said since you walked in the door.”
“I happen to know for a fact she’s got a huge vocabulary of exclamations to choose from,” Brad bantered. “But she saves all the others for me.”
Grace hit Brad’s shoulder without taking her eyes off the squirming blond two-year-old in Josh’s arms. “So do I understand this right? You want Olivia to marry you? In January? Because there’s a hearing in February?”
“In a nutshell, yes. But I’m not ruining her life or anything. I offered to pay for all four years of medical school in exchange for a year of marriage. She’s the one who said I should only pay for one year. And I’m pretty sure she can get an annulment at the end, so it won’t even be like she was ever married or divorced.” He set Chloe down and handed her a bin full of plastic blocks which she promptly dumped onto the floor.
“So we’re talking a marriage in name only? A year of that? A platonic relationship?” asked Grace.
“Yes. Totally platonic,” Josh said.
“And what are you going to do for sex for that year?” asked Grace. “Are you going to bring other women to the house while Olivia’s living there? I don’t see how you could be discreet enough to keep people from finding out.”
“I’ll do without,” said Josh, his voice unequivocal.
Now even Brad looked at him with disbelief. “For a year?”
“What’s another year?” Josh’s tone was bitter. “It’s been two, already. I’m used to it.”
“Two years!” Brad exclaimed. “Are you kidding me? Buddy, you really have changed. I had no idea. Charlie did this to you?”
“It wasn’t because of Charlie,” he denied. When he saw Brad’s dubious expression, he reiterated, “I didn’t change because I was pining for Charlie. I just decided to straighten up my life. I’m not complaining. It’s a good thing. I’m not proud of the way I was before.”
Josh saw Grace looking over his shoulder. He turned quickly, catching Olivia making hand-signs to Grace.
“What are you telling her?” he asked, at Olivia’s guilty look.
“Just that I need to talk to her privately.”
“No, she needs to hear my side first.” He turned back to Grace. “I’ve considered all my alternatives. This is really the only viable option. No one else would agree to a marriage like this. And I can’t pretend to be in love with someone just to get them to marry me.”
“I would like to point out I never agreed to this marriage. I only consented to act as his fiancée since he had to meet with the ad litem.” Olivia stepped in front of Josh.
“But you know I don’t have any other choice.”
“Wait,” said Grace. “I don’t understand why you didn’t ask Charlie?”
Josh felt the blood pounding in his head. “Why does everyone act like Charlie wants to marry me? She doesn’t! She rejected me for two years. Two years! And just today, she offered to help me convince Olivia to marry me. Does that sound like someone who wants to marry me?”
“She really said that?” asked Olivia.
“Yes, she did. I told her the whole story, and she said she’d do everything in her power to help us end up together so I can win this custody battle.”
“What’s a custody battle?” asked a small voice behind the sofa.
Everyone turned their heads to look at Jace. “How long have you been there? What did you hear?” asked Josh.
“Just about how Aunt Charlie won’t marry you, but she wants you to marry Aunt Olivia. What’s a custody battle?”
“It’s not really a battle. Remember I told you I want you and Chloe to live with me? I’m just trying to
prove I’m the best choice for you and your sister, but there’s a judge who makes the decision.”
Tears welled up in his eyes. “But I want to live with you, Uncle Josh. Why can’t I decide who I want to live with?”
Josh scooped him up into a bear hug. “It’s okay buddy. I’m almost positive you’ll get to live with me. I just don’t know about your sister. But let’s not worry about it. It’s a long way off. We’ve got the ski trip coming. We leave in two days. Okay?”
“Okay. But Uncle Josh? Why doesn’t anyone want to marry you?”