Cayla tipped her head in acknowledgement. “You know I’ve wanted him for a long time. Being consenting married adults, it seems like that was an inevitability. Definitely no regrets there.”
Mia studied her. “I sense a ‘but’.”
Was it fair to get into the ‘but’ when Holt had been trying so hard to reassure her? She’d felt better in the moment. Always better when she was with him. But when they were apart, the doubts always seemed to creep back in. Maybe it would help to discuss it with another woman.
“I’ve had concerns because, with his background, taking on an instant family was not something he wanted to do. It was the primary reason he didn’t pursue me before. We’ve talked about it, and he says he was wrong about that, and he wants to be here. I know he believes that, and I do believe there’s definitely something between us.”
That something was very much love on her side. But how could she say anything to Mia about it? If it got back to Brax, it might get to Holt. He needed to be the one to hear it first, and she wasn’t ready for that step.
They lapsed into silence as they wrestled the marker board into place, and Mia put in the screws. As she stepped down from the stool, she set the drill aside. “You went into this marriage to him with an idea that it was temporary. Are you thinking now that maybe it won’t be?”
“I don’t know what it’ll be. I know what we have is good. I know we’re building something. And I know I don’t want to let that something go. But I just don’t think we can really trust whatever is between us until the situation with Arthur is resolved. Because I’ll always have that question in the back of my mind of whether that’s the only reason he’s still here.”
“Makes sense. It’s a reasonable concern. He’s a caretaking kind of guy. If it makes you feel any better, by all observations from the rest of us, he adores you both. He’s happier, more relaxed. Easier than when he first got to town. I think you’re good for him. I think the family life is good for him.”
It made her feel better to hear it from people who knew him better than she did. “I know he’s good for us.” She bit her lip. “Is that crazy? The idea that we jumped into this—not exactly on a whim, but under duress—and it’s actually… right?”
“Crazier things have happened. Brax and I certainly didn’t have a traditional courtship. Hell, we didn’t even date before we got married. Not until we’d been estranged for ten years and came back together here. So I’m the last person to say that there is a single path to love and happiness. As far as I’m concerned, if you two make each other happy, then do whatever you have to in order to protect it.”
That was exactly what Cayla planned to do.