Page 4 of Never Enough

“We need to talk,” I tell her.

“Oh my God,” she says.

Then my sister is at my side, punching me in the arm. “What is wrong with you?”

“This isn’t about you, Kels,” I tell her with a shake of my head. “Look, I’m gonna drive Gracie home. She’s done for the day.”

I expect Gracie to fight me on that; instead, she rights herself and methodically takes off her apron and hangs it on a hook on the wall.

I ignore Kelsie’s furtive glances and take the purse that Caroline holds out to me.

“Let us know if you need anything,” Caroline says.

Gracie says nothing. Just lets me lead her out the front of the bakery and into my truck, where I lift her into the cab.

We ride to her house in silence, and I kill the engine after pulling into her driveway.

“I’m going to explain,” I say. “If you have any questions, just ask.” I blow out a breath, then scrub my hand down my face. “What I said was true. We are married. Legally.”

Her eyes narrow, and she shakes her head, but still says nothing.

“It was obviously a mix-up, and I wanted to tell you months ago⁠—”

“Wait, you’ve known for months and didn’t tell me?”

“Yes.”

“Why the fuck would you not tell me something like that, Henry?”

“Because I was asked not to.”

She squishes her facial features up. “Nothing is making sense to me right now.”

“Simon called me a while back to tell me about the mix-up. He discovered it after requesting a copy of their marriage license. What he got, instead, was our marriage license.” I unbuckle my seatbelt and turn my body to better face her.

“Evidently, there was some confusion since we walked through the ceremony at the rehearsal. The wedding coordinator had us sign that while Simon and your cousin were our witnesses.”

“So what does that mean for Lana?” she asks.

“They’re not married.” I hold a hand up. “But that’s where the secret came in. At least my keeping it a secret from you. Simon doesn’t want Lana to know. First, it was because they were doing IVF, and now it’s because she’s on bed rest for the pregnancy. He doesn’t want anything to stress her.”

Gracie sighs. “That makes sense, I suppose, but why couldn’t you have told me regardless?”

“I was going to tell you. But then I got a text from Simon telling me to call him immediately. He didn’t think you’d be able to keep it a secret.” Gracie opens her mouth like she’s going to protest. When I arch my eyebrow at her she just snaps it closed. Everyone in Saddle Creek knows she can’t lie worth a damn. “And well, now we’re here.”

“Surely this is a simple problem to fix, though, right? I mean we didn’t exactly say vows.”

“The marriage license was filed with Mexico and then subsequently filed in the state of Texas. Simon brought me our marriage certificate. I checked with a buddy of mine who practices law in Dallas. He says the time has passed when we could have contested it. Now our choices are an annulment or a divorce.”

Even saying those words feels wrong.

She shrugs. “An annulment makes sense.”

“Except for the fact that your cousin can’t find out, and this marriage does get you off the hook with your asshat of an ex. Unless you were considering accepting his proposal.”

She winces. “Of course not.”

Her phone keeps buzzing from her purse, but she ignores it.