The Stranger I Married

CHAPTER 11: THE PROPOSAL

They spent the rest of the morning taking care of Eve's errands.

Alex watched her work. She moved confidently from one appointment to the next, making decisions quickly and speaking with the quiet authority of someone accustomed to being listened to. There was no trace of uncertainty when she was dealing with business. She knew what she wanted. She knew what she was doing.

And Alex found himself admiring her more with every hour.

By midday, they stopped for lunch. They sat at a small restaurant overlooking the town square. The tables were wrought iron, the umbrellas striped in faded red and white, and the scent of fresh bread drifted from the kitchen. It was the kind of place that didn't try to impress anyone—it simply was.

Eve looked across the table. "Do you miss Westbridge?"

Alex considered the question. "I miss some things."

"Your family?"

"Yes."

"Your work?"

He smiled. "Unfortunately, yes."

She laughed. "But?"

"But I don't miss everything."

Eve looked down at her glass. "I don't want to go back either."

Alex studied her. "Because of Daniel?"

"Because of everything." She looked out the window. "When I return, everyone will expect me to simply accept what they've decided."

"Your family."

"My family. Daniel's family. Everyone." She sighed. "I know they believe they're doing what's best for me."

"But you don't want it."

"No." She looked at him. "I don't want a marriage arranged around business, status, or family expectations."

Alex nodded. "I understand."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"When you go back, what happens?"

Alex leaned back. "Questions."

"About Victoria?"

"About Victoria. About Sebastian. About the wedding. About what happened." He paused. "And then there's the business."

Eve remembered his phone call. "Your father?"

"Yes."

"Is everything all right?"

Alex hesitated. "I don't know yet." He didn't want to burden her with the details. "There are some things happening at the company that need to be investigated."

Eve nodded. "You don't have to explain."

Alex looked at her. "Thank you."

They sat quietly for a moment. The noise of the restaurant faded around them—the clink of glasses, the murmur of conversation, the laughter from a nearby table. None of it seemed to touch the space between them.

Then Eve smiled faintly. "Maybe that's why we ended up here."

Alex smiled. "Maybe."

"Two people avoiding home."

"That sounds about right."

She laughed. "That's not very romantic."

"I wasn't trying to be romantic."

"Good." She smiled. "Because I would have been disappointed."

He raised an eyebrow. "Disappointed?"

She laughed. "You don't strike me as the romantic type."

"Then you don't know me very well."

She tilted her head. "Is that a challenge?"

"Maybe." He smiled. "You'll have to stick around to find out."

Her smile widened. "Maybe I will."

There was something in the way she said it—a quiet promise that lingered in the air between them. Neither of them looked away.

They left the restaurant in the early afternoon.

As they walked toward the truck, Eve slowed. She looked at Alex.

He's going to leave, she thought. He's going to go back to Westbridge, and I'll never see him again.

The thought hit her harder than she expected. She barely knew him—three days, that was all. But somewhere in those three days, something had shifted. She didn't want him to go.

She thought about her situation. Daniel. Her father. The pressure that had been building for years. Every time she went back, it was the same—questions, expectations, the slow suffocation of being told what her life should be.

But with Alex, it was different. She felt like she could breathe.

What if this is the answer? she thought. What if we could help each other?

She looked at him. He was attractive. She was attracted to him. And more than that—she trusted him. He'd listened to her without judgment. He'd understood.

This could work. It could solve both our problems.

He could keep his head high. He wouldn't have to face the questions alone. He could walk back into Westbridge as a man who'd moved on, not a man who'd been left behind.

And I could finally be free.

Her heart was pounding. It was insane. She knew it was insane.

But what if it's not?

She stopped walking.

She looked at Alex.

"Do you know what would solve both our problems?"

He looked suspiciously at her. "That sounds dangerous."

She smiled. "Probably."

"What?"

Eve hesitated. Then she laughed. "We could get married."

Alex stared at her. For a second, neither moved. Then he laughed.

"You're joking."

"I don't know." She looked at him. "Am I?"

Alex's smile faded slightly. Eve wasn't laughing anymore either.

She folded her arms. "Think about it."

He did.

He thought about Westbridge. About walking back into that world as the man whose fiancée had left him. The pitying looks. The whispered questions. The way everyone would see him as the one who'd lost.

He thought about Sebastian. About the smug satisfaction on his cousin's face. About the way Sebastian had taken everything—Victoria, the wedding, the life Alex had planned.

And then he thought about walking back with Eve beside him.

I wouldn't have to act like a toy that's been kicked aside when the fun of playing with it is over, he thought. I could stand next to her, and they would all see that I'm not broken. That I didn't lose.

She would be with me. She would support me. And I wouldn't have to say goodbye to her.

The thought of saying goodbye had been sitting in the back of his mind all day, a quiet ache he hadn't wanted to acknowledge. But now, looking at her, he realized he didn't have to.

He didn't want to lose her. He barely knew her, but he already knew that.

He looked back at Eve.

She wasn't asking him to rescue her. She wasn't asking him to love her. She was asking him to make a choice for himself. For once.

It could work. Yes, it could work.

"Yes," he said. "I'll marry you."

Eve's smile was slow and warm, spreading across her face like sunrise. "All right."

They stood there for a moment, looking at each other. Then, as if by silent agreement, they turned toward the courthouse.

They walked quickly, their hands finding each other. Fingers intertwined. Neither spoke. Neither wanted to give themselves time to think, to second-guess, to talk themselves out of it.

The courthouse was a modest building, old brick with white trim, a flagpole out front. They climbed the steps together, still holding hands.

Inside, the hallway was quiet. A clerk directed them to the marriage officer's office. They walked in, hand in hand.

The marriage officer looked up from his desk—a middle-aged man with kind eyes and an expression that suggested he'd seen everything. "Can I help you?"

Eve squeezed Alex's hand. "We'd like to get married."

There was no elaborate preparation. No flowers. No guests. No family. No wedding dress. No business arrangements. Just two people standing beside each other, making an extraordinary decision.

They completed the necessary paperwork. The clerk placed the documents in front of them.

Eve picked up the pen.

Alex glanced down at the document.

Evelyn Harrington.

He registered the surname without giving it any thought. His mind was already somewhere else.

What had they just done? What would his parents say? What would his friends think? What would happen when everyone in Westbridge learned that the wedding that had been cancelled on Saturday had been replaced by a completely unexpected marriage only three days later?

He looked at Eve. She was signing her name.

A strange sense of calm settled over him. Whatever happened after this, they had made the decision together.

He picked up the pen and signed his own name.

Alexander Whitmore.

Beside him, Eve looked at the document in front of her.

Alexander Whitmore.

She looked at him. "Whitmore."

Alex smiled. "That's me."

Alexander Whitmore. The name was familiar in a way she couldn't place. But her mind was elsewhere—racing with the enormity of what they'd just done.

She pushed the thought aside.

The ceremony was simple. The words were spoken. The vows were exchanged. And then the official pronounced them husband and wife.

For several seconds, they simply stared at each other.

Then Alex reached for her. His hand cupped her cheek, tilting her face toward his. He kissed her—soft at first, then deeper, sealing the words they'd spoken with something real.

When they pulled apart, Eve's eyes were bright.

"We actually did it," she said.

"We actually did."

She shook her head. "I can't believe we're married."

"Neither can I."

They stepped outside together. The afternoon sun was still shining over Bellhaven. People walked past them, unaware that two lives had just changed forever.

Alex looked at Eve. "What now?"

Eve smiled. "I suppose we go back to the ranch."

He laughed softly. "As husband and wife?"

She looked at him. "Apparently."

They both laughed.

They walked back toward the truck. Neither knew what the next day would bring. Neither knew how their families would react. Neither knew what marriage would eventually become.

For now, they simply walked side by side.

Together.