Hearts Awakening by Delia Parr Read Free Book Online Page A

consider her demand, she smiled. “No, but I expect you’d be fair when you suggested one.”
    He moistened his lips. “Two hundred dollars a year, held in trust, until Ethan’s eighteenth birthday. Until then, you’d be free to use the accounts I’ll set up in the city, within reason, of course.”
    She shook her head. “That’s far too generous. One hundred dollars a year would be sufficient.”
    “We’ll compromise. One hundred fifty a year.”
    “Agreed.” She drew in a long breath. “I’d also need to know that if you died before the boys are of legal age, I’d receive my funds immediately.”
    He snorted. “You’d take the money and leave the boys, even though they were still young?”
    “Of course not, but I’d want access to the funds, since you’d no longer be here to pay the accounts in the city,” she insisted. “But I’d also have to have some sort of legal guarantee, in writing, that I’d be allowed to remain here on the island to raise the boys. In return, I’d agree not to . . . not to remarry.”
    His eyes widened with surprise, if not respect. “Agreed, provided I retain the right to appoint a trustee to act as guardian, if need be.”
    She nodded, gathered up all of her courage, and pressed on. “Beyond that, I have some additional concerns that would need to be addressed before I could agree to your offer.”
    “Such as?”
    “Such as . . . such as confidentiality,” she managed, unable to stop a warm blush from spreading across her cheeks. “Remaining husband and wife in name only is a reality that neither one of us should ever share with anyone, with the exception of the lawyer who would draw up the papers.”
    “Not even your cousin?” Jackson questioned.
    “Especially not my cousin,” she insisted, fearful that he would try to make her change her mind about marrying Jackson, although she hoped he might be too relieved to be set free of any responsibility for her to care one way or the other. “Even though no one else would know of our arrangement, I wouldn’t be able to tolerate the scandal of a . . . a philandering husband, either, and I must, that is, I’m afraid I’ll have to insist on your total fidelity.”
    His gaze hardened. “While my lawyer can easily draw up papers to reflect what we’ve discussed in financial terms, I’d also expect you to sign an oath that you’ll remain an obedient, dutiful, and faithful wife. If you failed to keep that oath, in any way, I’d move to have the marriage annulled immediately, and any and all financial arrangements will be null and void,” he said sternly.
    Stung, Ellie resisted the urge to confess that she had already paid quite dearly for being true to her strong moral feelings on the issue of fidelity in marriage.
    “In return, you can expect me to act as an honorable husband,” he added, as if trying to soften his demands. “Is there anything else?”
    She drew in a deep breath, decided not to press the matter of having him sign a similar oath, and slowly let out her breath. One of the advantages of living here on this island was the virtual isolation they would enjoy, far from wagging tongues and the gossipmongers, who liked nothing more than to speculate about matters that did not concern them.
    Still, she had one concern and one only that might force her to reject this man’s proposal unless he agreed to meet her demand. “The day I arrived at your home, you told me that you haven’t attended services regularly since your wife died. If we were to marry, I’d expect you to take the boys and me to Sunday services every week.”
    He let out a deep breath, as if relieved she had not asked for something more. “Weather permitting, that shouldn’t be a problem.”
    She smiled. “Then I agree and I . . . I accept your proposal.”
    “You accept?”
    “Yes. Yes, I do.”
    “Good. Then if you have no objection, once I store these apples away, we can pick up the boys and be on our way.”
    When he smiled and