Page 91 of Last Wish Wedding

“Of course,” he said, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Just thinking about Grandad. I should get back to him.”

“Of course,” Kelsey nodded, pushing aside the unexpected hurt at his detachment. Today was a victory, they should be celebrating. Instead, Mac seemed a million miles away.

The drive back to the island passed mostly in silence, the coastal road winding beneath a perfect blue sky that seemed at odds with the strange new heaviness between them. Mac drove with mechanical precision, his gaze fixed on the road ahead, occasionally checking his phone at stoplights, presumably for messages from Mrs. Henley about Truman.

Kelsey watched the scenery pass. The Prescotts had been thoroughly defeated. So why did it feel like something else had just ended too?

“The restraining order extension was a nice touch,” she said finally, unable to bear the silence any longer. “A whole year of not having to worry about them showing up unannounced.”

Mac nodded. “Harrison thought she might do that. Abernathy has a reputation for being thorough.”

Another stretch of silence followed, broken only by the rhythmic swish of windshield wipers as they drove through a brief shower.

“You seem…” Kelsey hesitated, searching for the right word. “Distant. Any updates?”

Mac’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “No.”

“That’s good,” Kelsey said softly. She waited, hoping he would say more, but he simply nodded.

The thought that had been circling in her mind all morning finally broke free. “Mac, do you think…” She stopped, finding it hard to put her fears into words. “Do you think we rushed into this? The marriage, I mean?”

His head turned sharply toward her before returning to the road. “What?”

“The judge barely mentioned our marriage,” Kelsey continued, the words spilling out now. “She focused on my parenting, on Noah’s stability. I just wonder if we…” She swallowed hard. “If we needed to get married at all.”

Mac pulled the car onto a scenic overlook, putting it in park before turning to face her fully for the first time since they’d left the courtroom.

Kelsey’s heart hammered against her ribs as she watched the emotions play across Mac’s face. Surprise, confusion, and something deeper she couldn’t identify. But instead of speaking, he simply turned away and stared out at the view beyond the guardrail.

The silence stretched between them.

They’d faced down the Prescotts together, became a legal family, shared a bed and a home, and yet in this moment, Mac seemed as unreachable as the sky. She wanted him to reassure her, tell her the marriage was necessary, or even if it wasn’t, that he didn’t regret it.

Had she misread the past few weeks of the growing connection between them? All those tender moments, the way he’d stepped effortlessly into their lives, the genuine bond he’d formed with Noah?

She studied his profile, the strong line of his jaw now tense. The dark circles beneath his eyes spoke of sleepless nights at Truman’s bedside, but there was something else there too, a withdrawal that had nothing to do with exhaustion.

Had it been naïve to think their marriage of convenience could ever be more?

Once the custody battle was won and Truman was gone, what reason would Mac have to stay? The Nereid was ready, waiting to carry him away from the complications of human connection, just as he’d planned.

The thought settled like ice in her chest. She’d let herself fall for him, let Noah get attached, knowing all along what was going to happen. He would leave, and they would be alone again. Different but the same.

Maybe that was for the best. Hadn’t she managed perfectly well on her own before?

Yet the idea of returning to that solitary existence after experiencing the warmth of their improvised family felt unbearable. She’d grown accustomed to Mac’s presence. She’d come to rely on his perspective, his unwavering support.

More than that, she’d begun to love him.

She loved him, not just for what he’d done for them, but for who he was. The man who built model boats with Noah. Who knew exactly how she took her coffee. Who traced patterns on her skin in the quiet darkness after making love. Who fought with every resource at his command to protect them.

But was she truly his? Had she ever been? Or was she simply a responsibility he’d taken on out of loyalty to his grandfather and a sense of justice?

Mac’s phone rang, shattering the silence. He answered without checking the screen, his body tensing as he listened to the caller. When he hung up, he turned to her, his expression grim.

“It’s Grandad,” he said simply. “We need to go.”

He put the car in drive without another word, pulling back onto the coastal road with careful precision. Whatever Kelsey had hoped to hear from him remained eclipsed by the more immediate concern of Truman’s decline.