“People are sitting, and they are waiting for you,” she says. “Also, I’m not sure you approved it, but Savannah has been moved from beside you.”

I swallow down the lump in my throat and listen to him. “I didn’t approve that,” Beau hisses, and I just shake my head.

“It’s fine,” I say. “You need to do your thing.”

“I don’t care,” he says. “You’re my wife.” I want to tell him that we should talk about that, but I’m not sure now is the time to do that. Instead, I try not to make a big deal out of it.

“I already told them to fix it,” Cassandra says. “I don’t know about you, but I’d be pissed if my husband wasn’t sitting next to me.”

“Thank you.” I smile at her. “That means a lot.”

We walk to the seating area, and Beau holds out the chair for me, and I sit down, smiling at the men around the table. The meal is a blur, and I have no idea what is discussed, but when we walk into the house, I don’t say anything to him as I follow him up to the bedroom. He doesn’t even turn on the lights. He unzips my dress and kisses my shoulder, the lone tear comes out of my eye and rolls down my cheek. I make love to him, holding him in my arms as tight as I can, and when I know he’s sleeping, I get up and walk down the stairs to sit on the couch. I go over the speech in my head over and over again, and when I hear his footsteps coming down the stairs, I’m ready for him. “Morning,” he says, coming over to me and leaning down to kiss me. “I am going to go on the record in saying I hate waking up without you.” I wait for him to be in the kitchen before I start.

“We need to talk,” I say, and he turns around to look at me.

“I don’t like the way that sounds,” he says, smiling, and he must see that my face is probably a mess from crying all night long. “Why have you been crying?”

“It’s just been an emotional couple of days,” I say. “I went to the bank yesterday, and they denied me the loan,” I say, and he walks to me. “He was sure to tell me that the mayor’s office stands behind his decision since you will be buying the land.”

“I have no idea why he said that. I haven’t even had any discussion with anyone about it,” he says.

“It doesn’t matter, Beau,” I say. “This”—I point at him and me—“was just to keep me safe.”

“What are you talking about?” he says now, his voice going louder.