Chapters (66)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Keep Reading
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sneak Peek
- Find Me
- Books by Mary Catherine Gebhard
- Acknowledgments
“It’s my fault,” she mumbled, numb. “You gave me every opportunity to love you, and I was too afraid.”
She swallowed and straightened her back; then the Lottie I knew returned. “So we do what everyone else does, a marriage in name only.”
“I don’t want that kind of marriage,” I gritted.
“Are you going to cancel?” Wonder spread across her face, knowing what that meant.
“No.”
And just like that wonder shattered into misery. “So she’s going to keep staying with you.”
Obviously I couldn’t do that anymore. I rubbed my forehead, unsure of what to do. I can’t let her go. I can’t keep hurting Lottie.
Fuck.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
Lottie rolled her lips. “Is it love? Do you love her?”
Her laugh. Her smile. Her brazen honesty. Her death-wish questions. The way she glared. The way she challenged me. Those eyes, how they see into my soul.
Is that love?
It can’t be, because I can’t be in love.
I shrugged. “Nah.”
“Okay. Just get it out of your system before the wedding. In the end, it doesn’t really matter who we love. You’ll still be my husband, and I’ll still be your wife.”
Forty
STORY
I spent days with my uncle at the clinic. It provided a pretty decent distraction from what I’d had to leave behind. Now today was Abigail’s birthday, I thought absently. I’d memorized her calendar ages ago, and days popped out and poked me like pin needles. End of July, Ms. Abigail’s birthday, don’t forget to steam her towels and prep her tea each morning…
But that was all before.
Now, as Uncle was seen by the doctor, I was in the billing department, ready to beg the surly woman behind the desk for a payment plan. My mind kept drifting back to what I’d left behind.
Lottie kissing Grayson. Lottie in his bedroom.
“Excuse me,” the woman snapped. “Name.”
“Oh, excuse me.” I shook the image out of my head. “I’m here to see if I can set up a payment plan for my uncle Woodson Hale.”
She typed his name into her computer, and my mind wandered again.
Grayson never allowed anyone in his bedroom…except me. How foolish was it to think that I could be the only girl when he had a real girl?
Did they sleep together?
“It’s all paid for.”
I stared, stunned, at the billing woman. “What do you mean it’s all paid for? By who?”
She didn’t even look up from her computer. “We can’t give that information out.”
“But…”
She slowly looked up at me, giving me the coldest glare. “Do you have more business?”
“I mean, no, I suppose not…”