Just Between Us: A Marriage of Convenience Small Town Romance (Franklin Notch Book 3) by Sarah Everly

Author:Sarah Everly [Everly, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-29T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

Andy

By the second drink, the tension in my shoulders eased and I could take an even breath. Sure, Nora filled every silence with nervous chatter, exacerbated each time I risked touching her and Cal continued to shoot daggers in my direction, but the rest of the group had accepted our marriage with little fanfare and welcomed me into the fold.

Progress.

“So, you took Nora on a business trip honeymoon?” Thea asked mischievously, smoothing out the pleats on her red dress and crossing one black-heeled leg over the other.

“That wasn’t the honeymoon,” I answered, startlingly Nora.

Thea raised a sculpted eyebrow. “So, when will the honeymoon happen then?”

Nora set her hand on my knee, distracting me from a response. “I’m starting school, so once classes are over for the summer, right?”

“Or you could just go now,” Thea prodded.

“I’m still recovering,” Nora said at the same time I answered, “I’m actually traveling for the next couple of weeks.”

Nora stilled. “What?”

“I’m going to Texas and then California, and I think Chicago. It’s on our calendar.”

She fumbled for her phone, pulling it out and opening the app. Her brow furrowed, confusion clouding her brown eyes. “Three… no, four weeks?”

“I thought you knew,” I said under my breath.

Nora tittered nervously. “I didn’t check the calendar. I thought we had more time.”

I rubbed her shoulder. “It’ll be fine. It’s just a few weeks.”

“Yeah,” she said reluctantly, lowering her voice. “I just thought you’d be gone for a weekend, not weeks at a time. Like New York.”

I winced. “I don’t have a choice, Nora.”

“Right.” She shrugged and followed the tense movement with a forced smile. “I should have checked.”

We had one more drink before everyone started heading home for the night. I stepped outside with Nora, helping her into the car and driving home. To our home.

Nora stayed quiet on the ride, and I let the silence eat at me until we made our way inside and upstairs. I stood at her bedroom door, palm on the doorframe. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Another forced smile. This one was accompanied by a glint of tears in her eyes. Great.

“Did you want to talk about it?” I asked.

She nodded, beckoning me in. I sat at the foot of her bed while she rummaged in her dresser for pajamas. She pulled out a pair, setting them on her hip. “I just didn’t know you’d be gone for so long.”

“Yeah,” I drawled, my chest tight. “This trip is a long one. I might be able to come home in the middle, for a weekend, maybe. Or you can fly out to see me.”

She shook her head, padding into the bathroom and partially closing the door so she could change. I suppressed a groan at, arguably, the worst part of our evening ritual.

“I can’t. Since you insisted going to college isn’t a waste of money, I took a few half-semester classes. Just to get my feet wet,” she called from the other side of the door.

“It’s not a waste of money. You’re going to do great.

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