Made-To-Order Wife by Judith McWilliams

Author:Judith McWilliams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

“I think you’ll be very happy with your home once we’ve finished.” The tubby little architect beamed happily at Max as he bounced down the front steps.

“I don’t know about that, but I guarantee you that he’ll be happy considering what he intends to charge you,” Jessie murmured to Max as she watched Leaverson wedge his portly frame into the small BMW he had parked on the street in front of Max’s town house.

“It isn’t that much,” Max said.

“Compared to what? The national debt? I still think that you ought to get a second opinion. And maybe a third and a fourth one, too.”

“You said he was the best,” Max told her.

“Yes, but…”

“I can afford the best,” Max said with bone-deep satisfaction. “I have no intention of cutting corners. This is where I intend to raise my family. I want them to remember having lived in a house that was perfect in every way.”

Turning, Max pulled the front door closed behind them and then locked it. “Let’s go find a restaurant and have lunch,” he said.

Jessie fell into step beside him. “I think you’re wrong.”

“No, I’m not. I’m starved.”

“Not about needing food. About memories. Kids don’t care about houses. I didn’t.”

What she did remember was the hundreds of broken promises her mother had made. She remembered the humiliation of always having to make excuses for her mother’s nonappearances at school functions. And the embarrassment she’d felt when the neighbors would stop talking when they saw her. A thousand hurts were indelibly carved in her memory, but the public housing she’d spent her childhood in she could barely remember.

“That’s probably because you didn’t grow up in a two-room shack. Hell, we didn’t even have indoor plumbing, and to reach the door you had to pick your way through the junked cars in the front yard. I used to lie about where I lived so no one would know.” Max’s features hardened at the memory. “My kids are going to have a home they can bring their friends to without feeling ashamed.”

She glanced up at him and winced at the anguished memories she could see reflected in his eyes. Despite the undeniable success he’d made of his life, his childhood still haunted him.

“You need to let the past go,” Jessie said impulsively. “Your parents were obviously two people who were overwhelmed by life, but that was their problem, not yours.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t care about the past.”

“If you don’t care, then why are you trying so hard to live your life exactly the opposite of the way they did?” Jessie persisted.

“I’m not.” His arctic tone froze off the discussion, and Jessie wisely let it drop. He was paying for social expertise, not for psychological insights into his character.

“Is this place okay?” Max stopped in front of a small restaurant tucked in between two much larger buildings.

“Looks fine to me.” She followed him inside and slipped into one of the empty booths.

They had just finished ordering when Jessie’s cell phone rang. Pulling it out of her purse, she checked the number.

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