The Wedding Contract by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0000000000000
Published: 2023-02-18T12:35:46+00:00

Laura jumped up from the couch when she heard a truck rumbling up the drive. She must have fallen asleep. Pushing her hair away from her face, she leaned forward to see the dial on the alarm clock that sat on a box next to the couch—1:00 a.m.

Laura opened the door just as Jake reached for the handle. He looked drenched and cold and exhausted, but the first thing he did was look into her eyes and smile. “Is Molly asleep?” he whispered.

“Yes, but don’t worry. She’s out like a light. She exhausted herself with worry about all her things at home.” Laura hesitated. “I told her everything would be fine.”

Jake knew she was afraid she’d lied to her daughter. He took off his coat and dropped it on the mat in front of the door.

“It will be all right eventually,” he told her. “But not right now, I’m afraid.” He ran a hand through his wet hair and headed for the small kitchen, Laura following.

“I found some soup in the cupboard,” she said, flipping on the light over the stove. “Want a bowl?”

Jake nodded and sat down heavily on one of the folding chairs set up at the card table jammed against the wall. He propped his elbows on the table and stifled a tired groan as he rested his forehead in his hands.

He waited while she opened the soup and heated it on the stove. When she put the bowl in front of him and sat down opposite he raised his head. He wanted to see her face while he talked to her.

“There’s been some bad leakage, Laura. We got the hole covered with tarps and stopped most of it. But before we were done, part of the floor in Molly’s old room collapsed.”

Laura paled, thinking about Molly in that room just a week before.

“Is it…repairable?” she asked, her voice weak.

Jake nodded. “Yes, honey, but it’s a major job.” He looked at her, assessing her state of mind.

Laura held her breath. Though she was hovering on a state of emotional shock, she clung to the sound of Jake calling her “honey.” “What else?” she asked quietly.

“Trina called after you’d gone. We were working inside by then, and I answered. I thought it might be you,” he added apologetically.

“It’s all right. What did she want?”

Jake took a long breath. “The usual.” His eyes caught hers and held. “She wanted to know where you were and who was with Molly. I told her part of the truth. I said you were staying at a friend’s house, and Molly was with you. Laura,” he said, reaching over to touch her hand on the table, “this time she said she has a lawyer. It sounded like more than an idle threat.” He hesitated. “I could ask Rowen what he knows—if you want.”

Laura looked away briefly, giving herself time to think about what he’d said. It was too much to assimilate at once. Her house was now in need of even more repairs, and her mother-in-law was threatening legal action to get her daughter.

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