The Marriage Bargain by Susan Fox

Author:Susan Fox
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

“TELL him I’m on my way.”

Hallie hung up the phone in the den. The foreboding that had made her rush into the house to take the call from the hospital had eased to simple dread. According to the nurse Hank had selected to make the call, he was doing remarkably better. So much better that he’d ordered Hallie to the hospital—to the private room they’d just moved him into—right away.

This morning had been difficult enough, but now she had to face her grandfather well before regular visiting hours. Hank would expect her to give an account of her actions. He’d take great satisfaction in shredding her to ribbons before he announced that she was out of the will.

Nevertheless, Hank’s improvement was a relief. Whether he’d ever know it or not, changing his Will to leave her out would take a load of guilt off her heart. She’d no longer have a financial stake in when he passed away. And now that her marriage to Wes had become so complicated, being written out of the will right away would free them both just that much sooner.

“How’s he doing?”

Wes’s voice from the open doorway let her know he’d followed her in. She kept her back to him and forced a neutral tone.

“Doing well enough to be out of Intensive Care. He wants me at the hospital right away.”

“I’ll drive you.”

Hallie shook her head. “No, thank you.”

“You shouldn’t go alone.”

Hallie took a shallow breath and turned toward him. “I’ve been going alone to the hospital every day for the past month, sometimes twice a day,” she pointed out calmly.

“You just married me. Hank knows it by now.”

“Which was why he had someone call me. At least I know he’ll let me in the room.”

“I don’t want you to go alone,” he said, and she couldn’t miss the steely edge in his voice. “If he’s rough on you, I don’t want you driving.”

Hallie’s gaze wavered from his. Hank would be in a lather over their marriage and she’d be facing a new ordeal when she went to visit him. But she couldn’t mistake Wes’s concern. He’d already made it clear that what she did and what might be done to her reflected on him now. Because she was his wife and she bore the Lansing name, it was probably more some macho ownership thing rather than anything truly personal.

She couldn’t allow herself to think it was something more. Survival dictated that she distance herself from Wes, to reassert the emotional independence she couldn’t function without. She forced herself to meet his gaze and appear unconcerned.

“What could he possibly say to me that would be more traumatic than anything else he’s ever said? The only new thing he can say this time is, ‘You’re out of the Will, you’ll never get Four C’s.”’

Wes regarded her with an intensity that made her anxiety rise. “Won’t that be hard to take? He’ll probably have some choice things to say about marrying a Lansing.”

His persistence frustrated her. She knew better than anyone what she was in for.

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