Page 126 of Merging Wright

“Okay, fine, I just wanted to see my kiss on you.” My eyes latch onto hers as she gazes back at me. “Oh, and there’s one last thing I wanted to tell you. Something I can no longer pretend.”

Her smile drops. Her eyes grow suspicious.

“I can no longer pretend our marriage is an act, a charade, or a sham. Because I’m wholeheartedly, absolutely, and completely in love with you, Jane.”

“Mach,” she whispers, brows pinched, confusion on her face. I don’t need her to say it back. I don’t want to hear she doesn’t love me in return.

I lean toward her ear. “I have no more secrets left to share.” I press a kiss just below her ear and step back. Pointing upward, I wink. “Mistletoe again.”

Jane looks up, although she’s already aware there is no mistletoe over us, and I spin away from her. Walking away might be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but Jane deserves her freedom. She’ll rule this town and own my heart. And I wanted her to have the truth.

I’m in love with my wife.

58

Playlist: “Bring It On Home To Me” – Sam Cooke

(from Guardians of the Galaxy)

[Mach]

“Landon?” Landon and Ma stand outside The Barber Shop. Ma’s arms are around his waist and Landon holds onto Ma in return.

“It’s beautiful,” Ma states, marveling at the lights overhead. She looks beautiful, at peace almost, in a way I’ve never seen her. When she jostles Landon in her arms and gazes up at him with a generous smile, she looks incredibly happy.

She’s in love with him. And the responding look he’s giving Ma says he reciprocates those feelings.

Well, shit.

I clear my throat and Landon looks up at me.

“I’ve been meaning to find you,” Landon says.

If he’s about to ask me for Ma’s hand or something, I’m going to lose it. Not that I wouldn’t be happy for Ma. She deserves someone to love her, partner with her through the rest of her life, but this is too much for my bruised heart.

I also don’t think I can take more news about Frank and the will.

“They found the person who set the fires. He confessed to everything.”

“Who?” My eyes widen.

“Turns out it was a man hired by Becca, Frank’s wife. She wanted to file for divorce but hung on a bit longer to her wayward, adulterous husband.”

Frank’s affairs with ‘an office piece on the side’ as he called his personal assistant was common knowledge in Wrightwood. His affair wasn’t his first.

“What happened?”

“Frank thought he’d inherit Wrightwood when Fischer died, and his plan was to sell off the town for a multi-billion-dollar deal to a foreign energy company. Becca stood to gain half of that settlement if she stuck it out with him. She stalled on filing for divorce, holding out for Fischer’s impending death. When Frank didn’t inherit the property, Becca still thought there could be something done to stave off redevelopment.”

My mouth falls open. I’m stunned.

“If she could drive you and Jane away, the will wouldn’t be fulfilled. Failure to meet the time frame. Then Frank decided to contest the will, sighting your wedding as illegal. Neither action would have resulted in Frank getting the land. The property would have reverted to the state as the will directed. The state would decide on a private sale or the power plant or whatever it wanted with the land. Frank would have had no stake in anything. And Becca wouldn’t have either.”

Someone in our family tried to sabotage Fischer’s plan. The idea is almost ironic. The Wrights seem to feed on their own. As Fischer often said, keep your family the closest, because they’ll hurt you the most.

Disappointment worms its way through my chest. Strangely, it’s not for Becca or Frank. Let them rot. “Poor Myles.”

Ma’s head lifts at my words, her eyes questioning me. But, I’m not being sarcastic. I’m sincere. We didn’t complete the project by Fischer’s deadline. Trixie’s Trim especially held us back. Renovation won’t be finished until after the new year. Myles will lose his portion of the inheritance.