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I laid the entire relationship out to her. Other than leaving out the parts where we slept with each other, I walked her through the proposal, the marriage, and every lie we told along the way. I told her about Payton, the kiss last winter, and Brad. When I exhausted everything, up to the last night we’d spent together in Concord, I sat back, body and mind spent.
Bunny sighed, her gaze far away as she picked up her teacup, took a sip, and set it back down again. “Appears the tea’s gone cold.”
She stood, hustling into the kitchen to start another pot. I turned in my seat to watch her, my mental exhaustion giving way to worry. Worry that Bunny wouldn’t help me. Or worse, that Bunny would be upset with Nora.
Carrying a fresh pot, she returned to the living room, filling our glasses. She sat primly in her set, perched on the edge with her knees angled toward me.
She picked up the cup in both hands and grinned. “So, you need me to handle Len and Cal?”
“I can’t ask you to do that,” I said. Sure, having Bunny deal with Nora’s brothers would have been easier, but I had steeled myself to take whatever blows came from telling them the truth. “Maybe just come with me and make sure they don’t kill me?”
“Of course not.” She waved a hand. “Those two? They’re pushovers, especially when it comes to Nora. I’ll have them onboard in no time. Don’t worry about them.”
I admired her confidence even if I didn’t share it. “I’m not sure it’ll be that easy.”
“Trust me,” she said flatly. “You focus on Nora. I’ll take care of the rest. When are you doing this?”
“Is this weekend too soon? I don’t want to rush but—”
“Sweetie, your entire relationship has been a rush. I see no reason to stop now.” She gave me a warm smile, standing to pull me into another all-encompassing hug that made the tightness in my chest loosen. She pushed me back to arm’s length, surveying me before nodding. “I’ll wait until tomorrow to tell the boys. Give you a head start if my part goes sideways.”
She shot me an exaggerated wink, as if her word wasn’t as good as the law in their family. Still, I didn’t mind the consideration, especially if Nora didn’t agree to my plan. I turned to go, pulling my keys out of my pocket and pausing at the door.
“Hey, before I leave, want me to stash these in my car?” I asked, nodding toward a pile of gnomes at the door. “I can give them back to you over the next couple of weeks. You know, as gifts.”
Her grin lit up the room. “You’d do that?”
“I might even add a few extra to the pile.” I winked before slipping out the door.
CHAPTER33
Nora
“This seems like overkill,”I said, peering out of the small window onto the Pierce airfield, an airport I hadn’t even known existed until five days ago when Andy sprung one more business trip on me.
With the holidays fast approaching and my first half-semester of college successfully completed, I had no reason to say no.
“Fun, isn’t it? I’ve only flown on Brad’s jet twice, but he offered it up for this trip, considering how last minute it is.”
I had never even been on a plane until a couple months ago. Now, I was one of two passengers aboard a small jet with twice as many crew. “Feels surreal, like I should take pictures and post them with humble brag captions on social media.”
Andy laughed, sitting in the seat across from me. One of the attendants brought us drinks and disappeared into the back for departure after a brief safety announcement that felt more like a chat. Within minutes of settling into the plane, the pilot had us off the ground and on our way to New York City for the weekend.
I kept my eyes on the window rather than across the aisle. I’d been oddly disappointed when Andy hadn’t pushed me any harder when I’d asked to go back to our original agreement. He’d returned home seemingly unperturbed last Sunday, happily joining me for dinner at Len’s before sleeping in his room that night.
Of course, he slept in his room. I hated myself for getting used to his bed, the faint smell of cedar, and the ridiculously massive amount of space to starfish into. My bed seemed lumpy and lonely in comparison. Lots of things seemed lonely these days.
The jets fired, and I focused on the runway rather than lusting after my husband.
“This is safe, right?” I asked. “Are you sure I needed to come?”
I didn’t mean to sound skeptical, but it came out that way. I was on edge and I couldn’t entirely place why. Andy had stayed utterly unruffled as our relationship backslid into friendship, but everyone else in my life seemed unnaturally on edge. Bunny practically thrummed, making me wonder whether she had an eighth marriage up her sleeve. Cal had been cautiously circling me, keeping our conversations strictly focused on my schoolwork and health, never straying to Andy, despite their newfound friendship. I grabbed lunch with Millie and Thea, and they both acted like they shared some secret I wasn’t in on. And Len… well, actually, Len hadn’t changed a bit.
“Could I have come alone? Probably, but you’re out of school, and you loved our last trip to New York,” Andy said, hitching the edge of his lips up as his blue eyes slanted my way. “Besides, winter is cold for those without warm memories. I thought we should make some more.”
I froze, eyes widening even as he butchered the line. “You watchedAn Affair to Remember?”
