Page 24 of His Forever
“Well, let me feed you so that you can head home and relax so when youdoget sleepy, you won’t have far to go, okay?”
“Sounds like a plan to me. Lead the way, oh kind sir!”
***
Dinner was a relaxed affair. He had forwarded the office phone to his cell so that any calls that came in would be answered. He laughed at the girls’ antics in the salon and told her that as long as he could remember, they had been like that and that sometimes, he wasn’t sure who was the ringleader. “I think it’s Mamá,” she told him seriously.
“You are most likely correct. She loves to be up in folks’ business but not in a mean or malicious way,” he replied.
As they were finishing up, his phone rang and he answered, taking down the information he needed to tow someone in. “Mi siempre hermosa, as much as I have enjoyed this, I need to go,” he told her regretfully.
“It’s okay, I knew that before we came over, remember?” she responded as she stood up and they went to pay the bill.
He walked her over to where she had parked and left her with a very promising kiss, saying, “I will try to call you later, okay?”
“You just be careful. Don’t worry about trying to call, especially if you get busy.”
“I will if I’m able, mi siempre hermosa.”
Realizing she wouldn’t win against him, she merely nodded and thanked him for dinner before she got in the car and left.
***
Back at home, showered and changed, she sat down to find something to watch. One of the girls had mentioned a series they enjoyed, so she went to Netflix and found it and started watching. Hours later, stomach growling, she looked at the clock and was surprised it was after midnight. Turning the television off, she checked the cat food bowls and topped them off, then went and got ready for bed. The next day was going to be brutal and she knew she would be tired, but she was excited that she was making it in a new place. Curled up in bed, her thoughts strayed as they often did to the man who rescued her all those months ago. He was everything she wanted but she wasn’t sure if he would still want to be around once he knew the truth. Taking a few deep breaths, she exhaled and decided that she would know when the time was right to spill her guts. She just hoped and prayed it wouldn’t be the end of them.
Chapter Nine
Her ringing phone woke her up and she reached blindly until she had it in her grasp, then groaned when she saw who was calling.
“Hello, Mother.”
“Well, hello, Marleigh. I figured I would call you since you haven’t called me.”
“What’s there to say?”
“Well, for starters, I cannot believe you broke off the engagementtwo weeksbefore the wedding!”
“Uh, Mother, just to say,he wasscrewing my best friend. Why wouldn’t I break off the wedding?”
“Marleigh Jeanette Cross, you know he was just having fun until the two of you got married.”
“Mother, the bottom line is this – once he put that ring on my finger, he promised to be faithful. He was not. End of story.”
“Well, your father and I…”
“Look, I know you and Daddy mean well, but this ismy lifewe’re talking about and I cannot and will not start a marriage knowing the man I loved was incapable of waiting for sex!”
“Fine, dear. Now, when can we expect a visit?”
She drew in a deep breath and counted to twenty before saying, “I don’t know, Mother. I’m busy getting established here and on my days off, I’m trying to meet new people and make friends. Soon, though.”
After a few more minutes of conversation designed to make her feel like a failure, where she heard about everything her siblings were doing that were “wonderful” she finally said, “Mother, I hate to cut this short but I need to get ready to go to work.”
“Oh? I didn’t realize you had found a job.”
As if she was just going to sit around. “Yes, I did. In fact, I began working the day after I got here.”
“Well, that’s good, dear. I won’t keep you. Have a good day.”