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She went to the room, changed into her pajamas, completed her nightly routine, and climbed onto the bed.
Gus was in their bedroom in ten minutes flat. He closed the door and leaned back against it, leveling her with a heated stare.
Her stomach flipped. She should have chosen her words a little more carefully.
“What was that?” He moved slowly toward where she was lying on her side on the bed with her head propped up on her hand. “Were you propositioning me?”
She scowled. “I said it for their benefit.” She had, but not in the way he obviously took it.
“I don’t think they heard you, but I sure did.”
“I didn’t mean anything by it, Augustus.”
He stopped at the side of the bed. “You know how I feel about you calling me Augustus.” His voice was practically a growl.
She moved her hand and let her head drop back against the pillow. “And you know that nothing physical is going to happen between us. I only said it so Sky and Franky would think I wanted my husband to come to bed with me. For appearances, right?”
He ran his fingers through his hair and grumbled something under his breath as he disappeared into the bathroom.
She heard the water running, and she felt bad that she’d accidentally gotten him all worked up. It hadn’t been her intention, but he was a man, and she knew she needed to be careful about the things she said and did. She didn’t want to give him the wrong impression. This was a business deal only, per their agreement, and neither one of them could afford to confuse things by adding a physical relationship into the mix.
NINETEEN
Gus could tell something was bothering Merritt as they drove south toward Kalamazoo, but he didn’t press. She was quieter than usual, and she pulled out her phone five minutes into the trip and seemed lost in it. She scrolled and tapped on her screen for a while, and he heard the familiar sounds of texts being sent and the chimes when she received replies.
Forty minutes later, Gus turned on the road that led to her parents’ house in a residential area of the city. He noticed Merritt’s hand tightly gripping her phone as she looked out the window.
“Maybe we should just go see my friend, Nicole, instead of my parents.”
He gave her a quizzical look.
“I haven’t seen her in years, and she texted to let me know she’s still living in town, and she’s not busy today.”
Gus gave her a look. “Why don’t you want to see your parents?”
She sighed. “It’s not that I don’t want to see them. I just don’t know how they really feel about all this.” She waved between the two of them.
The vehicle navigation directed him to turn into the next driveway. “Well, I guess we’ll find out.”
He got out of the car and walked around to open the door for her.
She climbed out and straightened her posture as if she was gearing up for what was ahead. He’d never seen her so tense, and he wrapped an arm around behind her, pulling her into his side.
“Hey, it’ll be fine. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“Ask me that again in about an hour.”
Something about her nervousness filled him with a dread of his own. He usually liked meeting new people, but this was a different kind of situation.
The door of the modest home opened before they reached the front steps.
“Merritt!” her mom cried. She came through the door with arms stretched out for her daughter.
“Hi, Mom.” Merritt gave a small smile as she hugged her then let go and turned toward Gus. “Augustus Schultz, meet my mom, Ruth Christianson.”
Ruth was short and petite, with straight brown hair like Merritt’s, though Ruth’s had some grey showing through. They both had brown eyes and similarly shaped small, straight noses. If Merritt hadn’t told him she was adopted, he never would’ve known they weren’t biologically related.
“Ohhh.” Ruth opened her arms to him. “I’m so happy to meet you, Augustus.”