Page 59 of An Inevitable Marriage

Taking a deep, steadying breath, I pressed the answer button and held the phone against my ear.

“Hey, Mom.”

The butterflies from earlier were back, flapping their wings to a nervous beat that twisted my insides into knots. My legs felt weak and shaky. Before they could give out, I sat on the edge of the bed.

“Hi, Evie.” Her voice was soft and hesitant. I hated it. “I’m not calling at a bad time, am I?”

“Not at all.” My eyes darted to the open door. Probably should have closed it before answering the phone. “How are things?”

I hated the awkwardness between us. As if one silly misunderstanding caused us not to know how to talk to each other anymore. I wanted to tell her I was sorry. That I knew she was looking out for me in her own way.

I would have loved to reassure her she’d raised a daughter who had the same values as her. To promise her that if I shared my bed with another man again it wouldn’t be because I thought I couldn’t do any better.

And it definitely wouldn’t be because he paid me.

Since I couldn’t do any of that, I waited for her to speak.

A heavy sigh filtered through the line. “Pretty much the same, but Dr. Cooper is positive, so that’s a good sign, I guess. Your father sends his love, by the way.”

My heart squeezed tight. I loathed the distance. I should’ve been there. Should’ve held my dad’s hand and begged him to keep fighting. Emotion stung my eyes and clogged my throat, but I quickly swallowed it down when my mom spoke again.

“I just got back from speaking with the administrator, and the hospital will not refund Mr. Maxwell. Or rather, he said, they’d refund him if we paid them the exact amount he paid. It’s a lot of money.”

“You asked them to send Liam’s money back?” I could hardly believe my ears. “Why would you do that?”

“Watch your tone, young lady. I don’t want that man’s money, especially not if he’s only giving it to buy a marriage.”

That’s not why he did it. I wanted to yell the words, but they refused to leave my mouth.

“Anyway,” my mom went on. “My chat with Mr. Abernathy got me thinking, and I made a few calls. Remember I told you about Mr. Spiegel? He’s such a nice man. He and I just had a fabulous conversation, and he agreed to give you a job. You start next week. That should give you enough time to pack up everything there and come down. Isn’t it so wonderful?”

My heart bottomed out. For the first time in my life, it felt like I didn’t know my mom at all. Even worse, that she didn’t know me. Two tears trickled down my cheeks, and I angrily swiped them away.

“Mom, I don’t want—”

Completely ignoring me, my mom happily carried on, “There is this cute place not far from our house I think would be absolutely perfect for you. It has two rooms, so you and Cece can live together like you always talked about.”

I frowned. “Cece is moving back?”

“Well, not yet. She has to finish her final year, but when she’s done, Mrs. Smith has a job waiting for her.”

Something didn’t sound right. “So, Mrs. Smith has a dance studio?”

“No, no, she runs the local bakery. Cece is going to do her books.”

The ache inside my chest grew. “So basically, her studies would be for nothing then? And she’s just okay with it?”

“I still have to speak to her,” my mom snapped. “But why wouldn’t she be?”

More tears fell, and I didn’t even bother to wipe them away. “Because you can’t make these decisions for us, Mom. We’re supposed to find our own way in this world. Figure out where we fit by ourselves.”

My mom scoffed. “It’s my responsibility to lead you in the right direction. And I hate to tell you this, Evie, but you and your sister both need a whole lot more guidance than you think.”

“Mom—”

“Your sister wants to be a dancer. A dancer! And don’t even get me started onyou.” She made an angry noise. “Wanting to marry a man for money. Who does that, Everlee? What does it say about your values? Did I not raise you right?”

Deep down, I understood this was stress talking. My mom had dealt with a lot over the last couple of weeks. Hell, before that even, because working for Natalie’s father hadn’t been a walk in the park.