Page 22 of Malicious Marriage
“Mmhmm.”
“Everything okay? He was out of here like a rocket.”
“Something about his baby. He didn’t exactly explain, and I didn’t want to hold him up by asking.”
“Fair.” Bobby walks in and begins helping me clear up the glasses. “Look at you.”
I pause, one hand hovering over the tap. “What about me?”
“You’re flushed and your eyes are all sparkly. Oh, my God, youlikehim, don’t you?”
“Shut up, no I don’t!” Bobby’s accusation makes my ears burn, so I focus on filling the sink with water and bubbles.
“You totally do. Well, I didn’t count on your falling for the mark.”
“I’m not falling for the mark!”
“You’re protesting too much. That’s a sign of a guilty conscience. You’re crushing on an older guy, look at you!”
“Stop!” Flicking soap suds at him, I fail at denying it properly with the smile creeping over my face. “He’s nice and I’m just being friendly.”
“Mmhmm.” Bubby hums with such a knowing, accusatory tone and my chest squeezes slightly. “Well, I’m not going to tell you he’s too old for you, girl, because these days? If you want maturity, you have to go older. Besides, there’s no rule to say you can’t have fun with this.”
“I don’t want to hurt him.” My words soften while washing the glasses. “I know why we picked him, and I know Hailey is the most important thing and that hasn’t changed. But he seems like a decent person and I don’t want to hurt him.”
“What if hurting him helps you find Hailey?” Bobby asks as he leans on the counter next to me. “If you’re having doubts about that, then we need to come up with another plan.”
“There is no other plan,” I remind him, letting my hands rest in the warm water. “That’s how we got here in the first place.”
“So?” Bobby’s tone is gentle, like he’s trying to encourage me but with no direction in mind. “You can like him, and you can care for him. No one said you had to be a robot about this, but if it comes down to it and you have to hurt him in some way to help Hailey, can you do it?”
My sister’s face flashes up in my mind as I take the offered tea towel and slowly dry my hands. Her face melts into Dean’s handsome, weathered face with his silvery beard and sparkling eyes. There’s no real choice here. I just have to make sure I can deal with the guilt that comes after.
“Yes,” I say firmly. “I can. Because in the end, none of this is even worth it if we can’t find her.”
“So we’re still full steam ahead?”
I nod quickly. “A hundred percent.”
“Understood. But remember.” He clasps my shoulder and smiles. “There’s nothing to say you can’t have fun while you’re at it. He’s an attractive man and you, Clover, are one needy little bitch.”
“Hey!” Balling up the towel, I throw it right in his face. “Rude.”
“But true.”
So true.
“Wait, how did you get your hair wet, by the way?” He glances at the top of my head. “When I dropped you off at the back gate, you were dry and then I opened the door and you were drenched.”
My cheeks warm as I smirk. “Garden hose.”
“Fucking hell.” Bobby laughs. “At least he bought it.”
“Right? Although that’s two unexpected visits. We need to do something about that.”
We clean up the kitchen and decide to set up a small base within the manor. My uncle isn’t home until the end of the month so, barring any disasters, living here is doable. Especially if Dean wants to drop by for another surprise visit. After cleaning the kitchen, we spend the rest of the night doing up two of the bedrooms for us to sleep in. Bobby orders some decent food for the fridge so we don’t have to keep doing quick shops on the way here, and then we retire to bed.
It’s weird sleeping here again. It’s been years since I felt comfort within these walls and the last time I slept here was the night after my father died. Within a week, he was dead and Hailey was gone while my uncle lorded over the place like he was some kind of king. Thoughts of Hailey led me to bring out my phone and dive once more into social media in search of her.