Page 53 of The Replacement Wife (New Hope 2)

“There are things we can do.”

“Things?”

“It’s in the agreement.”

I’m just testing her. I know what’s written in that agreement. None of it is in my favor.

“The truth is, Melanie, you’re one of us now. You’ve proven yourself.” She glances over and eyes me from head to toe. “And you look amazing. Really.”

“Proven myself how?”

“With what you’ve endured, you’ve proven you can be a leader. Tom needs you. We need you.”

“Who is we?”

She white-knuckles the steering wheel and grins all the while. “The church, of course.”

Chapter Eighteen

Tom

I’m on my way home from my run, just two streets over from the house when a car pulls up beside me. I know it immediately. It’s Mark’s. “Get in,” he says when the window is half down. “I’ll give you a lift home.”

“This makes no sense.” I motion toward my running shoes. “The point of this,” I say, “is to exercise.”

“It’s about Melanie,” he tells me, and that’s all it takes. I know I’m getting in that car.

The next thing I know, we’re sitting in my kitchen. “Have you been working out?” he asks, nodding at my upper body.

“A little.” It’s a lie. I’ve been working out every spare moment I have. I want to win Melanie’s affection. I want her to forgive me for sending her away. I want to show her I have rejuvenated myself, too.

“Melanie will be pleased. In fact, the reason I’m here is to tell you that she is on her way home.”

I don’t know what I’d expected, but it wasn’t this. I need to shower. I need appropriate attire. Mark has to go.

“I hope you’ll excuse me,” I say to him.

He takes the hint. “I’ll get out of your hair in just a moment. First, there’s something I want to discuss.”

I check my watch and calculate the time it takes to drive from downtown at this time of day.

“The women are not responding to plastic surgery well after June’s death. Plus, with Grant not around…they need someone they can trust.”

I don’t see what this has to do with me; I am not a physician.

“What makes older women feel inferior more than anything?”

I have forty-five minutes. Max. Mark doesn’t notice I haven’t responded and he doesn’t wait either. Thankfully. “The answer is, a younger, more attractive woman thrown in the mix.”

I still don’t offer anything up. I want him to keep talking, which he does. “I have a plan for Melanie.”

“A plan?”

“A recruitment plan.”

“Hmmm.”

“We need more young women in her demographic.”