Marrying the Wrong Man (19 page)

He could buy a new home for his family—in Denver.

“Maybe we should just stay here,” she said.

His heart swelled.

“You know? Instead of you driving us back to Aunt Phyllis’s tonight, maybe we could spend the night.”

It surprised him how relieved he’d felt when he’d thought she’d been talking about staying in Harmony Falls. After all the shit that had happened here, he’d have thought leaving would be as much of a relief for him as it was going to be for her. But he’d accomplished a lot in this town over the last couple of years. The idea of starting over somewhere else was daunting … and depressing.

“Is it okay if we stay?” She wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Of course, it is. In fact … you should move in here until we leave.”

Might as well get some use out of the place. Maybe that would help him feel more excited about the move.

The next morning, Charlie woke early and made pancakes that Charlotte nearly inhaled. His smile lingered. Watching his kid devour something he made was a pretty big rush. Having the kid’s mother kiss the cook while he was refilling orange juice was even better.

He was going to make every morning like this.

After breakfast, he found Morgan standing at the kitchen sink, looking out over the backyard.

“It’s such a pretty yard, Charlie. So wide, and green, and peaceful. It just goes on and on. My house in town had this little postage stamp of green between the pool house and the pool, and the entire thing was closed off by wrought iron. I’d always felt so trapped.” She spun around to face him. “My condo in Connecticut wasn’t any better. It was surrounded by pavement. You know, Charlotte never played on grass until we came to Aunt Phyllis’s?” She shook her head. “That sucks. Kids need to run.”

“Agreed.” He nuzzled her neck.

“Denver will have spaces like this, right?”

“I think so.”

“Good. Because when I’m there, I’m going to look for a house just like this.”

If he didn’t know how badly she wanted out of Harmony Falls, he might have thought she was having second thoughts, too.

When they were all loaded in the truck and heading back to Phyllis’s, Morgan looked at him. “I’m going to miss Aunt Phyllis. I wish I could convince her to go with us.”

He smiled. “I don’t think there’s a U-Haul big enough for all those cats and chickens.”

“Still, if I could tear her away from that place. I would.” She propped her elbow on the door and stared out the window.

This was not the Morgan Parrish who left Harmony Falls three years ago. That woman worried more about toeing her family’s line than she did other people’s feelings. He reached over Charlotte’s booster seat, tickling her knee as he passed, and then he latched onto Morgan’s hand. “Maybe I can convince her to go with us.”

She smiled and squeezed his hand. “She does like your boots.”

The minute they saw the gleaming black Escalade parked in front of Phyllis’s house, the easy moment died.

“Shoot.” Morgan looked at Charlotte and then at him. “That doesn’t look good. Government plates. Maybe they found my mom. We gave her a head start, but then Aunt Phyllis called the police.”

He parked far enough back so that the SUV could turn around to exit. Hopefully, they’d be leaving soon. But just in case … “I’m going in with you.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Yes, I do. You don’t know what you’re walking into.”

• • •

With shoulders back and chin lifted, Morgan entered the house. “Hello?”

“In the kitchen,” Aunt Phyllis said.

For some reason, the tone of Aunt Phyllis’s voice had Morgan passing Charlotte off to Charlie. “Maybe you should take her into another room and keep her busy.”

“Yep … as soon as I make sure everything is okay in that kitchen.”

Morgan planted a quick kiss to his cheek. His support kept her from jumping out of her skin.

Aunt Phyllis was sitting at the kitchen table with two men in dark suits. They stood when they saw Morgan.

“Miss Parrish, I’m Agent Clarke, and this is Agent Gorman.”

They flashed badges as they scrutinized Charlie.

Morgan reached forward for handshakes. “Nice to meet you. This is my … daughter, Charlotte, and her father, Charlie Cramer.”

The men nodded when Charlie said hello.

“Miss Parrish, we have a few questions for you about your mother.”

Charlotte started to cry.

“Go ahead and take her in the other room or outside to play,” Morgan said. “I’ll be fine.”

Charlie gave the agents a very pointed look. “I’ll be right outside.” It was silly but touching.

Charlie and Charlotte went out the back door, and the agents returned to their chairs.

“We’ve been talking to your aunt about your mother,” Agent Clarke said.

“Were you surprised to see her?”

Aunt Phyllis circled the table refilling the agents’ coffee cups.

“I was absolutely floored to see my mother.” Otherwise she never would’ve let Aunt Phyllis talk her into taking that knife out of the drawer.

“Was anyone else with her?”

“Not that I could see. I never heard a car pull up, and I didn’t think to look for one after she left.” After she’d picked herself up off the floor, she’d gone straight to bed to cuddle with Charlotte, while Aunt Phyllis called the local police.

“Do you have any idea where she might’ve gone, after she stopped here? Any sympathetic friends in the area or surrounding states?”

Heinrich.
But she couldn’t imagine outing the man who’d been so nice to her when she’d first arrived in town. Besides, he was trying to get her mother to do the right thing. “She said she was going away. That’s it. I couldn’t begin to guess where. She and I have had a very strained and separate relationship for the last three years.”

“Then why do you think she would risk coming here?”

“I have no idea,” Aunt Phyllis said, before she could answer. “The woman’s crazy!”

“When was the last time you saw your sister before she showed up?”

“More than 30 years ago … when she married the man I loved.”

Morgan’s jaw dropped. Aunt Phyllis had been in love with Dad?

“And, you, Miss Parrish? When was the last time you saw your mother before she came here?”

“A little over a year ago … on my daughter’s first birthday.” The words sort of spilled out while Morgan stared at Aunt Phyllis.
She’d been in love with Dad?

Agent Gorman cleared his throat. “Why do you think she came here out of the blue?”

Think? Morgan knew. And there was no use trying to cover up the truth, unless Morgan wanted to become more embroiled in this investigation than she had to. “My mother withdrew several thousand dollars from a joint account that was set up for me when I was a child. It was the culmination of some hefty savings bonds and then years of monetary gifts for birthdays, first communion, graduation—that sort of thing. It had been my intention to keep it for my daughter’s college education, but then I needed it, and that’s when I realized it was gone. She must’ve felt guilty about taking it, because she brought it back to me.”

The agents exchanged looks.

“We’ll need access to that account, Miss Parrish.”

Morgan nodded. Of course they would. The minute her mother touched the credit union account, the assets were destined to be tied up, too. On some level, Morgan had known that. She’d just been so caught up in the hope and freedom the money represented.

She could file a motion to have the money released, but she had no idea how long that would take. One thing she did know: without that twenty-five-thousand dollars, the plans she and Charlie made last night were hollow.

Once the agents left and Charlotte was napping, Morgan filled Charlie in on what had happened. He took the financial loss better than Morgan had.

“I can cook anywhere,” he said again.

But she didn’t want him cooking someone else’s food in someone else’s kitchen. This was not helping to quiet her second thoughts.

He left an hour later.

Morgan pulled the curtains away from the front window and watched his truck disappear down the driveway. Was life ever going to be easy for them?

“You shouldn’t have said anything about the money.” Aunt Phyllis sat on the recliner, brushing mats from a cat that was sprawled on her lap.

“I’m a lawyer. I know what kind of trouble I could get into withholding something like that from an investigation.”

Aunt Phyllis shrugged. “Sometimes you need to take risks in order to keep the man you love.”

True, but no woman needed to be doing anything illegal to keep a man. That was crazy. And
this
was probably not about Morgan and Charlie. “
You
were in love with my father?”

She huffed. “Ancient history.”

“It didn’t seem so ancient this afternoon when you told those agents. I saw your face, Aunt Phyllis. You looked upset. What happened?”

Her eyes sort of glazed over as her strokes lengthened on the cat. “Once upon a time there were two very young and pretty Marion girls, but they were different as night and day. Kitty was tall and thin and poised. Philly was short and plump and silly. One day, a young man moved into town with his family. The Parrishes.” She smiled. “They were from a bigger city back East, and they had style like nobody in these parts had ever seen. Robert Parrish was just as poised as Kitty, and on paper, they made a perfect match. But, Robert liked to laugh, and he found he could laugh with Philly. That laughter turned to love.” Her smile dropped. “Only, it couldn’t last, because Robert and Kitty were declared the perfect couple everywhere they turned. They had their parents’ blessings, too. And when it came time to ask for somebody’s hand, Robert chose Kitty.”

How awful! Bits of the story replayed in her head, mixing with scenes from her own manipulated engagement to Justin. It was bad enough the ridiculous happened once; it happened again decades later when they should’ve known better.

She hugged Aunt Phyllis. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’m not.” She patted Morgan’s arm. “Not anymore. Certainly not now that he’s in prison.”

“I can’t believe I never heard that story before.”

“Who would’ve told you? Not your parents. And this town didn’t know the half of it. Robert and I did a lot of sneaking around.”

Like Morgan and Charlie had done.

“I should’ve known then that there was no future for a relationship that couldn’t be carried on in public. And that man, he asked everything of me, and I gave it. Real love, the kind that lasts, takes equal sacrifices.”

Morgan collapsed on the couch amid a swirl of sickening recognition. She was asking Charlie to do a lot of those same things. He was giving up everything: his bistro, his house, his family and friends. What was she sacrificing? What had she ever sacrificed for him?

“Oh my God.” She covered her mouth. “I can’t make him leave, and I love him too much to leave without him. I have to stay.”

Aunt Phyllis smiled. “It’s about damn time you figured that out.”

Morgan laughed. No matter where she went, there would always be someone who didn’t like her. But only here in Harmony Falls could she count on three people to love her unconditionally.

She jumped off the couch and planted a kiss to Aunt Phyllis’s cheek. “Thank you for helping me see this. I love you.”

Aunt Phyllis squeezed her wrist. “And I love you. You know, the worst part of losing Robert was losing the dreams I had of being a mother to his children. Funny how life works, isn’t it?”

Morgan kissed her again.

“Now git.” Aunt Phyllis swatted her away. “Take my beast of a car. She ain’t pretty but she should run. I’ll watch baby girl while you go tell that man he doesn’t have to sell his house, because you’re staying.”

Morgan smiled. She was going to do better than that.

There was a bistro bearing Charlie’s name that needed to be re-opened, staffed, and booked. And she knew just the people who could make that happen.

Before Morgan could meet with the Mitchells, she had someone else to see. This meeting was going to be the toughest. But, in the spirit of sacrifice, compromise, and all that was holy in healthy relationships, she dug her heels in and readied for the storm.

Alice wrapped her hands around a can of cola as she sat on a stool at her kitchen counter. “Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like what I’m about to hear?”

“Because you’re not going to like the first part. Keep in mind it does get better, though.”

She gave a dramatic sigh and rolled her eyes. “Then let’s get it over with.”

Morgan dropped her feet to the floor and slipped off the stool. She needed to pace for this. “I know why Charlie is coming over here later tonight. He’s going to tell you he’s selling the house and moving to Denver with me and Charlotte.”

“What!” Alice slapped her hands against the counter.

“Remember, it gets better.”

“I hope so.”

Morgan took a deep breath. “He’s going to tell you those things, but I’m not going to let him do those things. I love him, and I’ve decided to stay in Harmony Falls, so we can be together.”

“I thought you said this gets better.” Alice sneered.

“You want your brother to be happy, don’t you?”

“Of course, I do. I want him happy, but I want him to be sober, too.”

“Alice, he is sober! He’s so sober it isn’t funny. Everything that has happened since I’ve been here, and he hasn’t taken a single drink.”

“He almost did.”

“Almost doesn’t count. Either you drink, or you don’t, and he didn’t. He’s not your father. He’s not going to end up like him. And I’m not my father—or my mother. I’m not going to make the same mistakes they’ve made. I want a simple, happy life for my daughter. I also want Charlie. Will you help me?”

“You want
me
to help
you
have Charlie?”

“Ironic, isn’t it?”

Alice crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “What do you need me to do?”

“When he comes over tonight, I need you to give him your blessing to sell the house and leave town with me. Don’t fight him. Don’t tell him you talked to me.”

“Why not? You said you weren’t going to make him do those things.”