“Not going to happen, Nick.” I growl at him.
“I loved Cora, she was like a sister to me,” June says.
They are all looking at me, waiting for me to continue talking. “You need to finish that statement, Caleb,” Dad doesn’t say much but when he does it’s straight to the point.
“Well the lady who owns the Bride for Hire agency, Miss May, called me and told me she had someone for the job and wanted to set up a meeting for Monday. I was in the locality so I popped into the office. She was still interviewing her candidate and when she came out to see me, Cora walked out behind her. She had matched me with Cora.”
No one says anything, they sit there staring at me with their mouths open.
“What happened? I’m sure it didn’t go as smoothly as Miss May would have liked,” Mom says.
“Cora tried to walk out of the door, but I offered Miss May to double the money and I wanted her for two months, not one week.”
“Two months? What the hell were you thinking?” Mom shouts at me. Okay so I thought she would be on my side.
“I panicked and didn’t want her to get away from me. I owe her so much and the chance to explain and apologize was there right in front of me. So I did the only thing I could, I threw money at the problem.”
“Women don’t like to be bought, Caleb,” my sister snaps at me.
“Wow.” I hold my hands up in front of me. “I know. I haven’t paid her for sex. That won’t be happening. She looked like she needs money. She obviously does if she was interviewing with Miss May. I reacted because I saw her and I owe her. I owe her big time.”
“Yes, you do. You broke her heart. She really must be desperate if she takes the job with you. I’d say she hates you.” My sister takes a sip of her drink and her husband reaches out and touches her leg.
“I know and I will whatever it takes for her to understand why I did it. I will make it up to her for however long it takes for her to be able to look at me without the hatred she had in her eyes on Friday. It broke me.”
Mom stands up and walks over to me. She hugs me. “I think you’ve never stopped loving her and I think you need this as much as she does.” She kisses me on the cheek and walks back inside to the kitchen.
My mom loves to cook, their house is big enough for the two of them, with a couple of extra bedrooms for grandchildren whenever they come along. She has never wanted any help in the house, even though the three of us could afford to pay it for her. They have no mortgage and a good pension to live on, so we don’t interfere.
“Dinner’s ready,” she calls and we walk inside, grabbing a dish each to put on the table.
“So, the other thing is that this will be the last Sunday dinner with me on my own, I’ll be bringing Cora with me from next week.”
My mom’s mouth is open but no words come out. I just serve myself and eat my dinner.
Who knows what next week is going to bring.
Chapter Six
CORA
Myself and Louisa had lots of margaritas and wine on Friday night. I don’t remember going home, but when I woke up on Saturday, I had a hangover. Slinking into the kitchen, I had found Louisa nursing her headache too.
It’s now Sunday evening and my bag is packed to move to Caleb’s tomorrow. “Thank you for lending me some clothes. I’ll give them back. I just don’t have anything that would suit the wife of Caleb Masters.” I zip up the suitcase and turn to face Louisa, who is sitting on the bed. Even saying the words, I shudder. What the fuck am I doing?
“So, are you going to stick to the plan? Get him to fall for you, then leave him for dust?” She looks at me. I know she thinks I can’t do it, but he hurt me so much I don’t know how I am going to be able to let him touch me in public. Just looking at him and smelling his aftershave sent me into a downward spiral into the margaritas.
“Yeah, that’s the plan. I just hope I can do it. He broke my heart and now it’s time to break his.” I sound a lot more put together than I feel. “No doubt you are going to be hearing from me every day, complaining about Caleb for sure.”
She laughs. “I’d better. I don’t want you falling for his charm again.”
“If I do, then you’ll be the first one to know and you’ll be able to steer me in the right direction.”
She hugs me. “So when are you going to his house tomorrow? In the morning or after work?”
“At 10 o’clock. He’s sent me the address. He lives in an apartment. Of course he does.” The nerves are kicking in.
“You’ll be okay. Just remember the money if he annoys you, or pisses you off. Remember the money.”