Page 69 of A Montana Fake Marriage

Sammie’s eyes widened. “You’d let me do that? Why?”

Lacey let out a laugh at the accusation that seemed to spike in Sammie’s voice. “Because you need it, and once upon a time, I needed help, too. I get it.”

“But we’re strangers.”

She shrugged then leaned forward. “Honestly, I know of the Reese family. They’re good folks. If one of them saw something good enough in you to marry you, then?—”

“But I’m getting a divorce. You don’t know if I’m a good person. Or if I’ll rob you blind?—”

This time, she laughed. “Honey, I’ve met bad people in my life. And I can tell them apart better than anyone. You’re not bad people. Accept my offer or don’t. And if you’d like, I can put in a good word for you with the manager. Have you ever waitressed before?”

Sammie shook her head slowly, her cheeks burning more than ever. “But I’m a fast learner.”

“I’m sure you are.” Lacey patted her arm again. “Tell you what. I’ll have a word with the manager, and you hang out here until my shift is done. Then we can figure out your next plans.”

Sammie was dumbfounded. Back home, people weren’t like this.

Then again, maybe it was just the social circles her father ran in. Here in this small town, people were… different. They were better. It might have been the town, or it might have been the fact that Sammie was no longer a jaded individual who thought the worst of people. She nodded, grateful.

Lacey got to her feet, squeezed Sammie’s shoulder, and wandered off, presumably to the office in the back.

Sammie lookedaround the modest apartment. Like Lacey had said, it wasn’t much, but it was better than Hallie’s car.

The small living room was attached in an open concept with the kitchen. There was a door to what could only be a bedroom in the back of the place.

“There’s only one bathroom, and it’s attached to the bedroom. I’ll try to keep my bedroom door open so you can access it without feeling weird,” Lacey offered.

Sammie smiled at her. “Thank you. For everything.” Lacey had managed to convince the manager to hire her on a temporary basis. He’d wanted to see just how quickly Sammie could learn on her feet. And that meant shadowing Lacey for a while. The woman worked long hours throughout the week while her son was in childcare. Sammie didn’t bother asking about the father. There were no pictures of a man anywhere—probably for good reason.

Her son played in the cramped living room with toys from a large basket that sat beside a television console table.

Lacey didn’t waste any time removing her shoes and the apron from her waist. She nodded toward the kitchen. “Hungry?”

Unfortunately, Sammie had long since lost her appetite. She didn’t think she could stomach anything right now. Up until she’d had that conversation with Lacey, she didn’t know if she’d end up crawling back to Caleb’s family. The thought had been mortifying. And she certainly wasn’t going to contact her father.

She needed to make her own way—something she probably should have done from the start.

Sammie offered Lacey an appreciative smile. “No, thanks. I’m good.” Her eyes snagged on the boy, then she found Lacey watching her.

“His name is Bridger.”

The boy lifted his head and glanced at them briefly before returning to his toys. Sammie’s heart warmed. A few weeks ago,she would have thought that she was going to have children with Caleb. But that dream was a distant memory. Watching the boy dredged up complicated thoughts, and it was all she could do to bite her tongue.

She’d thought that Caleb had loved her. Truly, she had. Still, she knew he harbored a fondness for her. But the question was whether he’d loved her because of who she was and what she’d become to him, or did he love the idea of saving her from a fate that she’d believed to be worse than death?

The thought didn’t quite seem fair to her. To box up their relationship into something so finite wasn’t something she was comfortable doing.

For now, she was going to push away all the feelings she’d had for Caleb to the far recesses of her mind. She was going to focus on herself.

Sammie had gone from her father’s daughter, caged and put into a mold that didn’t suit her, to then being married and labeled Caleb’s wife. It was hard to decipher what parts of her were innately Sammie and what parts were those which were placed on her.

Who was Sarah Ann Michaels?

What did she want from this life? And eventually, would Caleb be part of it?

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Sammie’s disappearancehit Caleb harder than he wanted to admit.

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