Page 115 of Marriage (Red, White &) Blues

“Yes, we will.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Iwas a terrible mother—There, I said it. A temporary fix and for good reason, but my Georgie Boy and Princess Miranda would learn to forgive me in time. Pen and Ant agreed to keep my fur-babies longer without an issue. But Ant went apoplectic when he found out the why.

“You can’t tell me Blake is fine with this,” he yelled at me and I’d never heard the man raise his voice in the entirety of our friendship.

“Blake would prefer I not travel but we don’t always get what we want.” When Ant tried to counterpoint, I held my hand up. “We have to figure out who set me up.”

“I’m aware.”

“Yeah, well, to do that, everyone paying attention has to think we’re broken up. There’s no way Candice didn’t shout that shit from the rooftops. Now we wait for them to reveal themselves.”

“It’s devious, I’ll give you that,” Pen said.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Absolutely. It was meant as one.”

“And that’s why I love you, Penelope von Dutton-McCain.”

“Really?” he asked and pointed to himself. “What about me? Don’t I get some of that action?”

“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes at him. “Of course, I love you butshegets me.”

Pen patted my arm. “If you need me, I’ll be on a plane within the hour. Promise.”

“We’llbe,” Ant corrected her, and I had to laugh at the man. It was no wonder that Ant and Blake got on so well. I gave Pen a one-armed hug, then gave Ant his too. Georgie and Miranda got a million scratches and head kisses before I had to go.

I turned the handle, yanked the door open but turned one last time to say, “Thank you both,” before getting the heck out of there. My nose burned, the first sign of imminent tearage.

Despite the grand exit, I still had no idea where to go. My big plan involved staring at the departure board for the international flights that left the soonest and checking for tickets. That was how I ended up on a flight to Guam.

Guam. I know. Water and warm weather? Who could say no to that? I left Blake a voicemail before takeoff.

This time, I flew first class. It. Was. Everything. But I still had work to do.

Make Them Think I’ve LeftBlakechecklist:

#1Find a nice room. Check.

#2Rent a Car. Check.

#3Research Obstetricians. Check.

Rather than renting a room at one of the resorts, I rented a Verbo house. It had a pool and fit my needs. And because I was trying not to draw attention to myself, I rented a metallic red Toyota Corolla. As for my obstetrician, Dr. Cruz was happy to fit me in as I waited out my time in paradise.

After I’d landed, I found out the results of the election. Congratulations President-elect Brockton Parker—not. I’d never congratulate that man and I didn’t have to. He lost. The big L forLoser. I shimmied with happiness, doing a little dance right there in the airport. Did I get looks? Yes. Did I care? Not one bit.

Blake and I talked every night but even between two of the richest families in America, they still weren’t getting the answers they needed.

“Maybe you should just come home,” Blake said one night while we lay in our respective beds mostly naked. His words helped to get me off, but nothing compared to having the man moving inside me.

“What if it starts again. We have the baby to think about. I can’t bring a child into that toxic world.”

“I miss you, Glory. You good with missing Christmas?”

“No. What do you want me to do?”

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