Page 125 of Marriage (Red, White &) Blues

“Are you kidding me?” she asked, her voice rising with each word, like she thought I was touched in the head. “You make ribs like your mama birthed you in the bayou. Ain’t no way yer gettin’ rid of me now.”

I let out a slightly laughing breath. “Good.” I really meant it. “So, you need my number.” She fished into her purse pulling put her phone. I rattled off my number. Murielle saved my contact, and then pressed the call button to call my phone. I walked over to the coffee table, where I’d set it while we’d been eating dinner, to answer. Then I ended the call and saved her contact, too.

“See you in the mornin’,” she said, waving once before walking outside. I should’ve followed her, but cold. I hated cold. Blake followed her out, waiting for her to drive away before coming back inside the house.

Blake and I cleaned up from dinner and then headed up to bed. He liked making love to me with me on my back. He stayed on his knees holding my belly while he moved. I felt so loved. Every time with my husband made me feel more loved than the time before.

Once we’d settled, I rolled onto my side to face him. “What are you planning?” I asked.

“Now I’m done for good with Parker Holdings. I’d only signed a short-term contract.”

“That’s amazing… but that’s not what’s on your mind.”

“You read me too well, woman. No.” He let out a breath. “I think I want to start my own firm. I know how to make money. I know how to make people rich, and do it legally. But most importantly, I can set my work hours, whether I work from home, and I can vet the clients.”

“I’ll try to find a volunteer position—at least until the baby comes.”

“Volunteer position?” Blake asked and… what?

“I can’t just stay home with nothing to do.”

“Well, what will Miss Virgie think? Won’t she miss you?”

I pressed the back of my hand to his forehead. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Considering I just came inside my wife, I’m great.”

“Then…” I waited him out. And the jerk made me wait. He snickered.Snickered.Grr… I punched him in the gut—not hard, but it made me feel better.

He smiled through his sigh. “What do we have here? I love Maisie and Dee, but, other than Jupiter, I’m done with my family. You have your mom and Carl, and Pen and Ant, and Sierra. It makes more sense for us to live in Michigan, I mean, if you want to move back.”

“I’ll miss them, too… But…” I bit my bottom lip. He understood. He knew that I agreed with him. “Okay, but you want to live in my house?”

He shook his head. “We’ll build. I’d still like some property. I don’t know that I’d be happy long-term with neighbors so close. Plus, Georgie needs room to run.”

We were moving to Michigan.

We were building a house.

My husband loved me.

The next morning after seeing Murielle off and getting a driver to take her car back to New York, Blake and I showered, dressed in the clothingwewanted to wear, not what the Parkers expected us to wear, and drove to Robert and Adair’s home. We made sure to arrive early enough to catch Robert before he left for the office.

“Son, this is highly unacceptable. Why would you show up at—” He cut himself off when he noticed my wife and her pregnant belly. His face hardened. “You’re having a child?”

Bless my wonderful husband, he smiled so big, I thought his face might crack. “Mother didn’t tell you? Never mind. That’s not why we’re here. Call Brock. He should be here.”

“It would help if you’d explainhersudden appearance.”

“Not until Brock gets here.”

Completely ruffled and grumbling, Robert called Brock. Because no one else offered, Maggie, the Parkers’ housekeeper, invited us to sit in the living room. She smiled, giving her congratulations. I couldn’t believe that Adair kept our baby news from her husband. The woman had something up her sleeve. People didn’tnottell their spouses something as important as impending grandparenthood.

“I thought we agreed—” Adair started, but my husband raised his hand to silence her. If I was mistaken, she was trying to play it off like she didn’t know about the baby.

“Not until Brock arrives.”

“How far along is she?” Adair asked next, folding her arms over her chest as if put out. And yup—the horrible woman was trying to play it off, all right. “We’ll have to do damage control.”

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