Page 31 of Axe-identally Married
My cheeks heated as every person in the room scrutinized me. I knew Mayor Lambert and his staff, but so did everyone else in this town. I wasn’t special. Though the earnestness of her comment made me sit a little straighter. I had indeed organized the festival. It had been court-ordered community service, but I’d done a damn good job, and I’d actually enjoyed it.
Awash with gratitude, I gave her a nod. I wanted to hate Owen for his shitty comment, but I couldn’t. He had good reason to dislike and distrust me. And while I had little to offer, I’d work my ass off in any way I could to show him I could be valuable to this family.
Parker went through the rest of her plan, requesting records and scheduling a time to fly out to camp with Finn.
After two hours, the group as a whole was restless.
“The entire town will know sooner or later that I’m working for you,” Parker said from where she sat at the head of the table. “I’m not concerned. I’m confident we can flush out the people involved. But we need to keep our circle tight and make sure to keep this information from being leaked to anyone outside this group,” she explained as she closed her laptop.
“What about your wife?” Owen asked, his tone harsh.
I picked my head up from where I’d been focused on the notes I’d taken. Was he speaking to me? Every head was turned my way, so I guessed he was. It was still strange to think that I had a wife. It had only been seventy-two hours, after all.
Owen’s voice was tinny through the speaker as he said, “Why isn’t she here?”
That questioned had my hackles raising. “My wife is a busy physician,” I said, flexing my hands into fists and trying to keep my voice from shaking. “She has to single-handedly keep this county healthy, so she’s got better things to do.”
“I think what Owen was trying to say,” Lila interrupted, her tone gentle, “was that we need to determine whether to involveher. If we don’t, then you need to make sure not to share too much about what’s going on.”
“Willa is completely trustworthy,” I said, glaring at everyone. Then I focused on Lila again. “I figured you, of all people, would know that. I will keep her updated. She’s a member of this family now too.”
Though I’d spoken the words, the truth hadn’t registered until then. And it hit like a brick to the head. She was a member of this family. Our fractured, messy family. The family currently trying to shut down what seemed to be a crime spree. The family that had faced nothing but danger and catastrophe for the past two years. Shit. What had I dragged her into?
Chapter Eleven
Willa
“Congratulations,” Mellie said, enveloping me in a hug, along with a cloud of Chanel No. 5 and her massive mane of black hair. “It’s so romantic.”
Mellie was effusive and sweet and a lover of all things romance. She was on her third husband, after all. And when I was in high school, she had snuck Nora Roberts books to me, introducing me to happily ever afters.
She’d worked for my dad for almost twenty years, managing the office, doing billing, ordering supplies, and generally keeping the place bright and cheerful.
Dawn harrumphed where she sat, typing on her computer.
She was Mellie’s first cousin and total opposite. She was a no-nonsense nurse with a pixie cut, several tattoos, and two rescue pit bulls at home. The woman was pragmatic and focused, so despite her surly demeanor, the patients loved her. Sadly, I’d made little progress in my efforts to win her over with my professionalism and charm. I could not afford to lose an excellent nurse, so I made sure to ask about her dogs, Thelma and Louise, often.
Amazing nurses were impossible to find, and while she was only in her fifties, she was constantly threatening to retire. It typically came up when Mellie was talking her ear off about theStar Trekcruise she and husband number three were taking in the spring.
“Why’d you go and do a dumb thing like get married?”
“She’s madly in love,” Mellie singsonged from her ergonomic office chair. I swore there were literally hearts in her eyes. “And he’s so handsome. And tall. Damn.”
A little uneasy, I forced a smile. I didn’t have the first clue how to even have this conversation. It was so weird to think I was married.
Me, a woman who’d never been in a serious relationship before.
Married.
To Cole Hebert, of all people.
Not that it was going badly. His arrival and our first morning together hadn’t been crushingly awkward, as I thought it might be. Instead, he had been sweet and earnest and committed to sticking with the plan to remain married. Nothing I knew about Cole Hebert before this weekend screamed responsible husband material, but his honest confession about not wanting to fail had tugged at my heartstrings. He had a lot to lose as well.
Dr. Walters came in through the front door, and a hush fell over the office. He was wearing his usual wool dress coat over a freshly pressed white shirt and one of a dozen novelty ties he rotated through. He was in his early seventies, and he was tall and athletic. He had rowed crew at Williams, and he never let anyone forget it.
For years, he had been my dad’s right-hand man. We had lured him out of retirement and convinced him to mentor me while Dad recovered. He only came in three days a week, but Ineeded the help desperately. Without him, Mellie, and Dawn, I would not survive even a single day here.
I’d clearly taken for granted how hard my dad had worked. How the hell had he managed to build this practice and take care of the whole goddamn town, while coaching my softball team, taking my mom out for weekly dates, and reviewing my homework with me every night? It was mind-boggling.
