Page 82 of Be My Wife

I wish he’d keep my marriage out of his mouth. What was supposed to be a quiet seven days is fast becoming a crazy roller coaster ride that twists when I least expect it.

For once, I’d like things to slow down.

Go my way.

Just once.

With a sigh, I pick up Mom’s bags and head into the suite.

There’s not one beer can or speck of dirt in sight. My lips tilt up as I think of how the Garcia women insisted on tidying up the place before they left.

My suggestion that they relax and leave the mess for the cleaner earned me a stiff scolding from Elizabeth. Apparently, her family has ‘always been this way’ and ‘if I want to be helpful, I should take out the trash’.

I smile again.

It’s funny.

Elizabeth complains about their nosiness, but she thrives in that big, noisy, loving family.

Tonight, observing her, I saw it plain as day.

Her face lit up.

Her eyes gleamed.

And her smile…

If I wasn’t so messed up, I’d do anything to see that smile again.

It’s clear she knows where she belongs.

It’s clear she loves her family and, from the way she plays with the kids and gives them all patient, loving attention, she’d be a great mom.

So why hasn’t some guy snapped her up yet?

It just doesn’t make sense.

She’s beautiful, smart, kind and accomplished. Sure, she might have a stubborn streak a mile long and enough sass to irritate even the most patient saint, but those aren’t exactly deal breakers.

My demons are a lot more intense than hers.

And my scars are more obvious than hers too.

Whatever her reasons, I hope the Make It Marriage women will match her with someone worth her time after our divorce. She deserves it.

My chest twinges when I think of some other man kissing her.

Touching her.

Seeing her smile.

I push the feeling away and lock it up in a chest buried deep beneath the rubble of my past.

“A Vegas wedding?” Mom is saying as I enter the kitchen. “How exciting.”

“It was okay,” Elizabeth says with a tired smile.

I frown as I observe her face. She looks tuckered out. Understandably so. After working all day, moving into my place and entertaining her family, she’s trying to keep up with my mom who seems to have no intentions of turning in right now.

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