Miss Wright gasped. “Your beautiful house? She would’ve done that?”
“In a heartbeat. As much as my brother and I have our differences, Jasper took the hit for me, threatening to sue. After all, the house is half his. I was grateful not to have to fight that battle, anyway.”
“You saw none of that before you married her?”
“None.” He sighed. “I wasn’t perfect. My mother was…maybe like yours. A peacemaker surrounded by testosterone. She loved our home, loved being a homemaker. Marianne…I thought she was like Mom, but once we were married, she scorned the idea of taking care of our home, of being a mother. I felt like I’d fallen for a bait-and-switch scheme with a no-return policy. She’d make these outlandish demands?—”
“Like tear your house down.”
“Exactly. And I…I got tired of explaining myself. And arguing about stuff all the time. I mean, literalstuff. Couches and carpets and cars. So I gave her a credit card with a reasonable limit and told her to get what she wanted. And then I tuned her out.”
What was he doing, telling his niece’s nanny all this stuff? Except she wasn’t just the nanny anymore. She was a friend. “The point is, I should have made an effort to understand why it was so important to her that we look wealthy, what need she was trying to fill.”
“It’s possible she wouldn’t have been able to answer that.”
“Maybe.” Noah had known from about five minutes into the honeymoon that he’d made a mistake. Marianne had never loved him. She’d loved his money and his status. She’d loved being an Aylett, having a name in town everybody looked up to. For his part, he’d fallen in love with a woman who hadn’t really existed.
At least she got what she wanted in the end. She kept his last name and half of his estate. What she hadn’t taken, he was struggling to keep from crumbling to dust.
Miss Wright’s expression softened. “That must have been difficult.” She held his eye contact for too long, then turned back to check on Charlotte.
He sipped his soda, telling himself to change the subject. But he wanted to talk about this with Miss Wright. He wanted her to know. “The divorce was a relief, though it’s wrong to think of it that way. It was nothing compared to losing my friendship with Lowell.”
“I can’t imagine.” She reached across the table and rested her palm on the back of his hand.
All the regret he’d been feeling about Marianne, all the anger toward Lowell, dissipated as warmth spread from the skin she touched, reaching clear to his toes.
She seemed to realize what she’d done and pulled her hand away, sitting back.
He’d started to reassure her that there was nothing to apologize for when he caught sight of Lowell, who watched, wearing a triumphant grin.
Miss Wright had turned her focus back to Charlotte on the playground, hand pressed against her sternum. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes wide. She was probably trying to look like her touch had meant nothing, but she wasn’t fooling anybody who might be paying attention.
Just what he needed, more rumors flying.
Frustration had him sitting back. He turned toward the dance floor, watching friends and neighbors attempt a new line dance. A few knew the moves. The rest fumbled along, most laughing as if all were right with the world.
And then, on the far side of the dance floor, he caught sight of someone even more distressing than Lowell.
Lena Monroe was glaring…at Miss Wright.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Delaney barely noticed the chill as the temperature dropped. The evening had been magical—twinkling lights, the scents of fried food and joy hanging in the air, Charlotte’s delighted squeals as she’d played with her friends.
Lowell had ruined it.
Well, he’d started the ruining process. She’d ended it with that stupid gesture. What had she been thinking, touching Noah like that? It had felt so natural to comfort him.
But she’d seen the stiffness of his posture. Even after she’d snatched her hand back, she’d felt his frustration.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
She wasn’t surprised when Noah said, “We’d better get Charlotte home.”
It was already an hour past her bedtime, but of course that wasn’t Noah’s real reason. After Delaney’s foolish show of affection, he’d wanted her gone.
While he gathered their trash, she went to the playground and coaxed the little girl down from the perch where she stood with her friends.
