“No. Fucking. Way,” Freddie yelled and jumped off her chair. We were eating breakfast together, having settled into a great routine. Life with Rhett was easy, any doubt I had that we wouldn’t work flew out the window after a week of bliss. And we’d been living here for almost two months and were happier than ever. We had our disagreements. I got annoyed when he took hours on the toilet. I mean really, if he wasn’t careful, he’d get hemorrhoids from sitting down for so long. I once pointed that out to him, because I was concerned, of course. He raised his perfect eyebrow at me and didn’t respond.
We fought about what program to watch at night. We girls always had the same suggestion, but he didn’t think the majority vote was a fair system since he always lost. We disagreed. He usually ended up watching one of Oma’s terrible soaps with us. We also fought about his staff. I thought a gardener, housekeeper, personal shopper and cook was overkill. Again he didn’t agree. That was our first real fight. We now still had a gardener, housekeeper, personal shopper and maid.
“Freddie, watch your language,” I chastised her, titling my head toward Josie. She had started repeating everything she heard and some of it was hilarious, others a bit disturbing when taken out of context.
“You’re not going to believe what Tate just sent me,” she said and showed me the screen of her phone. There was a wedding announcement. For Anna and some guy. They were standing in front of a small white chapel.
“What the fudge,” I swore, also jumping off my chair. “Anna Fogerty, formerly McAllister, and her husband Rex Fogerty, in front of the Elvis chapel. Rex Fogerty is best known for his chain of sex stores. They got married the day Anna Fogerty was released from jail after a brief stint for possession. We wish the happy couple all the best,” I read the short text that accompanied the picture.
Even though I had no love left for Anna, I wondered what had happened to her. We started custody proceedings a few weeks ago, and while it turned into a longer process than any of us thought, I was happy to be at this stage. It helped to have the Cormack name on our side. And of course the fact that we were living in a mansion was a plus.
I studied Rhett from my spot next to Freddie who was still waving her phone around after having wrestled it out of my hands. His eyes were on me, and I knew he’d done his thing and somehow managed to pull this off. How you got someone to get married though was something I intended to find out. He was secretive about a lot of things, but this I had to know.
I nodded toward the hallway and walked out of the room. As soon as I was out of sight of everyone, I felt him at my back, his arms coming around to hold me in place. “Don’t freak out. It’s not what you think.”
“So you didn’t plant evidence to get Anna arrested?”
“Okay, maybe it’s exactly what you think. But I can explain. Please let me explain before you do something irrational.”
What the hell did that mean? I was a very rational person. Well, most times.
“I’m not irrational,” I ground out, but made no move to get away. I liked being close to him, no matter how mad I was. Something he’d found out quickly during our time living together and effectively used to his advantage.
“Let’s just talk this through before you start yelling at me.”
“I don’t yell.”
“Or try and push me down the stairs.”
“It was an accident. I tripped and fell into you. Your body is too pretty to be messed up like that. I would never do anything to it.”
“Or stick your crazy cat on me.”
“I told you not to go into the ballroom. She gets territorial.”
His lips touched my neck and I shivered. “That’s cheating,” I mumbled, leaning my head to the side so he could reach better.
“Just using whatever I can to persuade you that what I did was in your best interest.”
At that, I turned in his arms to face him. “I never doubt that whatever you do is in my best interest. Doesn’t mean I have to like you making decisions without consulting me.”
He bent down and kissed me after lifting me up off the floor. I refused to let him distract me though. “Now tell me how you get someone to get married and vanish from our life?”
He slowly slid me down his body, still holding me tight even when my feet reached the floor.
“Gunner. He’s hard to refuse.”
“I hope you didn’t give her money. Please tell me that greedy bitch didn’t get a dime out of you.”
He grinned and kissed my nose. “Nope. Not necessary. Not when you have proof she was a drug mule and neglected her children. Turns out there have been complaints about her that were never recorded. But that neighbor of hers sure loved to talk to Gunner. And she’d lived there nearly as long as Anna. Once we knew what to look for it was easy for Gunner and his team to dig up evidence. The wedding was totally her own doing. My guess? She got desperate and found someone to take on her problems. Don’t forget, despite the way she abused her body she is still not terrible to look at.”
I guess I could accept that. And it also meant that chapter of my life was closed. I could move on. Finally. And Rhett gave that to me. My own happily never forever.
