Chapter Nineteen
The sun splashed across the scattered, empty dishes on the dining room table. Mary leaned back in her chair and patted her stomach with satisfaction. Breakfast had been delicious. Angela had been sitting next to Craig, cooing affectionately, and Regina had, at Angela’s urging, eaten an entire muffin.
Jarrod and Craig had headed out early to meet up with the pack council and to try to talk to Briony. Angela had gone to her room to change out of her pajamas.Mary sipped the last of her coffee, pushed her chair back and stood up. Today would hold plenty of challenges, that was for sure. They needed to find out what had really happened with Briony, and Earvin was obviously up to something, and she still didn’t know where she stood with Jarrod, for that matter. Washed in the afterglow of last night, and with her stomach full, Mary felt as if she were ready to face anything the day threw at her.
So, of course, Hilda called right then.
“Good morning, Mary!” Hilda sang into the phone. She certainly was all sweetness and light; it was as if, overnight, she’d changed into a new person.
“Hilda. What’s up?” Mary felt a little bit of the glow fading.
“Well, I already have three bridenappings arranged,” Hilda said. “That Jarrod sure means business! I just wanted to let you know, you can have your old job back as soon as he sends you home.”
“Sends me home?” Mary echoed with a sick feeling in her stomach. Did Hilda know something she didn’t? Like, did she have a specific date in mind or something?
“Well, obviously,” Hilda said, sounding puzzled. “Has he given any indication of how long he’s going to keep you there?”
“Uh…not exactly. He’s spending most of his time planning the wedding with me and talking about names for our cubs.”And reciting my favorite poems and giving me the most mind-blowing orgasms I’ve ever experienced, she added silently.
Hilda let out a peal of laughter. “Oh, Mary, that’s adorable. Obviously you’re not falling for it, are you? I mean, you pointed out yourself that the only reason Jarrod would possibly be interested in someone like you is to get back at his uncle.” Mary didn’t remember putting it quite like that.
“Well?” Hilda said impatiently.
Mary struggled to find an answer. Was she falling for it? And for that matter, wasn’t it possible that Jarrod was telling the truth and he really did want her there?
“I see,” Hilda said. “Well, you never were the brightest one in the family, but I certainly gave you more credit than that. I thought you had at least a little bit of smarts.”
Mary was about to say “Thank you”, even as her breakfast churned in her stomach and pain clenched in her chest.
Then she remembered what Jarrod had said about Hilda being passive-aggressive.
“Apparently you were wrong,” she said coolly. “I’ve got to be going.”
“Well, with that kind of attitude, I don’t think I can keep your job waiting for you after all,” Hilda said in deeply wounded tones.
Oh, that’s unfortunate. I’ll miss our little chats,Mary thought.
“Now, remember, when Jarrod does ask you to leave, please try to be dignified about it. Don’t beg. This reflects on me as well, and I can’t have—”
Mary hung up with a decisive click.
The phone rang again. Hilda. She grimaced and answered it.
“You think you’re so much better than me.” Now, there was the Hilda she was used to. The Hilda she wasn’t going to put up with anymore, she realized.
“Hilda, I’m tired of this. I agree with Jarrod. You can treat me decently, or don’t speak to me at all. I’ll talk to you after the wedding.” As soon as the words left her lips, she stifled a gasp.After the wedding.She was really starting to believe it.
“‘I agree with Jarrod’,” Hilda said, mocking her. “You think you’re so smart. There’s a lot you don’t know about what happened back in high school, Mary. And about our mother. There’s a lot that Jarrod isn’t telling you.”
Mary hung up on her and turned her phone off, but she was shaken.
She turned her attention back to Regina, who was looking longingly at the plate of muffins.
“Oh, go ahead and eat it,” Mary said.
“I already ate one. I’m not supposed to eat carbs at all. I’ll wait until lunch,” Regina decided.
“What are you guys up too?” Angela called out. She was standing in the doorway, shoving her phone in her pocket, and she also looked less than thrilled.
