Page 29 of Wake Me Up Before You Cocoa

As you wish,Marina thought. Strange how she kept hearing that phrase lately.

Chapter Thirteen

On Friday morning, Wade swapped the Bentley Continental for his work truck, a dark blue Chevy 250 four-door dually with all the trimmings and a locked box for his tools.

He didn’t just wheel and deal real estate properties, he loved the hunt for hidden gems in New Orleans—or anywhere along the Gulf Coast. There were times he had work trips away from home for a few days. Lydia did not care about that, even though he called her frequently.

Part of the adventure of his job was those fixer-uppers. Neglected historical homes that just needed a little TLC.

On the way to Mrs. Sutton’s house, he stopped by The Coffee Loft to grab a hot cocoa loaded with marshmallows—because ever since yesterday, he couldn’t get those past memories of Marina out of his head.

He had hoped to catch a glimpse of his old girlfriend, especially after last night’s weirdness at the restaurant, but Miss Ruby Rose’s Antiques didn’t open until ten o’clock.

Talk about the shock of his life seeing Marina at the restaurant. What a coincidence that their tables and chairs had lined up so perfectly to gaze at one another. So funny—and yet alittle sweet—how their eyes instantly locked together. There was an invisible, yet tender connection still between them.

Despite Lydia’s snide remarks, he thought Marina was stunning in her vintage dress. It suited her so perfectly. But even better was the fact that underneath her funny, quirky personality Marina possessed a heart of gold.

Those college memories when he used to surprise Marina with hot chocolate on cold winter mornings were still sweet. Young love, he supposed. And Marina had always given him the best hugs on top of her pure delight when he brought hot chocolate—sometimes with peppermint sticks or a sticky bun. She often mentioned his thoughtfulness.

He always said it was because he loved her.

And he did love her—had loved her—used to love her? Which was the correct verb tense now? Wade was so confused; sleep had not been easy last night.

Of course, he should not be thinking about Marina at all. Only thoughts of Lydia should occupy his mind and heart. But last night’s ‘cozy family’ dinner had left him unhappy, even angry, and Lydia didn’t seem to understand his reaction.

In fact, she appeared annoyed that he had not immediately—and eagerly—signed the prenuptial papers and set a date for the wedding next year.

He shook his head, the shock of being cornered by such a disgusting set of legal paperwork making him angry all over again.

After Wade returned home—making sure Lydia didn’t try to spend the night at his house again by immediately dropping her off at her parent’s home—Wade perused the prenuptial contract in more detail—and it didn’t get better. In fact, it was worse than he thought.

The terms were outrageous. He didn’t want Lydia’s inheritance from her grandmother. Who would ever think he’d try to lay claim on that? The suggestion was insulting.

Then there were the terms concerning their future children. If they split up, Lydia would have full parental rights—no shared custody or holidays.

Mr. and Mrs. Gravois also wanted a say in the grandchildren’s futures and finances for the rest of their lives.

There were multiple paragraphs about his retirement, education funds, and any and all property that he and Lydia might purchase or accumulate over their years together—and yet she was not under any obligation to shareherproperty, houses, retirement, or pension with him. Or the grandmother’s exceptionally large bequeathal to her only granddaughter—not even withtheirchildren.

Wade didn’t want all that property anyway. The idea had never even crossed his mind. It was Lydia’s of course, but he did not care for the fact that he was obligated to share everything with her—including the additional monthly spousal support.

The icing on the proverbial poisoned cake of a prenup was the terms of paying off Lydia’s credit cards and any previous debts upon their marriage.

A final addendum discussed visitation rights and their children’s schooling,andreligious upbringing. That irked him the most. He had come from a strong faith and wanted his children brought up in the same. He had so many wonderful and special memories of youth days, campouts, Wednesday activities and inspirational speakers and pastors at his Christian church.

He wanted those same experiences for his own children. He believed a family grounded in faith and worship created a more tight-knit family. The kind of family where divorce was only an option under extreme circumstances.

The idea that in five or ten years he and Lydia would grow apart—and he’d be obligated to her for the rest of his life—was gloomy and, frankly, oppressive.

Lydia was agnostic. At least now. He had hoped she would start attending church with him. So why would her parents get a say in that personal decision?

Bottom line: the Gravois family had ambushed him last night. It wasn’t honest or fair under any circumstances, and Wade was frustrated and resentful.

For now, he had to push it all out of his head and focus on today. And enjoy the challenge and joy of a Garden District mansion project he’d always dreamed of.

Two minutes later, he found an empty spot near the front of the house and parked his truck. Another car—a red Honda—was right in front of him.

Surely, the lady of the mansion didn’t drive such a small car. It would be difficult to get into if she had a cane or wheelchair. She was certainly at an age where she might be incapacitated in some way.

---