Page 120 of Past Due

“As a heart attack,” he replied easily. “I don’t need the clubs, Marley. There are other ways to make money. The only thing that matters to me is you.” He swept his thumbs along her cheeks and wiped away her tears. “Just you. Only you.” He swallowed hard. “Please, Marley, don’t leave me over this.”

Her righteous indignation vanished. “I won’t leave you over this.”

He deflated with relief. Still, he insisted, “I meant what I said, Marley. I’ll sell the clubs. It’s not worth the risk of you being hurt again.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t have any right to judge you or be angry with you for things that happened before we got together. It’s just...” She dropped her gaze. “I did feel special to you. I felt special in your home when you called it our home. I felt special when you shared your financial situation with me and trusted me to look through all of your paperwork. Then she just walks into the house like she owns it, and it made me feel stupid and small and insignificant.”

“You are none of those things, Marley Beciraj. You are brilliant and so important to me. I’m sorry that she hurt you. I don’t know why she behaved like that. She’s never been cruel.”

Marley shrugged. “Who knows why people do the things they do?”

Her phone began to ring, but she ignored it. “We need to change the locks. Today.”

“Done,” he promised.

Meeting his gaze, she timidly asked, “Were you serious about buying a new house?”

“Yes,” he answered without hesitation. “We can start looking today.”

“We don’t have to rush. I think that a new place where we start our lives together is a good idea.”

“It is,” he agreed. Wanting to extend an even longer olive branch, he offered, “We can hire Nicole as our realtor.”

She chortled loudly. “Okay, that might be taking things a bit too far.”

“She’s your friend, and she apologized. If you’ve forgiven her, I don’t see a problem.”

“You’re being scarily nice,” she muttered as her phone began to ring again. With an aggrieved sigh, she dug it out of her pocket and checked the screen. She frowned and answered it. “Hello?” She went rigid, and her face slackened with apparent shock. “Mom!”

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