Page 29 of Marrying the Gardener
Ha, ha, ha…shoot me.
Doing my very best not to twitch, I beam an,Is this attitude completely necessary?across the table with my eyes.
Cool and collected, Kaleb’s eyes respond,Yes.
It’s a miracle I maintain composure.
And it’s a blessing when Ava lays a hand on my shoulder to say, “Don’t worry. I’ll handle it, Mrs. Nightingale.”
Warmth soaks into my skin, settling my rampant heartbeat, so I whisper, “Thank you,” and dwell on the heat until it’s gone.
?
“What’s wrong?” Crisis’s frantic tone hits my ear as I pet General on the head, take the ball from his mouth, and send it soaring across my lush backyard.
Classic Crisis. I knew I shouldn’t have called like this. I just don’t yet trust Kaleb alone in my home, so I can’t exactly slip away to see her in between my other scheduled tasks for the day,but I really needed to hear her voice. “Whatever do you mean, dearness?” I ask, by no means gaslighting her.
“You called. Directly. No text. No warning. During my working hours, which you have printed off and laminated as a color-coded Canva Whiteboard in your desk.” She gasps. “You must have lost my schedule! Due tohatred!”
As if I could ever, ever, in a million years hate my beloved wife. “Hi, Viktor,” I say.
“No, no,” Crisis snaps. “Don’t talk to him. You’re talking tome. You calledme.Oof.”
In the background, Viktor swears.
Crisis growls, “Get away from me. I’m having quality time with myhusband.”
“Are you all right, dearness?” I ask.
She huffs. “I’m fine. The wheel on my chair just broke.” She sniffs. “Well, I should say I’mphysicallyfine. My heart, though? It breaks, because you did not catch me. Hatred confirmed. What have I left to live for?”
I let my lower lip pout as I retrieve General’s ball again, trying to throw it even farther this time. “Forgive me, my love. I tried to teleport, but could not.”
“Because you hate me?”
“No, never.”
“You still haven’t told me what’s wrong.”
Everything. “Nothing’s wrong. I just miss you.”
“Then I’ll be over in two minutes. Viktor, quit babying me. It’s just a bruise. Survive on your own now. My twin, who is canonically more twin with me than Maelin and Morana are twin with each other, needs me.”
For starters, I live fifteen minutes away from the Bachelors. Also…
Turning toward the sliding glass doors, I locate Kaleb, still seated inside at the kitchen table, watching me while hepretends to read his paper.
Crisis knows Kaleb because Kaleb tended to the Bachelors’ expansive koi pond, and while she did not see fit to mention his name at a frequency whereby it stuck in my memory, she sure did mention those fish.
According to the script, Kaleb worked in finance at one of the offices here in downtown Sunset. Crisis knows that’s not true. And she would absolutely ask him about the fish the second they meet if she comes here. If at all possible, I’d prefer not to have those stories collide until after my grandfather’s dead and Kaleb’s name is in the will. “Dearness, no.”
“Youdon’tneed me?”
“Of course I need you,” I murmur, holding Kaleb’s unflinching gaze. “I just can’t see you today.”
“Why not?”
“Situations have deemed it impossible. Fate decrees that our hearts are destined to yearn. But how are you? Have you changed anything on your wedding planning Canva Whiteboard recently?”
