Page 53 of Just (Fake) Married
Like she’d been waiting in the foyer, Mrs. Walker was there, smiling at me like I was the queen coming to visit. She’d always been nice to me and my family in town, but in the feud, she was team McGraw all the way, so this welcome was a little disorienting.
“Harmony!” she cried. “Come in, come in and get out of the cold.”
I stepped fully inside the foyer, the animals following me, and Tag with my duffle bringing up the rear.
“Ethan said you’d be coming tonight and that you were bringing your…pets.” Mrs. Walker looked at Jenny and Bruce like they were aliens.
“They’re house trained and pretty old, so they’ll mostly stick to one area,” I said. “They’re really no trouble.”
I crossed my fingers behind my back.
They could be a little trouble.
“Well, we’ve had plenty of house cats and a few dogs that Mr. McGraw let sleep in the kitchen. But a goose? A goose is brand new around here.”
Bruce lifted her head, her dark eyes shining in the firelight from the big fireplace, and she honked once as if to say: I know. We’ll all get used to it. And then she herded Jenny over towards the fire, where they sat waiting for me to tell them what we were doing next.
I wish I knew.
“Is Ethan…?”
“He’s in the study,” Mrs. Walker said. “But I have prepared a room for you, if you would like to settle in first. It has an ensuite with a jacuzzi tub,” she said, with a little wink. “Ethan said you were partial to fancy bathtubs.”
There the jerk went again. Being thoughtful.
“I can have dinner brought up to you if you’d like-”
“No. No,” I said looking around. “I’m fine.”
Was he going to come out? Say hello? Yell at me? Kiss me?
I expected toseehim at least. It was our wedding night.
“Tag,” Mrs. Walker said, over my shoulder. “You can leave the bag.”
I turned and smiled at him, taking my bag back. I didn’t know if he was looking at me with pity or worry. Maybe both. But then he tipped his hat and left.
“So,” I said with a smile to Mrs. Walker. “About that jacuzzi tub?”
“Follow me,” she said, guiding me toward the staircase that led to the second floor. I hoisted my duffle bag higher on my shoulder and clicked my tongue so Jenny and Bruce would follow me.
Once we reached the top of the hardwood staircase, Mrs. Walker pointed out a door on the opposite side of the hallway, “Ethan’s room is that way. Mac’s room is on the third floor, but he’ll be staying in the bunk house with the boys.”
“On account of me?” I asked.
“Oh, who knows why these McGraws do anything?” Mrs. Walker said.
So, the answer was yes. Because of me.
“Here you go,” she said, and pushed open a door. Jenny and Bruce ran in ahead.
I stepped inside a giant bedroom, with a fourposter bed and a fireplace. The king sized bed was covered in a thick, fluffy quilt and stacks of pillows. When I pushed the curtains back to look out the window, I found it was actually a door out to a small balcony looking out on the western pasture.
“Sweet,” I muttered.
The colors were pretty. Feminine. A vibrant purple. A deep rose. Bits of green. The colors seemed almost floral, without there being a flower in sight.
“Holy shit,” I breathed, turning the light on in the bathroom. A whirlpool tub. A rainfall shower head. Nothing but white, clean granite everywhere. All as promised.
