Page 95 of The Replacement Wife

Despite the weekend morning, the house was in its usual uproar. Nathan tormented the cats by trying to hug them. The cats, being cats, hid where kid arms couldn’t reach—under the couch. Harris walked around, spouting everything he knew about blood pressure medicine, not something he regularly dealt with as a vet. When he started talking about how a similar diagnosis of high blood pressure in animals meant something else was very wrong, she stopped listening. She didn’t need an additional reason to be anxious. The pills weren’t hers. End of story.

Wrong meds. Dizziness. Unexpected engagement. Secrets. Possible killer brother. Nope, she had enough to deal with right now.

The doorbell rang just as the front door opened. Racheland Josh popped into the opening, all smiles and still holding hands. Unexpected and, for Elisa, unwelcome.

“I’m not sure the alarm install can wait,” she mumbled under her breath.

Harris frowned at her. “Not funny.”

“Who’s kidding?”

“Uncle Josh!” Nathan abandoned the cats under the couch and went running to greet Josh.

Josh managed to hug Nathan despite holding on to Rachel and balancing what looked like a box of food. Nathan stopped short of hugging Rachel, and she looked pretty happy about his decision. She patted him on the head. Not the most natural greeting.

“Hey, we decided to bring breakfast to you,” Josh said. Carrying the box, he walked through the family room to the kitchen, guiding Rachel to go in front of him.

“We brought doughnuts and other sugar-filled options,” Rachel said.

Nathan ran in front of them and climbed up on the barstool. “Let me see.”

“You’ve eaten.” Elisa wanted credit for sounding rational even as she kissed the morning timeline goodbye. Getting Nathan back on track would take coaxing. Possibly some bribery and yelling.

Nathan shrugged. “I can eat again.”

Sugar in the morning would lead to the longest day of her life. Elisa silently cursed Rachel and Josh and their tendency to change plans without notice... and their lack of knowledge when it came to winding up Nathan.

To sidestep being a buzzkill, Elisa went for negotiation with Nathan. “We’ll share one.”

“I can eat six by myself.” Nathan flipped open the box lid. “That one first,” he said, pointing to a doughnut loaded with chocolate icing.

When he lifted it out, Elisa tried again. “Half!”

“Oh, sh—shoot.” Realization dawned on Rachel’s face. “I didn’t think about the sugar. We should have asked first.”

“About?” Josh asked.

The world revolved around him. A little boy stared at him, all smiles and sunshine, and Josh only saw the hero worship, not the morning routine or planned day with a friend. Josh wanted to come over, so he did. No one else’s responsibilities mattered. The whole scenario made Elisa want to shake him.

Harris took what little of the doughnut Nathan hadn’t shoved in his mouth. “We were going to come over in about a half an hour.”

“Well, about that.” Josh smiled at Rachel. “You might have been too late.”

Harris frowned. “For what?”

Elisa barely heard the conversation. She was too busy noticing how Josh crowded Rachel. Practically sat on top of her, had to be touching her. That sort of overzealous attention made Elisa squirm. It came off as a show... one that made her worry for Rachel’s safety even more.

“We’re packing up and going away for a few days.” Josh picked up a doughnut and tore off a piece.

If he fed it to Rachel, Elisa would lose it. Enough with keeping the peace.

Josh continued to hold the piece between two fingers. “I asked for a few days off as a surprise for Rachel. She’s basically her own boss, so her schedule is flexible.”

What was happening?They acted like teens in love, not adults in an early stage of getting to know each other. Elisa felt the room shift. Not from the usual dizziness. No, this round grew out of a blinding case of confusion. None of this lovey-dovey crap matched what Rachel had told her.

The public affection didn’t match Rachel at all. She was the cool one. Even and unruffled. Always put together and never giggly, which was the exact opposite of her now.

“Right. This week is about us.” Josh finally stopped staring at Rachel and faced the rest of the room. “We’re going to celebrate the engagement then we’ll be back and we’ll have a dinner.”

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