Page 55 of Seaside Cowboy's Marriage of Convenience

Oh no. Compassion filled Kennedy’s heart, and she leaned forward, bracing her elbows on the smooth desktop more familiar to her than anything in her living room or bedroom. “What do you mean?” But she feared she knew the answer. The wedding was canceled.

A whoosh of air left his lungs. “Robin isn’t sure she wants to get married anymore. Anyway, we blamed her ex, thinking he wanted to get back at me. He didn’t have an alibi for the time.” He tapped on the desk again. “But that changed.”

Kennedy frowned, not liking where it was going. “How?”

He ducked his head, gripped the back of his neck, then huffed. “Well, Robin has this best friend who was going to be her maid of honor. Today, when they were discussing wedding plans, that friend broke down into tears. Apparently, he was with her at the time, and she begged him not to tell anyone, especially Robin.”

Huh? The math still wasn’t matching. Kennedy’s frown deepened. “But why? They were broken up by then. Why keep it a secret, especially when he was accused of something much more drastic?”

Mason rubbed his clean-shaven chin. “No official accusations were brought forward due to lack of evidence. And, um, apparently, Robin’s ex and her best friend were an item way before Robin’s breakup.”

Kennedy palmed her forehead. “So she prevented him from disclosing an alibi when he needed it but now gives him an alibi when he doesn’t?”

“I don’t understand her logic, either. But she showed my girlfriend a door camera recording. It confirms he was at her place at that time. As for why she’s only coming forward now, she says she felt too guilty, especially when she and Robin were planning the wedding.” He raked his fingers through his brown hair. “For a while, she and Robin commiserated that all men cheat. And now, Robin isn’t sure she wants to get married. Though I’d never cheat on her. I love her so much.”

Kennedy’s fingers tightened around the gold pen her uncle had gifted her when she signed her first contract. Now she could see the best friend’s logic. That woman had an agenda, and it wasn’t to get something off her chest. Kennedy suppressed the urge to squeeze her teeth. “Would it be okay with you if I talked to Robin?”

“Yes, of course.” His shoulders slumped forward. “But all this means someone else cut the brakes on your car. As I don’t know anyone else who could wish me harm, well...”

“Then we’re back to square one. Someone might’ve wishedmeharm.” Kennedy finished the thought for him as her heart went cold.

“I didn’t want to upset you but...” He held up both hands, palms forward.

“You did the right thing. Could you please get me that door camera recording?” She needed to make sure it wasn’t tampered with.

“Of course.” Then his posture changed from miserable to confident as his slumped shoulders pulled back and his chin rose. He nudged his glasses further up his nose and focused. “Now, I wanted to go over a few things on your schedule.”

The conversation was still stuck in her head when she left during her lunch break to visit Austin’s former assistant, Mrs. Dixon. Kennedy needed to tell him about this, and at the thought of seeing him this evening, a pleasant wave sluiced through her. But at the same time, imaginary alarms rang.

Could her life be still in danger? Even worse, could she bring danger tohim?

Soon, she pulled up to the hospital and parked in a vacant spot. Mrs. Dixon had the well-earned reputation of a grouch, and Kennedy lingered in the car, not excited by the prospect of bearing the older woman’s displeasure. Fine, Kennedy had only volunteered to visit because then Austin could eat during his lunch break instead of staying with Mrs. Dixon like he had since they’d returned from Lazoria and he’d learned the lady was in the hospital.

After work, he volunteered at the animal shelter again or helped on the ranch, making up for missed time, though he’d always asked Kennedy first if she had other plans. She couldn’t blame him for working late. She’d already fallen into old habits and stayed in her office after-hours attending to things onlyshecould do. Or so she told herself.

Her heart shifted. Why was she doing this to them? She wanted to be with him so badly, and yet she kept pushing him away under the pretense of too much work. Her schedule was more flexible, or rather, she’d made it that way after she’d come back from vacation. Despite her absence, all the hotels were still standing in their places, no disasters had happened, and no bad reviews had appeared on the travel sites or social media outlets.

Then Kennedy stiffened her shoulders. In a time of someone’s need, she should be more compassionate. She wasn’t sunshine, either, and yet not only did Austin overlook that but also he seemed to treasure her the way she was.

Had she shown him she treasured him? Some sort of invisible wall remained between them, and she’d been the one who’d constructed it.

He didn’t have to visit his former assistant, and yet he did. That was the kind of person he was. Pride and affection for her husband swelled her chest. The issue was that she didn’t know how to show that affection, not like he did with how he stepped in when others needed him, giving parts of himself along the way. Like how he was taking care of Mrs. Dixon’s many cats now—cats who weren’t allowed to visit the hospital. And since she didn’t have any children and her nieces and nephews didn’t hurry to show up despite being notified, no one else would be showing up for her if not for Austin.

Kennedy’s stomach tightened, and she glanced around the parking lot. Had she made a mistake when she’d told Rachel she no longer needed her services? Kennedy wouldn’t know how to spot a tail even if it was right in front of her eyes. Not noticing anything suspicious, she left the car.

She stepped inside the hospital, met by a cool wave of air-conditioning. Faint scents of stale coffee and antiseptics drifted to her. Her stomach tightened further, this time more painfully. The scents reminded her of the times she’d come to see her father in a coma after the accident.

He’d looked so unfamiliar, unmoving in a hospital gown, his eyes closed. She had so many things she wanted to tell him, so many things she hoped to hear from him, but it was too late. She’d started screaming at him to wake up, and her uncle had led her away.

A lump formed in her throat, and unshed tears burned the back of her eyes. But her family had instilled in her that one couldn’t show emotions, especially in public, a rule she’d broken only twice. The first time, in her father’s hospital room. The second time, in Austin’s arms at the castle. She blinked furiously and kept moving. One always had to keep moving to survive, another lesson she’d learned early on.

By the time she found Mrs. Dixon’s room, Kennedy sensed no trace of tears in her eyes, never mind that the lump in her throat grew bigger. She knocked on the door and, once she received permission, stepped inside.

“Hello, Mrs. Dixon.” She lifted the doctor-allowed crimson-red box of chocolates, aka the bribe. From Austin, she knew the woman’s favorite chocolates. “I hope it’s okay that I took the liberty to visit you. I’m Austin’s wife, Kennedy.” She said that title with more pride and satisfaction than her business title.

Mrs. Dixon rolled her eyes. “I know who you are. Everyone in Port Sunshine does. What are you doing here? Gloating over someone’s misery?”

Kennedy swallowed around the lump and resisted the urge to run out of the room. Where was Austin’s jovial attitude when she needed it? “No! Of course not. I just wanted to help.”

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