Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Clearly, Monroe knew this Ursula person, so I guessed she was a local I hadn’t been aware of until now. Obviously, she was aware of me. Honestly, it wasn’t the first time I’d been treated with rudeness by strangers. People saw the wealth and the fame and the pretty face, and they resented me for things they wanted for themselves, without seeing me as a person with my own shit and trauma.
“God, Monroe, you always were a drama queen. I’m not being catty.” Ursula looked at me now. “I’m just saying … Jared even tried to shag Regan and Eredine Adair before the brothers slapped a ring on them. It’s just shocking that he’s finally settled down. Guess the allure of that Howard money was just too much to resist. Everyone knew his farm was in trouble.”
The fact that Ursula was correct about why Jared married me stung. Because as much as our marriage was turning into something real, he probably never would have married me otherwise. But that she would say so to my face was despicable.
“Oh my God.” Sadie glowered at her friend. “What is wrong with you?” She blanched, turning to me. “I’m so sorry. I really did just want to offer my sincere best wishes. We’ll be going now.”
“I appreciate it. I’ll tell Jared.” I gave her a reassuring smile before turning to Ursula. “And Jared didn’t marry me for the money. He married me because the sex is mind-blowing.”
Sadie, proving how cool she really was, burst into laughter and shot her friend a “so there” look.
“Whatever.” Ursula rolled her eyes.
Sadie gave me an apologetic wave and nudged her friend toward the exit. We could hear her berating her under her breath the whole way to the door. Once outside, they stopped, and we heard their muffled yelling before Sadie marched off in anger.
“Wow.”
“Ursula Rankin was always a petty woman. I never understood why Sadie was friends with her,” Monroe opined.
“I think Sadie’s wondering that too.” Sloane gave a huff of disbelieving laughter.
“Why do women do that?” I asked. “It just lives up to the cliché that we’re all catty cows in competition with one another all the time. And it’s not true. Look at us! Look at Sadie! She’s the one who had a reason to potentially be jealous and she was super nice to me.”
Sloane, Aria, Sarah, and all the Adair women were as close as any group of women could be. They’d lay down their lives for their friends and family and wanted only happiness for each other. Women like Ursula were few and far between, but they were enough to keep feeding the cliché.
“I don’t think it’s only women, if that makes you feel better,” Sloane said with a shrug. “I think men can be petty and jealous over things and people others have that they don’t.”
I nodded. “You’re right.”
But as the conversation turned to a different topic, I couldn’t help but feel that sinking sensation of fear and alarm settle deep in my gut. Because Ursula had, unfortunately, hit a nerve. I hadn’t thought it mattered that our marriage had started out fake as long as it was real now.
Yet, maybe it did matter.
Even if Jared and I had come together in another way and started dating … would he have ever really committed to me in such a permanent way as marriage? And if he wouldn’t have, what did that really mean for our future? We’d decided to give ourselves the eighteen months to decide if we wanted to stay married.
What if Jared couldn’t make it eighteen months after all?
What if … what if he grew bored of me by then?
The awful thought made my stomach churn, but I tried to block out my old insecurities. I focused instead on the wonderful things Jared had said to me, the way he looked at me. He’d never felt this way about anyone. He’d said so. And I had to believe that it was true, and that Jared knew his own mind.
I had to believe.
Otherwise, I was setting myself up for the biggest heartbreak I’d ever faced.
Twenty-Six
Jared
The clouds above my head turned heavy and dark so quickly the automatic headlights on my Defender suddenly illuminated the road. I glanced up out of the windshield and saw the heavy, mauve bellies of the clouds straining.
A raindrop hit my windshield, then another and another.
“Well, at least something went right today,” I murmured, relieved at the sight of rain.
It had been dry and sunny for days, and while I had invested in an irrigation boom to water the fields during the summer, it wasn’t the same as nature’s version. Everything was connected, so even if the soil was wet, it still wasn’t the same when the trees and leaves surrounding the fields were dry and crisp from too much sun. The countryside was thirsty, and it needed the rain.