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heart beat with a fierce rhythm equal to her own.
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Cynthianna
“Good. I can’t wait much longer, either,” she purred.
Zack lifted her into his arms in one swift move and
headed toward the back hall. “My place, the elevator
or yours?”
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Scrambled Eggs
Chapter Twenty-One
T
next afternoon, long after she and Zack had gone
around to the local parish and made an appointment
to speak with a very curious Father Guiliani about
their upcoming nuptials.
Why this? Why now? She wanted to hit the delete
button and pretend she had never heard the entire
message, but her conscience wouldn’t allow her the
luxury.
“Look what I found in my fridge—a decent head of
lettuce,” Zack called out, bounding up the stairs and
into her apartment. “Keith must have bought it on
sale or as a target for darts. Is this the kind you need
to make salad?”
“Yes, it is.” She took the slightly rancid vegetable
from him and plopped it unceremoniously into the
sink. The answering machine message couldn’t be
ignored any longer. She took a deep breath and
pressed her palms together.
“Zack, sit down, please. I have some bad news to
tell you.”
He slowly lowered himself into the chair. “What is
it? Is the baby all right?”
“The baby’s fine. It’s not that at all. Zack, my Uncle
329
he
message
light
flashing
on
Sharlene’s
answering machine went unnoticed until late the
Cynthianna
Bart is dead.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” He stood and cradled her
gently in his arms. “I hope he went peacefully.”
“It sounds like he did. He died in sleep. But there’s
more.”
He cocked his head to the side to study her face
closely. “More?”
“The message came from Jeffrey… It seems that
Jeffrey and I are not quite divorced after all. Jeffrey
says he wants us to keep things as they are until after
he receives his inheritance.”
Zack’s face paled. “He wants to what?”
“Jeffrey wants us to stay married a while longer,
since there’s seven million dollars at stake.”
The pulse at Zack’s temple throbbed, his breathing
ragged as he paced the living room like a caged beast.
“I thought you said since you came back from Mexico
that the paperwork had been cleared. I thought you
two were legally divorced.”
“I thought so, too, but obviously Jeffrey was
holding onto something. Maybe his lawyer used some
kind of delay tactic so the judge forgot to date the
document or something. It’s a technicality, that’s all.
I’m sure my lawyer can clear it up quickly.”
Zack collapsed onto the couch and closed his eyes
as he laid his head back. “Your lawyer better or else I
don’t know what to tell Father G. I know he’s not
going to be thrilled about you being divorced to begin
with, but this little mix-up… I don’t know what to
think anymore.”
Sharlene plopped ungracefully beside him and laid
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Scrambled Eggs
her head against his rigid shoulder. She pulled away
as she felt him flinch involuntarily from her touch.
“Well, he’s not going to be thrilled I’m not a card-
carrying Catholic, either,” she reminded him.
“You can take instruction,” he said brusquely.
“I guess so. But Jeffrey and I had a civil ceremony,
so it doesn’t really count as a wedding at all to the
church, now does it? I remember Edwina pointing
that fact out to us at the time.”
Zack leaned forward and dropped his head
between his knees, rubbing his face repeatedly with
his hands. “The Pope may not care about your marital
status, but I sure the heck do. The state of Missouri
does, too. You can’t get a new marriage license when
you have an old one in effect.”
Sharlene exhaled a long, trembling breath. She
stood and crossed to the door. “Yeah, you’re right.
Without a marriage license, we’d be forced to live in
sin. Sort of like we’ve been doing all along.”
Zack’s head popped up. “Huh?”
“I didn’t sleep in my own bed last night,
remember?”
A lost expression radiated from his boyish features.
“Oh, I see.” He placed his hands on his knees and
slowly
stood.
“We’d
better
sleep
in
separate
bedrooms until this matter is cleared up.”
Sharlene leaned wearily against the opened door.
“I agree. I don’t want to make you feel any more
uncomfortable. It’s probably for the best we give each
other a little space.”
“You’re right.” He kissed her softly on the cheek as
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Cynthianna
he passed her. “See you later?”
Blinking back bitter tears, she shook her head.
“Yeah, later.”
The ominous click of the door closing behind Zack
echoed over and over in Sharlene’s mind that night,
reminding her how fleeting happiness could be.
* * * * * *
Liza couldn’t contain her happiness any longer. She [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]