This wasn’t her. She was nice. She was considerate. And what had it gotten her? A man who lied. A baby she would likely have to raise on her own because she was living her mother’s life.
Caleb frowned. “I don’t really have feelings.”
“Good. Then you won’t care when I tell you you’re not a gentle doctor,” she yelled his way.
It felt good to yell.
“You tell him, Nell!” Max held his fist up in solidarity. “I’ve had his whole fist up my asshole. He’s a sadist.”
Paige grinned. “Ashooo.”
“Max!” Rachel was yelling now too.
Caleb frowned, his brows furrowing. “It was not my whole fist. Why would I do that?”
“She was sneezing, baby,” Max said even as his toddler tried out the new word she’d learned.
“You are scaring the tourists, my love,” Henry said under his breath. “Maybe we should go inside and discuss Caleb’s poor cervical techniques. Perhaps I can give him some pointers.”
She wanted to take the hand he offered. She wanted to be the Nell she’d always chosen to be. Good. Kind. Thoughtful. A woman who put her anger into advocacy, who tried to use the rage every human being felt as fuel to make the world better.
“Are we married?” She wished the world wasn’t so watery.
Henry’s face fell. “Baby, of course we are. Come here.”
He was holding his arms open, offering her the place that had always been safest for her. She could be angry or scared or sad and being in Henry’s arms made the world recede. His touch could calm her, remind her she wasn’t alone, wasn’t misunderstood.
She took a step back because that place had been a lie, too. “Are we legally married?”
He paled.
Well, at least she wouldn’t have to divorce him.
“Yes, we are,” he said, his tone firming.
“How? You have to use your legal name in order to sign a contract.” If someone had asked weeks ago she would have said a marriage didn’t need to be legal anywhere but inside the couples’ hearts. But now she wanted to know how tied to him she was. How far he’d gone to perpetuate his lies.
That dark look was back. This version of Henry was a lot like the Dom. He didn’t like to be challenged. It was one of the things she loved about her Henry. He could be a wonderful partner in their normal lives. They could argue and debate and he never once took it as an affront. But in the bedroom…oh, in the bedroom he was a brilliant caveman, taking what he wanted.
“I assure you my paperwork is perfect, love. You won’t find any loopholes to wiggle out of. The marriage is on the books. You are Nell Flanders and you will continue to be Nell Flanders.” He practically growled the words and then he seemed to deflate. “Baby, I promise you I wasn’t trying to trick you. I wanted to marry you more than anything in the world.”
How could she believe him?
“Nell, do you want to reschedule?” Caleb shouted the question across the parking lot.
She glanced around and realized she had far more of an audience than she’d imagined.
“Caleb, maybe we should go inside.” Holly had a hand on her husband’s white jacket.
She stood there completely frozen in place because she had an appointment and it was about the health of her baby. Henry’s baby. But she wanted to go home and lock it all out and pretend it wasn’t happening.
She was always assertive, always knew what she wanted and how to advocate for herself to get it.
She was so lost now.
“Henry, I think Nell is going to take this appointment without you.” Laura took Nell’s hand firmly in hers. “She shouldn’t miss appointments, and I’ll be with her the whole time. I’ll take her for some lunch afterward and I’ll drop her back off at the cabin this afternoon.”
The look on his face told Nell he wanted to argue, but he stepped back. “Is this what you want…what you need?”
She had no idea, but she wasn’t sure she could talk about the baby with Henry, so she nodded. “Do you need the keys?”
He backed away, his face going blank. “I have mine. I’ll see you at home.”
He turned and walked toward their Jeep.
“Come on, honey.” Laura gently tugged on her hand. “Let’s get this over with and we’ll go back to my place for lunch. The guys are out, and I can make you something nice.”
She wasn’t hungry, but she followed Laura inside the clinic.
She didn’t look back.
* * * *
Henry sat in front of his computer, thankful for once to have a problem to work on because if he thought about Nell, he might go fucking crazy.
Think about Nell? He couldn’t not think about her, and it had been that way since the moment they’d met.
Are we legally married?
The question had stopped him in his tracks. They’d been legally married, and all the proper paperwork had been filed. He had everything he needed to prove he was Henry Flanders, damn it. He’d made sure of it.
But it was a house of cards, and all it would take was one stiff wind to blow it all apart.
He glanced over at her desk. She hadn’t sat there at all this week. She’d studiously avoided her laptop. Apparently she wasn’t in the mood to write romantic stories.
Because her own romance had imploded so spectacularly.
He sat back and sighed. What the hell was he going to do? She’d lost her cool earlier today, and that just wasn’t Nell. She was serene, even in the face of turmoil.
He heard the sound
