The Registry Said I Was Single, So They Assigned Me My Husband's Boss novel · Chapter 13 of 24

Chapter 13: White Lilies

I slept on Dina's couch under a blanket that smelled like her cat.

At six I was awake anyway, staring at the ceiling and counting the places where I could still feel him.

My wrist, where he had held it in the car.

My mouth.

I turned over and made myself think about the lawyer's email instead.

By nine I was in scrubs at the clinic, holding a Chihuahua still for its nail trim and refusing to look at my phone.

The waiting room was full.

Biscuit's owner sat by the window with the big golden retriever's head on her shoe.

Two men argued softly about a cat carrier.

At ten past ten the front door chimed, and Spencer walked in with an armful of white lilies.

He wore the blue shirt I had ironed for him a hundred times.

He had shaved, and he looked rested, and that was the part I hated most.

"Willa," he said, warm and sorry. "There you are."

Dina stood up behind the desk so fast her chair rolled into the wall.

"No," she said. "Absolutely not. Out."

"I'm here to speak to my wife."

Every head in the waiting room turned.

I set the Chihuahua's chart down on the counter.

"I'm not your wife," I said. "The registry says so, and so does your own application."

"That application was a mistake, and I'm fixing it." He came closer and lowered his voice. "Baby, I was scared. The Hallams are a lot. I got swept up."

"You applied to marry Lydia Hallam."

"I applied to marry into a job, and I'm ashamed of it."

He said it so well that I almost believed he was ashamed.

Then I remembered the lock he had described to Lydia, and the word tenant.

"I'll marry you properly," he said. "This Saturday, at the courthouse, with the real filing. I brought the forms."

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