They Called Me Barren. They Picked the Wrong Wife novel · Chapter 18 of 24

Chapter 18: Open House

Maggie's POV

By ten o'clock there were two hundred people in Rowan Tile & Floor, and every one of them was holding a paper plate.

The pastor stood by the coffee urn.

The two church women from my Christmas table stood near the poinsettias, and the man in the green parka stood beside them with his spaniel.

Courtney sat in the front row of folding chairs in a cream sweater, with her hand on her belly.

Lorraine took the little microphone from its stand and welcomed the town.

She was good at it.

Her voice was soft and shaking, and she thanked everyone for coming in such a hard season for her family.

At ten-twenty Neil stepped out from behind the tile display in his navy coat.

He looked at me across the room, and I saw that he had not slept.

He walked toward me through the crowd, and when he reached me he went down on one knee on the new floor.

The ring box was open in his hand.

"Maggie," he said, loud enough for the back wall. "I was a fool. I let my pride and my fear get between us. I want to renew our vows, in front of everyone who loves us."

I looked down at him.

He was not acting.

That was the worst part.

He meant every word of it, and none of it had ever cost him a thing.

"No, Neil," I said.

He closed the box.

"Maggie, please, you're upset."

"I'm not upset. I'm not going home with you. I'm not your wife in any way that counts."

"Margaret, dear." Lorraine had already come across the floor, and her hand was on my arm. "You see how it is. She hasn't been herself since Christmas. I think we all see that."

Behind her, a gray-haired man in a tweed jacket had stepped out of the crowd with a leather bag.

"I'm not a stranger to this family," he said kindly. "Maggie, I'd like to take you somewhere quiet and talk."

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