Chapter 10: What He Cashed

Maia's POV

I woke in the loft with a blanket over me and the lantern burned down to a blue flicker.

Eli wasn't there.

The boards were warm where he had been, and my body ached in a way I wanted to keep.

Then I heard voices below, low and angry, coming up through the gap in the floor.

"...she's asleep up there. I saw the light." That was Preston.

"Lower your voice," said Eli.

I lay still on the sails and did not breathe.

"Dad's lawyer sent me the folder," Preston said.

"I've got the stub. Fifty thousand dollars, made out to E. Corrigan, signed. You cashed it."

"I know what I cashed."

"If she finds out from me, she'll think Dad paid you to marry her. She'll think the whole thing was a setup."

"Nobody paid me to marry her."

"That's what it'll look like."

"Then you shouldn't have a folder."

Preston's voice dropped, and cracked, and that was worse.

"Just tell her. Tell her all of it. Before she hears something from Dad."

"All of it," Eli said slowly. "Are you sure, Preston?"

Silence.

I pressed my hand over my mouth.

"Don't," Preston whispered. "Don't. You know what happens to me."

"I know exactly what happens to you."

"Dad's moving the wedding up. Next Saturday. He said it'll be over before she can ask any more questions."

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