The Scandal Before the Vows novel · Chapter 15 of 24

Chapter 15: Ranney's Rule

Trenton did not look at me.

He took one of the coffees from Brynn's tray and said, in the easy voice I had hated all month, "Corina dropped off the jeweler's receipt. She's leaving."

"How thoughtful," Brynn said.

She crossed the showroom floor and kissed him on the mouth.

It was long, and she kept her eyes open and on me the whole time.

Trenton kissed her back, and I watched a man do it who knew exactly what she was.

I had never seen anyone act so well, and I knew it was for me.

"Your hands are shaking, Corina," Brynn murmured against his cheek. "Go lie down."

I walked out past the dining tables with my chin up.

Elliot had the truck door open before I reached the curb.

"Well?" he said.

"He heard it."

"And?"

"He's playing the groom until the wedding."

Elliot looked through the windshield at the brick warehouse.

"I'd like to hit him," he said, "and I'd like to hit her more."

"Get in line."

"I've been in line since the hospital."

Margo was waiting on the porch with an envelope in her hand and a look of great innocence.

"The county sent this," she said. "To you, care of me."

I opened it standing up.

It was a single page on county EMS letterhead.

It said the patient care record was closed, no further treatment was scheduled, and the date of closure was Monday.

Elliot read it over my shoulder, and his face did not change.

"There," Margo said. "She was released Monday. The chart's closed, and she's not your patient, she's my tenant."

"Mom."

"You made a rule about patients, so I assume you're a man who reads his own rules." She went inside and held the screen door. "I'm going to the church rummage sale. I'll be gone three hours, and I'll want details of nothing."

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