When He Finally Found Her, She Was Already Married novel · Chapter 5 of 24
Chapter 5: Margaret on Speaker
We walked to the end of the pier because it was the only place in town where no one could listen.
Dot followed us for half the distance, then stopped by the bait shop with her arms crossed and pretended to read the tide chart.
Declan put his phone on the rail and pressed the speaker button.
It rang three times.
"Declan, darling." The voice was warm and unhurried. "I was just thinking about you."
I had last heard that voice in a boardroom corridor at Hargrove Shipping, seven years ago, when it asked whether I was with the caterers.
My whole body knew it before my mind did.
"Mother," Declan said. "I'm in Carrow Harbor. I'm standing next to Stevie."
"Stephanie," said Margaret Hargrove. "How lovely. I've heard such wonderful things about your bakery."
I hadn't expected her to say my name.
I hadn't expected it to hurt.
"Hello, Mrs. Hargrove," I said.
"Margaret, please. We're practically family."
"A lawyer just offered me five hundred thousand dollars to stay away from your son."
"Oh, that." She sighed, a small musical sound. "I did tell him to be tactful. You know how men are. I only wanted to make sure that you were taken care of."
"Taken care of," Declan said.
"Yes, darling. Stephanie is clearly doing well. A husband, a child, a business that has won a prize. I'm delighted for her. But you have been in a very fragile state for years, and I'd hate to see you hurt again."
"You've known where she was for four years."
There was a pause, no longer than a breath.
"I knew she was alive and settled," Margaret said. "I didn't know she was a good idea for you. You'd just buried a year of your life in a search, Declan, and you were going to dig up a woman who took two hundred thousand dollars the week after your wedding."
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