I Married a Stranger to Ruin Them novel · Chapter 7 of 32

Chapter 7: Pierogi Friday

I stood in the doorway with my notebook against my chest.

She didn't shout.

That was worse.

She folded the agreement in half, then in half again, with sharp flour-white creases.

"Tomorrow is Friday," she said.

"Yes."

"Dinner is at six. You'll both be there."

She put the paper back in the drawer and closed it.

Then she cleaned the kitchen around me.

I told Matt in the shop.

He set down his pipe and closed his eyes.

"She found it in the phone drawer?"

"You put it in the phone drawer?"

"It's where we keep important stuff."

"Matt, your mother cleans that kitchen every Thursday."

"I know," he said. "I wasn't thinking about Thursday. I was thinking about you."

He didn't explain that.

I didn't ask.

On Friday the crew ate first, the way they always did, standing at the counter with paper plates.

There were three kinds of pierogies, potato and cheese and sauerkraut, and kielbasa, and a bowl of onions fried nearly black.

The men took seconds and thirds, said thank you, and went home to their families.

Then it was the four of us at the table.

His mother sat down last.

She folded her hands.

"So," she said. "You married my son for a building."

Carrie put her fork down.

"Mom..."

"I'm not talking to you."

Matt started to speak and his mother held up one finger, and he stopped.

I looked at the plate in front of me.

Then I looked at her.

"Yes," I said.

The radiator ticked.

"I married him for a building," I said. "I married him because my husband and my best friend fired me and swapped my bottle for a cheap one, and your husband's works was going to close because of it. The charter says family. So I made myself family."

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