The Scandal Before the Vows novel · Chapter 6 of 24

Chapter 6: The Spare Room

"Anywhere but there," I said.

Elliot put the truck in gear.

"My mother has a spare room," he said. "She's been trying to rent it to a nurse for a year. They all leave after a month because she makes them eat."

"I can't pay her."

"Tell her that. She'll love it."

I laughed, and my ribs punished me for it, and I laughed again anyway.

The house next door to Trenton's was small and yellow, with a porch swing and a mat that said WIPE YOUR FEET OR ELSE.

A woman stood on the porch with her arms folded and reading glasses on a chain.

Her silver hair was cut very short.

"So this is the girl from the hydrangeas," she said.

"Mom," Elliot said. "This is Corina."

"I know who she is. I watched them load you into the ambulance from this porch." She came down one step and looked me over. "You're too thin and you're standing like a coat rack. Shoes off. Soup's on."

"Mrs. Ranney, I'm so sorry. I have no money. I can't..."

"Margo." She turned and held the door. "And you'll pay when you can, and if you can't, you'll dry dishes on Sundays. That's the rent. Inside."

I went in.

The kitchen smelled like onions and bay leaf.

She sat me at a table with a plastic cloth and put a bowl in front of me before I'd finished sitting.

I hadn't eaten in two days.

I did not tell her that.

She watched me finish the bowl anyway and slid a second one over without a word.

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