Her Reluctant Husband by Erica Marselas (summer beach reads txt) 📗

stay married for one year, living together in this house.” Kelley starts again, and I watch Alex sink into his seat. "You will have someone to check on you and make sure you are putting your best effort into being married to each other. A life coach, so to speak. Liz had joked to me she wanted you to figure this as one of those crazy reality shows that are really big.”

“Shit.” I slap my hand to my forehead, and now I’m sinking down in my seat.

“What?”

“I got her hooked on Love is Blind and Married at First Sight.” Liz loved over the top drama and the instant love in the shows. And really the sexy bachelors. She was sick, not dead, as she would say. I’m really going to miss staying up and watching Netflix with her.

“What do you mean you got her hooked?”

I give him a tiny smile, but I don’t look him in the eyes. There’s so much he doesn’t know of the last few years.

“Continuing,” Kelley interrupts. “If Ms. Gandy doesn’t think you two are putting your best effort towards this marriage or thinks it is in your best interest to be apart than together, she has the right at any time to sell this property to Orlando.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Ms. Gandy? She’s still alive?” Alex asks, not able to keep the astonishment out of his voice.

I giggle. I can’t help it. No matter the tension between us the comment is too much and too truthful to not make me laugh. “You’re awful.”

“I’m sorry, but she was like ninety when we were kids.”

And for the first time today, he smiles at me. An actual fucking smile where I might think I’m in a twisted alternate reality.

“He does have a point,” I say. Ms. Gandy lives on the corner from the old pharmacy in town. Growing up we thought she was the crazy old lady in town, and we would run anytime she came over because there was this story going around of her pulling a gun out on kids if they ever walked on her lawn or looked at her sideways. The real story is, she once sprayed a couple of kids with a hose for stepping on her rose bush. Small town, big stories. Ms. Gandy is actually very sweet and even finds humor in the folklore about her. She says she likes keeping kids on their toes. She’s very sweet and stops by the house often with baked goods along with our neighbor Maggie. Ms. Gandy, Maggie, and Liz were best friends.

“She hated us.”

“Oh no. She disliked you.” Hate is too strong of a word for Ms. Gandy. She didn’t hate, she liked to bicker at us when we were “misbehaving.” “She was always giving us candy and wanted to talk. You were just scared of her.”

“Was not.”

“Umm okay.” I laugh.

“See, you two can get along fine.”

“No. That was just a moment from history. Not now,” Alex says with a deep rumble.

I sigh and wave for Mr. Kelley to go on. “If after a year and a valiant effort was put on between you two, then the will can be put up for reconsideration regarding what to do with the house—that’s only if you two don’t want the marriage to continue. Now, if…”

“This marriage will not continue,” Alex says harshly. “Not a minute over. So, what do we do after? Split the house?”

“You won't find that out till the year is up, but splitting means selling and it’s not what she wants unless you two don’t get married.”

“Orrrr June here can just give me her share.”

“That’s not how this works Alex. I'm sorry. These were Liz's instructions.”

"Was she of sound mind?" Alex huffs.

"She was. Till her dying breath," Kelley says, and I nod in agreement.

“Maybe you should’ve been here,” I mumble under my breath.

His jaw ticks as his eyes close. "Maybe if you didn’t taint this house…” Alex roars.

“Alex! That is enough,” Kelley barks back.

"It’s not enough. Are we sure she didn’t make Liz do this somehow against her will?”

I laugh maniacally. “Really? Oh my god. I didn’t think you were so dense, Alex. If I made her do this, wouldn't I just have made her give me the house? Why torture myself with having to spend my days with you?”

“Because we all know you were obsessed with my cock.”

My fists clench at my side, and I'm so tempted to hit him. “Get real, Alex. I want nothing to do with that disease infested dick of yours."

Mr. Kelley pushes his hands through his graying hair and sighs loudly. “Can we get back on track, both of you? I understand there is a lot of hostility between you, but I think you two can put this aside for Liz's final wish after all she has done for both of you.”

I sink lower in my seat and glance sideways at Alex, who does the same. His lips are moving as he talks to himself, but no words come out.

“Now before I was interrupted, if you two do wish for the marriage to continue, there is also a special gift at the end of the year, but you will not know what it is till after the year is up and will only receive if you decide to stay married past the year and so forth.”

“Talk about bribery.” Alex rolls his eyes. “And you can’t give us any hints?”

“No.”

“Is it money?”

“Alex, give it a rest,” Kelley rumbles.

“I’d just like to know what I’m losing because I already told you we are not staying married.”

“I’m sorry, Alex, it’s out of my hands. And you never know, things might change. Now shall we go on?”

“Yes, please,” I plead. I just want to get this over with.

Alex turns