Lying Love (Lazy Love Book 3) Page 11

  “Thank you, Mrs. Morgan. You were always my favorite room mom. You brought the best food!”

  Mrs. Morgan laughed. “I am known for my food. You learn to be a good cook quickly when you have six kids.”

  “That’s what I was calling about actually. I can’t cook. At all. I was wondering if you would be willing to prepare extra food in the evenings, and I’ll pick it up on my way home from work. I’ll pay you!”

  There was silence for a moment. “Well, all my kids are grown, and we’ve been thinking about me going to work, but I like being home for the grandkids.”

  “If you will cook for us, just on weekdays, I’ll pay you two-fifty a week. Would that make it worth your time?”

  “Absolutely!” Mrs. Morgan sounded excited at the idea. “When would you want me to start?”

  Amber all but squealed. “Tomorrow? Is that too soon? I have some frozen pizzas I can heat up tonight. I’ll drop by tomorrow morning with a check for the first week.”

  “This will be perfect for me, and you won’t have to learn to cook. That sounds like a great arrangement to me, Amber. I can’t wait to tell Tom.”

  “I’m sure Mr. Morgan will be thrilled.”

  “Oh, and don’t come by in the morning. Just bring the check when you come to get the meal. I’ll have it done around five.”

  “That would be wonderful. Thank you, Mrs. Morgan.”

  Amber ended the call and smiled to herself, putting her feet up. Now she just needed to figure out who to hire to clean the house weekly. And maybe she could get someone to come in and do the laundry. That was it! She’d get a half-day maid.

  Amber spent the next hour on the phone finding someone willing to come in every morning, pick up the house, make the beds, do the dishes, and keep up with the laundry. She was feeling pretty proud of herself when John came in an hour later.

  She quickly explained how she’d handled the housework problem, and John shook his head. “You’ve never had a problem throwing money around if it kept you from having to work hard.”

  All of Amber’s excitement at her problem-solving seeped out of her. “I work hard, John. I work really hard. It may not seem like it to you, but acting isn’t exactly a walk in the park. I work every single day.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way!” he said, frowning. “I just mean you’ve never exactly been willing to cook and clean. I remember you were supposed to clean your room once, and you paid a girl in our class to come over and do it while your mom was out.”

  Amber shrugged. “Why do things you don’t want to do when you can pay others to do it for you?” She wasn’t going to pretend to be ashamed that she didn’t have time to keep house or cook. She’d arranged good meals and a clean house. What more could be asked of her?

  “I don’t think I could ever get used to throwing around money the way you do.”

  “I just can’t stress myself out over little things like housework when I have to work as many hours as I do. I’d rather use my time at home to spend with you and Nicki.” She hoped he could see her logic.

  “I’m not criticizing you. It’s not the way I’m used to doing things, but if it works for you, then it works for me. I wondered how you’d be able to handle adding the responsibilities of a family to what you already do.”

  “I have no idea. But I hope this works. I know I can’t cook and clean and do laundry unless I learn all those things on my week off.”

  “Learn laundry?”

  She shrugged, blushing. “I meant cooking.”

  “You don’t know how to do laundry, do you?” His eyes were wide as he realized just how different their lives had been.

  “Well, the maids did laundry at home, and I went straight to the set where we all sent laundry out. I know it sounds like I’m a wastrel, but I really do work!”

  “I’m not questioning that.” He shook his head. “We’ll just count on my mom to teach Nicki to do all the homemaking tasks she’ll eventually need.”

  “That brings up a question for me.” Amber glanced at the clock. “How soon do we need to get Nicki?”

  “Another hour. Why? Do you want to go pass the time trying out my bed?”

  Amber shook her head at him. “That’s not exactly what I was thinking.” She took his hand and led him to the couch, sitting just far enough away he wouldn’t be able to start something. She did need to talk. “Do you want more kids?”

  He frowned. He hadn’t expected this topic of conversation at all. “I haven’t thought about it much. I love Nicki more than anything, but I’m not sure if I want more or not.”

  “Think about it. I think I’d like at least one, but not quite yet. We’re both still young, and we have plenty of time. I’m asking, because I’m on birth control, and I thought we should at least discuss it. If I went month after month without getting pregnant, and you expected it to happen any day, you might freak out.”

  He grinned. “Someday is good. Maybe in a few years, after we’re more used to married life. I don’t want to start off our marriage with a pregnancy. I don’t want the strain that comes from no privacy and no sleep.”

  “I don’t either, but I do want one eventually. Before I’m thirty would be good!”

  “Sounds good to me.” He scooted closer to her on the couch. “Now, we still have about forty-five minutes before I need to go get Nicki!”

  She laughed softly, leaning in for his kiss. “Are you saying there’s something you’re interested in doing?”

  “I think it’s better if I demonstrate.” He took her hand and pulled her off toward the bedroom as Amber laughed behind him.

  Nicki stayed home with Amber for the rest of the week, and the girl was startled when Becky came to clean. She followed Becky around the first day, watching as she scrubbed the floor and cleaned out the fridge, as well as made beds and washed dishes.

  After a morning of watching Becky work, Nicki went back to Amber. “I think I’m always going to have servants. There were yummy foods that turned green from being in the fridge so long, and Becky threw them away without throwing up!”

  “Crazy, isn’t it?” Amber was in the spare room, setting up a Barbie universe for Nicki. “Would you rather take over this room as your Barbie room or do you want us to have a playhouse built?” She knew for now they’d need to use the spare room, but she really liked the idea of Nicki having a playhouse of her own. She’d had one and had loved it.

  Nicki thought about it for a moment. “Can I use this room just until we get a playhouse built?”

  “Absolutely! There’s a bed in here, but we’ll take that out to the garage, so there’s more room. Well, we’ll have your daddy take it to the garage.”

  “It’s too bad Daddy has to work today, and he can’t play with us,” Nicki said.

  Amber smiled. “Your daddy is like me. He’s doing work that he loves to do, so he doesn’t mind having to work while we play.”

  “Are we going to stay home and play every day?” Nicki asked.

  “No, but we’ll stay home and play every fourth week. I work for three weeks, and then I get a whole week off every month. We can spend that week together.”

  “I’d like that! Are you going to be on your show still?”

  “Yeah, I am. I love my job and the people I work with. You remember Miss Valerie, and Mr. Jesse, and Mr. Bob. I get to work with them every day.”

  “And eat tacos.”

  Amber laughed. “Tacos aren’t usually part of the plan.”

  “I bet Miss Valerie doesn’t like that at all.”

  “No, she doesn’t. Did you know before she had the baby in her tummy, she never even ate tacos? And now she won’t stop!”

  “That’s funny. Are you going to have a baby in your tummy?”

  “Probably someday. Your daddy and I are going to wait a little while to give you a brother or sister though. We want to give you all of our attention. Is that okay?”

  Nicki nodded. “Especially if it means I get playhouses and Barbies.”


  Amber laughed. “I’ll have to take you over to my mother’s house soon so you can thank her for all the Barbies.”

  Nicki reached out for the camper, which was still in the box. “Can we take this out and set it up?”

  “Of course, we can! We’ll do it now.” Amber ran to get a knife from the kitchen for cutting little pieces out of the box. While she was there, she saw John talking to her dad.

  She stepped outside to hear what they were saying. When she got closer, she heard her dad say. “Thanks for bringing her back to us.”

  “It’s my pleasure. Thanks for letting me know she’d be signing that night. I can’t believe I didn’t even notice she’d be making a public appearance.”

  “I called you as soon as I realized. I knew you were the only one who could bring her back to Jupiter.”

  Amber stood for a moment longer, listening, but the subject was changed. She wanted to run. She wanted to get in her car and drive off, back to the set where she could live without lies and betrayal.

  She couldn’t leave Nicki, though. She’d promised.

  Slipping back into the house unnoticed, Amber rejoined Nicki, and together, they put the Barbie camper together. Nicki was in charge of making sure the stickers got onto the correct places, while Amber put together the slide, the hammock, and the sundry other things.

  The whole time they worked, Amber fumed over what she’d heard. Her dad had put John up to approaching her at the signing? What did that even mean? Had he paid John to do it? And since when were John and her father all chummy-chummy?

  Later that night, after Nicki had gone to bed, Amber jerked away from John when he touched her shoulder. He stared at her with surprise. “What did I do?”

  Amber wanted to kick him. She wanted to do so much worse than kick him! “I heard you and my dad earlier!”

  “So?” He stared at her blankly as if he didn’t understand what she meant, when she knew darned well that he did.

  “I heard him thank you for bringing me back to Jupiter. Did he pay you to come talk to me?”

  “Pay me? What are you talking about? When he heard you were going to be signing in Wiggieville, he told me about it. That’s all.”

  “Since when are you and my dad best friends?”

  He sighed. “We’re far from best friends. After Kayla left, I went to the bank where he works for a loan, and even though he wasn't the person I dealt with, he knew why I was there. He also knew they turned me down flat.” He’d hoped he wouldn’t have to talk to her about this for a long time, but he wasn’t going to hide it from her.

  “I’m listening.” Amber glared at him, as upset with him as she’d been the night of the prom. She couldn’t run off. Not this time. They were already married, and she didn’t believe in divorce. No, they were going to work it out if that meant putting on boxing gloves. Of course, she’d be the only one wearing boxing gloves as she pounded on him. She knew he’d stand there and take it rather than hurt her.

  “He felt like he owed me something after the way our relationship ended, and he knew I was a single father fighting to make ends meet, so he made me a private loan with very favorable terms.” He shook his head. “I was so shocked at the time, I almost refused. But then your dad told me that he realized he’d made a huge mistake, and he was paying the price by having to live without you.”

  Amber walked over to sit at the table, while John got a glass of water before continuing. “He told me if he ever found a way for the two of us to get back together, he was going to do everything he could to make it happen. I know your mom kept trying to get you to come back for holiday meals. They always made sure I was available to be there. They were trying to get us back together.”

  She waited until he was sitting beside her. “My parents have been trying to get us back together?” She couldn’t keep the shock from her voice.

  “Your dad told me he could see we didn’t know how to really function apart, and he wanted you to be happy, so they were going to do everything they could to make it work for us.”

  “Are you serious? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  He shrugged. “Your dad asked me not to. He told me if you thought they wanted us to get back together, you’d probably refuse. He even had your mother call to say we were spotted out together so it would sound like they didn’t think it was a good idea.”

  Amber blinked a few times. “And did you really want to get back together? Did you ever want to marry me? Or were you just carried along by it all? Struck by gratitude toward my father?”

  “I haven’t lied to you except by omission. I love you, Amber. I’ve loved you since I was a little boy, and while the love has grown and changed, it’s as strong as ever. I married you because I love you. I didn’t expect you to say yes when I asked, but I still wanted you to.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded, taking her hand in his. “I know what you heard must have sounded bad, but I’m telling you the truth. I won’t lie to you again, even if it is only by omission.”

  Amber studied him for a moment, trying to decide if he was being totally honest with her. “I guess I wasn’t honest with you either.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You weren’t?”

  “You asked me what happened to make me agree to marry you, and I made something up. I can’t even remember what I said.”

  “What was the truth?” he asked softly, his gaze on hers.

  She sighed. “After I left you on Saturday night, I called Valerie and May and we had lunch in Wiggieville on Sunday. I told them our situation, and that I wasn’t sure I could trust you. They both told me that if I threw away my chance at being married to the only man I’ve ever loved, I’d regret it.”

  “Does that mean you love me again?”

  She frowned at him. “That means I’ve never stopped. As angry as I was with you, as much as I hated you and wanted to hurt you for a little while, I loved you. I thought of you every day, and I’ve never been able to imagine living a happy life without you.”

  He closed his eyes, obviously relieved by her words. “So you said yes because you love me?”

  She nodded. “I wouldn’t marry someone I don’t love. That’s why I called it off with Brian. I couldn’t be married to a man I didn’t love.”

  He pulled her to him and onto his lap. “Let’s never hide anything from each other again. Nothing that matters. I’ve been going through hell trying to figure out how I was going to make you fall in love with me again, and you loved me the whole time.” He hugged her close. “You are the wife I needed and the mother Nicki needs. Together, we’re going to be unstoppable.”

  Amber felt tears prick her eyes as she buried her face in his neck. “I love you so much, John. I can’t believe I’ve wasted so many years missing you when I could have just called you and you’d have been there.”

  “I think we both had a lot of growing up to do before we were ready for each other, but I’m glad we’ve done it.” His hand stroked over her back lovingly. “Now, do you remember what you said to me outside the steak place in Wiggieville?”

  Amber shook her head. “No, what?”

  “Shut up and kiss me!”

  She laughed. “Gladly!”

  Epilogue

  Amber looked up from her Barbie party with Nicki, the third one they’d had that week, to see John smiling down at her. “You have some visitors.”

  Amber got to her feet, her legs cramping because she’d been sitting on the floor for so long. “Who’s here?” She squeezed John’s hand as she walked past him into the living room.

  Valerie and May were there with the babies in their car seats. “Jaron and Bobbette wanted to see their Auntie Amber.”

  “Oh, I wanted to see them too! What have you guys been out doing today?” Amber leaned down and unbuckled Jaron from his car seat, picking him up. He was already six months old, and she didn’t feel she’d break him like she did every time she touched two-month-old Bobbi.

  Nicki hurried into the room and knelt on
the floor beside Bobbi. “I can’t wait ‘til you’re big. We’re going to play Barbies together every day!”

  Amber carried Jaron over to the couch and sat down, knowing she didn’t need to invite her friends to sit with her. They were comfortable in her home. “He’s got four teeth! I can’t believe I didn’t know he has teeth!”

  Valerie laughed. “You haven’t seen us since the break. We just got back in town yesterday.”

  “How’s Rikki?” Amber asked the same thing every time Valerie went home to Wyoming.

  “She’s happy. I’ve never seen my sister so happy, and I don’t mean just since the kidnapping. Being married has given her a confidence I’d never dreamed she’d have.”

  Amber smiled. “I’m so glad!” She looked over at May. “How do you like being a mama?”

  May smiled. “I love it. I hate that I’m not even writing half as much as I used to, but I wouldn’t trade little Bobbi for anything.”

  “Do you ever regret letting Bob name her?”

  Valerie stifled a laugh, but May shook her head. “Nope. It makes him happy, and really? That’s all I care about. I’m one of the founders of Team Bob after all.”

  “I hope you don’t remind him of that very often.” Amber and Valerie exchanged a look. “He’s already gotten a big head since you two married.”

  “I would never remind him of that!” May said. “In fact, every time he asks me to call him King Bob, I remind him that he’s just the court jester.”

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  KirstenOSbourne

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