Lethal Wedding (Wedlocked Trilogy Book 2) - Charlotte Byrd Page 0,40

time. I mean, come on, she's my fiancée after all. Isn't that what women do?”

“No, it's not,” Chelsea says. “And you know it."

“Here, let me help you,” I say to Aurora when she comes out with the main dishes.

"Sit down,” Franklin tells me.

I whip my head back at him and glare into his eyes.

“Sit down,” he repeats himself.

“No,” I say sternly. "Your fiancée needs help and I'm going to help her.”

I take the dishes away from her and place them carefully on the table.

Then I follow her back into the kitchen and carry out the utensils to set the rest of the table. While we are in there, I ask her what is going on but she just shakes her head and waves her hand at me.

"You have to tell me," I insist.

"No, I don’t," she says.

“Aurora –” I grab her arm.

“Let her go," Franklin says.

I turn around and see him in the doorway staring at me.

“I was just trying…” My voice trails off.

“I know what you were trying to do. You're trying to intimidate her and I won't have it.”

“No, I wasn’t,” I say quickly. "I was just trying to figure out what's going on here.”

"Nothing is going on here. We had a bet about whether or not she can make dinner and she lost. So, here she is, making dinner.”

I shake my head, not wanting to believe him. I glance over at Aurora.

“Is that true?” I ask.

“Is that true?” I ask again.

"Yes, of course it is,” she says, snapping her eyes onto mine.

25

Henry

The four of us have dinner. At first, it's a little awkward, but Chelsea quickly takes over and makes everyone feel a lot more comfortable.

The conversation shifts from one topic to another, effortlessly and whenever I quiet down, someone else picks it up.

I don't know much about Chelsea, but I would be lying if I didn't say that I wasn't a little bit interested.

We had a good time dancing at the party and she is quite the flirt. I'm glad that the other couple canceled so that I can get to know her more.

When I ask her about her work, she glosses over her real estate and investments and instead focuses on her charity work.

“This is what I’m really interested in,” Chelsea says. “My foundation supports aims to make medical care free for sick children and we also donate to many animal rescue foundations.”

When I reach for a second helping of Aurora's delicious glazed salmon, Franklin asks me about my mother.

I had not planned on bringing it up, but I don't really have much of a choice.

I tell him about the diagnosis and I reiterate how grateful I am that I can do my work from New York.

“I'm sorry again that I can’t investigate that story," I tell Franklin.

“Don’t worry. Of course, you need to be here. I totally understand.”

As I talk about my mother, I glance over at Aurora and see her fighting back tears.

“I'm sorry, I shouldn’t get so emotional," she says, wiping away a tear. “I just had no idea that you were going through this.”

"I guess I should have told you earlier,” I say quietly.

“How are you paying for this?” Chelsea asks after a long pause.

Under the table, I press my hands into my knees and try to contain my emotions.

"I'm taking care of it,” I say quickly.

“But it must cost you a fortune,” Aurora says.

“Yes, it will,” I admit.

I debate as to whether or not I should go into the details of everything that I'm going through. How could these three people possibly understand?

But when I look into their faces, I see that they are open to listening.

So, why not tell them? They know that I’m not wealthy. Hell, I’m not even rich. I’m pretty sure everyone who they have in their employ make more than me, so what do I have to hide?

I take a deep breath and a big sip of my wine. Sitting back against the chair, I hold my glass out and ask, “What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” Aurora says. “How much is all of this going to cost?”

"A lot," I say.

"Can you be any more specific than that?” Franklin asks.

“The ambulance bill is $3700,” I say. “I'm not sure how much the emergency room bill will cost. She's behind on her mortgage payments and even got a foreclosure notice from the bank. The mortgage is just over $2000 a month. She's not even doing the experimental treatment yet and her pain medication is costing close