Chapter 4

"Isn't it?" Helen shot back.

"No."

She went still.

I looked straight at her. "I'm not calling off the wedding because of Martin. I'm calling it off because of you."

She stared at me for a second. "Because I asked him to help with a few things? You know how crazy work's been lately."

I shook my head. "If you're that busy, tell me. We can scale the wedding back. We can cut whatever we need to. But every time something comes up, you hand it off to Martin."

Her brows pulled together. "Because he's available, and he knows what I like. I don't see why that's such a big deal."

That was when I stopped wanting to argue.

She genuinely didn't understand why any of it bothered me.

I turned and walked back into the conference room. Ellie went over the cancellation terms and explained that some services had already been provided, so part of the deposits couldn't be refunded.

When Helen heard how much we would lose, she finally spoke up.

"Lawrence, that's a lot of money. Don't sign anything yet. Can we please go home and talk about this first?"

"If we can't get it back, then we can't."

I signed the papers.

Helen went quiet. When I pushed them back across the table, she put her hand over them.

"You're really doing this?"

"I told you I was serious."

The color drained from her face.

She stared at me for a long moment, then took a breath like she was trying to convince herself this wasn't final.

"The wedding's still six days away. Even if we cancel now, we can always book everything again. We'll talk when we get home tonight."

She still thought this could be fixed.

The next morning, I had barely gotten to the office when the contractor called.

"Mr. Palmer, we started the work at your house this morning. Since we're turning the study into a guest room, we still need you to confirm where you want the bed and dresser."

I frowned. "What guest room?"

There was a pause on the other end.

"Ms. Howell didn't tell you?"

I said nothing.

The contractor quickly explained, "She approved the change three days ago. She said a friend would be staying with you for about two months after your wedding, so she asked us to turn the study into a guest room."

Three days ago.

She had already made the decision before I ever said a word about calling off the wedding.

I hung up and drove straight home.

The whole way there, the same thought kept running through my head.

Three days ago.

I thought the towel, the vows, and everything else had already crossed enough lines. But before any of that happened, Helen had already decided Martin was going to live with us after we got married.

And she hadn't asked me once.

The second I opened the front door, I heard a power drill going.

The study door was wide open. The bookcase I designed myself was already half taken apart, my drafting table had been dragged into the living room, and my computer and work files were stacked on top of it.

A boxed mattress and nightstand sat against the wall.

Martin stood in the middle of the study with a tape measure in his hand.

When Helen saw me, she didn't look guilty or even surprised. If anything, she looked relieved.

"Good, you're home."

She pointed into the room. "The bed looks a little tight here. Do you think it would fit better against that wall?"

I stared at her. "Who's staying here?"

She blinked. "Martin."

"Why?"

"A pipe burst in his building, and his place needs a lot of work. It'll probably take a couple of months."

She said it like the arrangement was completely normal.

"You're at the studio most of the time anyway, and you barely use this room. I figured he could stay here until his place is fixed."

I looked into the study.

When we bought the house, this was the one room I had insisted on designing for myself. Now half of it was already torn apart.

I looked back at her. "Did you ask me before you told him he could move in?"

The smile slipped from Helen's face.