All Chapters of The Secret Billionaire I Married: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

September arrived with cooler winds and golden light. The leaves on the trees turned orange and red and yellow. The garden gave its last harvest. Tomatoes. Peppers. Herbs that Catherine dried and stored in glass jars. Liam said we had enough to last through winter. I said we would probably eat it all by November.Maple loved the fall. She chased falling leaves. She rolled in piles I had just raked. She came inside covered in sticks and dirt and happiness. Marmalade watched from the window. He judged her silently.Doris sat on the porch with a blanket over her lap. Her fingers were getting stiffer. She said it was the cold. Catherine said it was age. Doris said Catherine was not funny. Catherine said she was not trying to be.I sat on the swing. The oak tree was losing its leaves. The ground was covered in gold.Liam came out with two mugs of tea."You are thinking," he said."I am always thinking.""About?""The

January arrived with grey skies and bitter cold. The snow turned to ice. The roads were dangerous. No one left the farmhouse for days. Liam chopped wood. Catherine baked. Doris read by the fire. Maple slept. Marmalade stared out the window at birds he could not catch. I sat on the swing in the living room. Not the one outside. The one Liam had brought in for the winter. An old wooden thing with a faded cushion. He said it reminded him of simpler times. I said it reminded him of his grandmother. He said that was the same thing. "You are thinking again," Liam said. "I am always thinking." "About?" "The wedding. Our wedding. Next summer." "What about it?" "I want it to be perfect." "It will be perfect because you will be there." I threw a pillow at him. He caught it. "That is cheesy," I said. "You love it." "I tolerate it." He smiled. "Same thing." Anna called from Oregon. She had news. "Mark and I set a date," she said. "When?" "April fifteenth. Spring.

June arrived with heat and humidity. The kind of weather that made you want to sit still and do nothing. Catherine said the garden loved it. Doris said the garden was welcome to it. Maple dug a hole under the porch and refused to come out. Marmalade sat on the porch railing and watched the world with lazy eyes.I sat on the swing. The oak tree gave shade. A breeze moved through the leaves. I had my laptop open. The novel was selling well. Readers were writing letters. Some loved it. Some hated it. Some wanted to know if the story was true.Liam walked out with two glasses of lemonade."You are staring at the screen again," he said."I am answering emails.""Good ones?""Some. Weird ones too.""Weird how?""One person asked if I was secretly a billionaire.""What did you say?""I said I was secretly a writer."He sat next to me. Handed me a glass. "That is the truth.""The best kind."I closed the laptop. The emails could wait.The Fourth of July came faster than expected. Marcus arriv

December brought snow again. The first snowfall came on a Monday. I woke up to white fields and silent trees. Maple ran outside before I could stop her. She disappeared into the snow, her tail wagging like a flag above the white. Liam stood by the window. Coffee in hand. Hair messy. "She loves the snow," he said. "She loves everything." "That is why she is happy." I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and walked to the window. The snow was still falling. The sky was grey and soft. "Christmas is three weeks away," I said. "Everyone is coming." "The farmhouse will be full." "The farmhouse will be chaos." I leaned into him. "Good chaos." "The best kind." Doris came downstairs. She wore a sweater that was three sizes too big. Her hair was grey and wild. She had flour on her cheek. "Have you be

May arrived with soft rains and warm winds. The garden exploded with green. Catherine spent hours outside, talking to her plants, pulling weeds, chasing off rabbits. Doris sat on the porch and watched. She said Catherine was doing enough work for both of them.I sat on the swing. The oak tree was full of leaves. The branches stretched wide like arms waiting to hold someone.Liam came out with two glasses of lemonade."You are staring at the tree," he said."I am thinking.""About?""The future. What comes next."He sat next to me. Handed me a glass. "What does come next?""I do not know. That is the problem.""It is not a problem. It is an adventure."I leaned into him. "You are too optimistic.""Someone has to be."Maple ran across the yard. She had a stick in her mouth. She dropped it at Liam's feet."Throw it," I said."I am not throwing it.""She