The Marriage Contract
Page 14
“Where are you from, and why did you move here?” a sullen-looking girl in the back row asked without raising her hand.
I met her eyes. Just from that question, I could guess a few things about her, too – that she was curious, perceptive, probably artistic, and perhaps had a problem with authority.
“I’m from a small town in Wyoming,” I said. “I was born and raised there, and I moved to San Francisco for love.” My cheeks heated as I finished the sentence.
Luckily none of the students pushed for more information about my relationship. Still, Leah was on my mind as I asked the students to go around and introduce themselves. I barely caught any of their names, and they groaned when I asked them to make nametags.
In addition to learning about the kids I’d be teaching, I also had to relearn everything I’d be teaching them. I’d gotten used to the fourth-grade curriculum over the past few years, and now I was starting from zero all over again.
I spent my lunch break hunched over a science textbook, trying to remember the difference between velocity and average speed. Science had never been my strong suit, and this was about a thousand times more complicated than what I was used to. I rubbed my temples. I was going to need another cup of coffee.
An older teacher slid into the chair opposite me, giving me a kind smile. We’d met briefly when the principal had introduced me to all the staff one after the other so fast I hadn’t retained a single one of their names.
“It’s always tough when you have to teach a new grade,” she said sympathetically. “Happens to the best of us. I’ve got years’ worth of eighth-grade lesson plans, so let me know if I can help you with anything.”
“I’ll definitely take you up on that.” I smiled at her. “This is hard enough without an ally in my corner.”
“We’re all pretty friendly here,” she said. “If you need help, ask any of us! We all want what’s best for the students.”
A few other teachers sitting at a nearby table overheard her and nodded. “We were all new once, so we know what it’s like, and we always support each other,” one said.
“You look relieved,” the first teacher said. “Had you been thinking you might’ve made a huge mistake by coming here?”
I laughed. “Not at all. No matter how hard it might be, I know I’m right where I belong.”
Twenty-Six – Leah
In mid-October, Poppy had officially been living with me for a month and a half. If we counted the summer when she’d been an unofficial resident, that went up to three and a half months.
So far, things were going well. She’d only gotten positive feedback at her new job. She’d bonded with a few of her fellow teachers, and she was making real connections with the students. Some had told her they’d begun to enjoy reading for the first time, and others were finally starting to understand their math work.
She missed her family and friends from Grass Cove, but she was keeping in touch. We Skyped with her parents every weekend, and they said they’d come out to see us at Christmas. Even Mary and Lloyd had promised to visit sometime this year. They were going strong, and were talking about moving in together, too.
Poppy rarely spoke to her high school friends, the ones who’d been mean to me back in the day. She said they hadn’t been that close anymore, and with the distance, it was natural for them to fade away. If you asked me, they were also ashamed for how they’d acted now that we were dating, and embarrassed that she liked me more than them. Either way, she didn’t seem bothered by their absence.
As for me, I’d left PupTech a few weeks ago, promoting Paul to take my spot. While we were still in touch nearly daily, I also had plenty of time for my new venture, a robot that would extract precious metals from mines so that human miners wouldn’t have to expose themselves to dangerous conditions. Starting over had reinvigorated my passion for robotic engineering. SpotBot had been a great project, but I’d liked the programming and development much more than the media circus.
Poppy had unpacked most of her stuff long ago, but there was one small box that still sat on the top shelf of our closet. When I’d asked what was in it, she told me it was personal and shooed me away.
Sometimes when she was out, I had the urge to snoop. Was it love poems from one of her exes? A dead great-aunt’s ashes? It wasn’t my business, and I had to respect her privacy even if I hated having any secrets between us. So I restrained myself from opening the box – until the day she brought it out.
“It’s time,” she said, setting it on the kitchen table in front of me.
“Time for what?”
She picked up a sharp knife, a slight tremble in her hands. Without responding, without even looking at me, she sliced the sealed box open. Only then did she look me in the eye. “Time to go over our contract.”
It took me a moment to figure out what she was talking about. “Our…”
She unfolded the box flaps and pushed it toward me. For a moment I thought the box was empty, and then I noticed the single sheet of paper at the bottom. I pulled it out, and immediately covered my eyes. “You didn’t honestly keep this.”
“Of course I did.” She squeezed my knee. “Read it.”
“I know what it says.”
“Read it anyway, Leah. Humor me.”
Reluctantly opening my eyes, I held the paper up. “Today, October 15, 2006, we the undersigned declare that if we’re both still single at the age of thirty, we will marry each other. Signed, Poppy Barnes and Leah Perry.”
She nodded, and she didn’t look embarrassed of our teenage foolishness, like I was. There was something else in her eyes, something I couldn’t quite identify, but that made a jolt of anticipation go through my heart.
She still hadn’t said anything, so I gave a weak laugh. “I guess we missed our chance at this. We’re already thirty.”
“Actually, no.” She pointed at the page. “It says ‘at the age of thirty,’ not ‘by the age of thirty.’ Our birthday isn’t for another two weeks.”
“Wait, you’re not saying…” I blinked at her. “You don’t want to plan a wedding by the end of the month, do you? That’d be impossible.”
“Would it?” She gazed at me softly. “We have a contract that says otherwise.”
A nervous laugh bubbled out of me. “You can’t be serious.”
“Are you backing out of our deal?”
She was clearly joking – even if it was a very strange joke. “I thought you released me from this when I came to your birthday party. Remember?”
“We never put that in writing, so the contract is still valid, as far as I can see.”
“Poppy!” I scooted my chair away, shaking my head. “God knows I want to marry you one day, but…”
There was no way she’d hold me to a deal we’d made as teens. She had to know how insane that’d be. We’d only been joking around at the time, even if we’d ended up together, and there was no reason to rush into anything just because of a silly contract.
“But what?” She grabbed my hands. “We haven’t been dating long enough? Because we’ve known each other all our lives, and I think we know each other pretty damn well. We both say we’re meant to be together, so why not make it official?”
She had a point there. “What about having a nice wedding?” I asked. “There’s no way we can even have a nice elopement if we try to plan it in two weeks.”
“Good thing I’ve already done some planning.” She grinned. “We can get our marriage license now and have a bigger ceremony later.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing – and yet I could picture the two of us in simple white dresses at the courthouse, rings on our fingers to solidify what we both already knew. Later, we’d have the huge party – maybe in a few months, maybe a year from now. We didn’t have to wait that long to make it official. Sometime in the next two weeks, we could stand up and say the vows.
“But… but…” I stuttered.
“Sounds like you’re out of objections.”
“But I’d be too happy.” That was the only other thing I could come up with. “Everything would be too perfect. I might actually spontaneously combust.”
She leaned in and kissed the tip of my nose. “I’m willing to take that risk.”
I stared at her. She was everything I’d wanted all my life, and being with her for real was so much better than I’d ever hoped. If we were going to spend the rest of our lives together anyway, was there really any reason to wait?
“Okay,” I said softly. “If I burst into a ball of flames when we sign that marriage contract…”
“Then I’ll just combust along with you.”
Her lips met mine, and I sighed into her embrace.
Our forever together was only beginning.
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Shatter Me
Lora is a kind-hearted, mature, capable young woman - in the eyes of everyone but her girlfriend. She puts up with verbal abuse, but when Chantel gets physical, she knows it's time to leave. Gathering her courage, she escapes to a women's shelter. With her new kitten at her side, she hopes to make a fresh start.
Sydney is shocked to see Lora walk into the shelter. As her former professor, she knows how smart and capable Lora is. She vows to help the younger woman in any way she can. When she begins to mentor Lora, they connect over feminist issues and trashy movies - and Sydney finds herself falling for Lora's sad eyes and broken smile.
Will Lora break free of her abusive ex and forge a new path with Sydney? Or will she go back to the woman who's already shattered her once?
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Table of Contents
The Marriage Contract
Prologue – Leah
One – Poppy
Two – Leah
Three – Poppy
Four – Leah
Five – Poppy
Six – Leah
Seven – Poppy
Eight – Leah
Nine – Poppy
Ten – Leah
Eleven – Poppy
Twelve – Leah
Thirteen – Poppy
Fourteen – Leah
Fifteen – Poppy
Sixteen – Leah
Seventeen – Poppy
Eighteen – Leah
Nineteen – Poppy
Twenty – Leah
Twenty-One – Poppy
Twenty-Two – Leah
Twenty-Three – Poppy
Twenty-Four – Leah
Twenty-Five – Poppy
Twenty-Six – Leah