Micah's Mock Matrimony

by Liz Isaacson

  “You should look at the hospital,” Ivory said. “A friend of mine says they’re always needing people.”

  Her mom smiled at Ivory. “I will.” Her eyes burned bright, and she hugged Ivory again. “I’m so glad we’re here.”

  “Me too,” Ivory said, and for the first time, she meant it. She didn’t expect things to be perfect, because families weren’t perfect. The little tiff between Wyatt and Jeremiah from a few weeks ago proved that.

  But they tried. They forgave. They included, and they loved each other. So Ivory would try. She would figure out how to forgive. She’d include her parents in as much as she could, and she’d love them.

  Tripp came toward her and said, “He needs to be changed, and then why don’t you see if you can put a movie on for him or something? Maybe your mom can watch him and you can help me out here?” He looked at her, and Ivory reached for Isaac.

  “I’ll take him,” her mom said. “You’re definitely stronger than I am, Ivory.”

  “Wyatt is five minutes away,” Tripp said. “And Skyler and Micah will be here in ten.”

  Ivory grinned at her husband and linked her arm through his. “I guess I can help for ten minutes.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Simone stepped into the pair of pantyhose, pulling to get them all the way up. Her baby belly wasn’t showing yet, but she could feel it. She was only three and a half months along, and she hadn’t told anyone but Micah yet. He’d confessed that he’d told Wyatt, but the secret was safely in his brother’s vault.

  “Do you have the flowers?” someone asked her, and Simone glanced up. The activity backstage made her dizzy, but she managed to nod to the prop sitting on the table beside her.

  “Right there.” She hurried to reach for the barrettes to hold her hair back. Her character wore them all the time, as the play made sure to point out, and she couldn’t go on stage without them.

  Tonight was the last night of A Long Way Home, and Simone would honestly be relieved when it was over. Attending rehearsals the past few months had been difficult, and she’d almost quit a few times. Micah had encouraged her to continue, and she’d only kept going because he had to go too.

  She loved acting, but it meant long hours after the work day was supposed to be done, and she didn’t love this role. But she’d do it one more time, because the entire Walker family should be in attendance tonight.

  That only made her nerves buzz even louder, and she stepped up to a mirror and pressed her lips together, deciding she needed more lipstick. Definitely more. Her father and Belinda had come last night, but they’d be there again tonight. Ivory’s parents were coming.

  Simone’s stomach lurched, and she froze. Could that be the baby?

  Impossible, she told herself. She’d spent plenty of time researching pregnancy and what to expect over the past couple of months and she was only fourteen weeks along. It was too soon to feel the baby.

  She was just nervous. And tired.

  Micah had been gone a lot in the past six weeks, and Simone had spent her days and nights alone—any that she wasn’t here at the theater with him. He worked all day long out at Shiloh Ridge, and then he’d come home and get on the phone with Dwayne Carver down in Grape Seed Falls, or another client, or he’d go across the street to Skyler’s, or up to Church Ranches to see Wyatt, or he’d fall asleep on the couch the moment he finished eating.

  He hadn’t even started her she-shed in the backyard, and Simone wasn’t going to ask him about it. She had her workshop a half-mile down the road, and it still served her just fine.

  She did miss Micah though, and she hoped that once…she didn’t even know what. Maybe this was just her life now. Working in the she-shed at the Shining Star. Coming home alone to the big house while Micah worked and visited his brothers.

  Sourness filled her mouth, along with a strange sense of unhappiness. She’d seen Callie weather a storm exactly like this, as Liam still worked a very demanding job. Whitney had cried about it at one of their girls’ gatherings after the birthday party, but she’d only broken down for sixty seconds.

  Then she’d wiped her beautiful eyes and said Jeremiah was going back to counseling and that he was going to hire a foreman.

  Evelyn had asked, “Why do these Walkers think they have to work twenty-four hours a day? Don’t they know they’re already rich?”

  Because Wyatt still worked at Bowman’s Breeds, though he had more money than Micah and Skyler combined. Skyler worked on the ranch and in the office until at least six, Mal said. Rhett had just taken another case, even though he wasn’t going to.

  Only Ivory reported that Tripp worked less than full-time, and Simone had kept quiet. She didn’t want to say anything bad about Micah, because she wanted him to achieve all of his dreams. And she knew better than most that achieving dreams took a lot of time, effort, and energy.

  “Ready?” Susan asked. “You should be in place.”

  “Right.” Simone said, putting down the lipstick container without using it. She hurried out of the dressing room, her skirts swishing against her legs. The shoes pinched, but she’d performed in them about a dozen times now. She could do it one more time.

  She approached Kelly, the woman playing Adelaide, and put a smile on her face. “Ready?”

  “Last time,” Kelly said, smiling.

  “Are you sad?” Simone asked.

  “A little, yeah.” Kelly took her hand and squeezed it. “I have loved performing with you. You are so talented.”

  “Thank you, Kelly,” Simone said, her heart warming with the compliment. “You are as well. Just a gorgeous singer.”

  “Thank you.”

  The opening notes of the first song started from the live orchestra, and Simone nodded to her. She’d be on stage in just a minute, and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew Micah had stepped beside her before she opened her eyes.

  “Hey,” he whispered. “Last time. You’re going to kill it.”

  She smiled her acting smile at him too, loving how he looked in all the stage makeup and that fake beard. He could grow one, but he said it itched too much, and he hated that. So he glued one to his face to perform every night.

  “They’re going to be loud,” he said.

  “Who?” she asked.

  “My brothers.” He grinned. “Good luck.”

  With that, her note sounded, and Simone had to step away from him. Out onto the stage, under the lights. Simone loved it out here, and everything else disappeared. There was no audience. No one else on the stage at all. Just her, and everyone could see her.

  She stepped right up to Kelly’s side, linking her arm through the other woman’s. Then she turned her head toward the audience and sang her first line, nearly getting knocked back by the cheering that definitely had the Walker tones all over it.

  They were so loud, she could barely hear herself sing. Heat filled her face, but she finished her part of the song, and Kelly sang her part. They ended the song in harmony, one of Simone’s favorite parts of the whole show, right there in the first five minutes.

  The note ended, and the orchestra kept playing as normal. There was usually applause for the opening number, of course, but tonight, the whooping and hollering was downright deafening. She heard her name more than once, and she knew then that she should’ve given those Walker brothers a lesson in theater etiquette.

  At the same time, she also knew in that moment that she belonged to them. They belonged to her. So they were loud. She better get used to it, she supposed, and the orchestra started the transition piece again, only moving on once the crowd—the Walkers, really—had quieted down.

  A couple of hours later, she took Micah’s hand and went out into the hall to see his family. They weren’t hard to spot, as every Walker male seemed to be taller than everyone else in Three Rivers.

  “There they are,” someone said, and another cheer went up. Simone had thought they’d been loud for her, but when Micah had come out and done his minor pa
rt, they’d nearly brought the roof crashing down.

  Simone and Micah started hugging everyone, and people started talking about ice cream and doughnuts, and Simone kept the smile on her face. She couldn’t be lonely while in such a big group of people, could she?

  But yes, she could. She had been before. And tonight, that bitter loneliness stayed with her though she wasn’t alone until much later, behind the bathroom door in her house, brushing her teeth while Micah checked on something for Bear.

  “But they’re going to be here in five minutes,” Simone said.

  “I know,” Micah said. “You go with them and tell them.”

  “I want to tell your parents together,” she said, frustrated beyond belief. She’d managed to stop working in time to get home and wash the black paint from her hands. She’d showered, checked on the roast she’d put in the slow cooker that morning, and made coffee, all in anticipation of Penny and Gideon’s arrival. They were supposed to go over to the Shining Star to visit Gideon’s miniature horses, who still lived there, and have dinner together.

  She and Micah had planned to tell his parents about their new grandbaby coming in February, and she couldn’t believe Micah wouldn’t be there.

  “I’m sorry,” Micah said, but he sounded distracted already. He said something else, clearly not for her, which meant he was having this conversation in front of other people. Simone wanted to throw the phone across the room. But that would break something, and then his mother would know how frustrated she was.

  “I’ll let you go then,” Simone said, ending the call though Micah started to say something. She half-expected him to call back, but he didn’t, and that only made her angrier.

  The play had ended a week ago. September was almost upon them. Mal was due any day now, and Simone thought Micah would be around more now that the construction at Shiloh Ridge was entering its third month and the play was over.

  But he’d actually signed a new client on Wednesday, and she’d smiled though she’d wanted to scream. He’d been so happy, and she couldn’t burst that.

  A knock sounded on the door, and Simone’s gaze flew to it. She couldn’t ignore it, though that urge was powerful. Instead, she pretended she was in another play, this one where she had to act pleasant and delighted to see her in-laws.

  “Hello, dear,” Penny said when she opened the door. She hugged her, Penny’s standard greeting for most people.

  “Hey, Simone,” Gideon said, not quite as tough as he’d been before the car accident, over a year ago now. He was softer somehow, and Simone sure did love him. She hugged him too, eliciting an “Oh,” from him.

  “Should we go over to the ranch?” she asked, stepping back quickly. She’d gotten better control of her emotions, and she hadn’t teared up in days.

  “Sure,” he said. “Where’s Micah?”

  “He’s still out at Shiloh Ridge,” Simone said, turning away from them so they wouldn’t be able to see the displeasure on her face. “Let me grab a couple bottles of water, and we can go.” She’d already gotten them out and set them on the counter. She retrieved them, and followed them out the front door to Gideon’s truck.

  He drove now, but he didn’t go fast, not that he could on the dirt road anyway. He went past the homestead and turned to go along the road that led back to the barns and stables. He parked there, and they all got out.

  No one spoke, and Simone loved the silence out on the ranch. The way the wind whispered through the tall grass and tried to play games by ducking around the corners of buildings. She loved the evening sky as the sun started to go down on another day.

  She drew in a deep breath and sighed.

  “Everything okay?” Penny asked, looking at her. She held her husband’s hand, and Simone’s chest tightened. She wanted to be Penny and Gideon, strolling along when she was old and gray, Micah’s hand in hers. But at the moment, she couldn’t see that future for them.

  “Micah and I invited you out to spend time with you,” she said. “I’m sorry he’s stuck at work.”

  Penny’s eyes sharpened, and Simone regretted saying anything. “I still have dinner at the house for when we get back,” she hurried to add. “He said he’d probably make it for that.” He hadn’t said that, but Simone started praying that he’d get the nudge to finish up at Shiloh Ridge and get home.

  They reached the fence, and Gideon clicked with his mouth. The closest horses lifted their heads and immediately started toward him.

  “We wanted to tell you something,” Simone said, focusing on one of the gray miniature horses. She did like them, as they possessed a charm in their smaller bodies and hooves. “I’m expecting a baby in February.”

  Penny sucked in a breath and then let out a squeal. “Oh, Simone, I’m so happy for you.” She didn’t hold back her tears as she hugged Simone tightly.

  “Thanks,” she said. She’d wanted to be a mom for as long as she could remember. “I hope I know how to raise a baby.”

  “Of course you do,” Penny said, stepping back.

  “Congratulations, Simone,” Gideon said warmly, hugging her again. “You and Micah will be wonderful parents.”

  She nodded, her eyes going back to that gray horse. This should be one of the happiest, most content moments of her life. But it wasn’t, because Micah wasn’t there.

  Chapter Thirty

  Micah knew he was in trouble the moment he stepped into the house. Number one, all the lights were off. Completely off. Simone always left two lights on for him—the one over the stove in the kitchen, and the lamp on the end table next to the hall that led down to their bedroom.

  Everything hurt, from his feet to his head, and Micah needed painkillers and his bed. He fumbled his way into the kitchen, finally reaching a light switch. He pushed it, only to have the garbage disposal start grinding. The loud noise startled him, and he muttered under his breath as he turned it off. The switch next to it got the light above the sink on, and he got the painkillers out of the cabinet next to the sink.

  With four of those downed, he turned around to see Simone standing there. She wore those sexy, silky black pajamas he liked, but he didn’t move. “Sorry,” he said.

  “What kept you?” she asked, her voice like ice.

  He had promised to be home in time for dinner tonight. After he’d missed dinner with his parents last week, she’d sat him down and told him he worked too much. He hadn’t been able to disagree, and he’d promised to cut back. Work less. Be home—and present—at night.

  He wasn’t keeping track, but he knew Simone was. And he knew he’d only been home on time once since making the promise.

  “They poured the foundation while the ground was too wet,” he said. “So we had to get an emergency crew out to the ranch, and it took forever.”

  “And I suppose you didn’t have service?”

  “It was spotty,” he hedged. The truth was, he’d signed a new client, who had hired another builder who had flaked on them. And Micah didn’t want to give them the same experience. He wanted them to have the complete opposite experience, in fact. The Thompson twins had plenty of money, and they wanted their ranch on the southeast side of Three Rivers to be ready to pass down to their kids. Mary and Amy Thompson were tough old birds, that was for sure, and Micah hadn’t been able to tell them he had to leave because his wife would be mad if he wasn’t home for dinner.

  “Mary sent a loaf of her Amish bread,” he said weakly. “I left it in my truck. I’ll go get it.”

  “It’s fine,” Simone said, still glaring at him. “Micah, I can’t keep living like this.”

  “I know things are crazy right now,” he said. “They won’t—”

  “It’s been crazy for months,” she said. “You don’t have to work fifteen hours a day. You don’t even have to work at all.”

  He sighed, because they’d had this conversation twice now, and he was not in the mood to have it again. “It’s late, Simone,” he said. “And I have to leave for Grape Seed Falls in the morning.”
He didn’t move, though. He couldn’t get past his wife, who stood like a sentinel guarding the way to the bedroom.

  “I want you to stay home from Grape Seed Falls,” she said. “And come to the doctor with me.”

  He frowned, his exhaustion only growing. “You said you didn’t need me to come.”

  “I know what I said,” she said. “Now I want you to come.”

  She couldn’t just change the rules of the game like that. “I have to go to Grape Seed,” he said. “I can’t cancel on Dwayne.” He was supposed to be there for two weeks, too. He’d hired a professional demolition crew, and Micah planned to work as many hours as possible while at Grape Seed to get Dwayne’s house as close to livable as he could. He and Felicity had moved into the generational house while the work was being done on the homestead, and Micah had promised he wouldn’t keep them displaced for too long.

  He silently begged Simone to understand.

  “I don’t want you to go,” she said. “But you’re a grown man. You make your own choices.” She turned and walked away—down the wrong hall. Micah stared after her, and the house was so quiet, he could hear the bedroom door in the wrong wing of the house click closed.

  Honestly, it would’ve been better had she slammed it. Hard. Yelled at him and called him names. Given him an ultimatum. She hadn’t, but he knew there would be consequences if he chose to go to Grape Seed Falls in the morning.

  “There will be huge consequences if you don’t,” he said to himself. He’d felt trapped like this before, in Temple, and it was not a pleasant feeling. No matter what he did, someone would be upset with him. How had he gotten in this position again?

  And even more importantly, how did he get out?

  His alarm went off before the sun had even thought about rising. Micah pulled himself from bed and into the shower, his mind sluggish but getting started. By the time he’d shaved and put the razor in his bag, he was having third and fourth doubts.