Wife for Hire by Janet Evanovich Page A

meeting of minds and emotions, and an acknowledgment of genuine affection that passed between them.

Chapter 4
    The rump roast got boring after a while. It had burned itself into a charred chunk about the size of a baseball. It was black enough to look like a Cajun delicacy and had the density of a meteorite.
    â€œSo,” Maggie said, “anyone ready for dessert?”
    â€œI think I’ll pass,” Linda Sue said. “I have to be getting on home now.”
    Holly tiptoed around the mashed potatoes on the back porch, following Linda Sue. “Yeah, me too. This has been great, but it’s getting late.”
    Harry Mallone clamped a hand on his son’s shoulder. It was a gesture of condolence usually reserved for sickrooms, wakes, and the passing on of a severance check.
    Hank chose to ignore the obvious. “About that loan—”
    Helen Mallone gave Maggie a hug. “I’m going to take Harry home now, and don’t worry about the roast, dear. Hank never was much of one for leftovers. Maybe it’s all worked out for the best,” she said gently.
    Elsie met Maggie in the kitchen. “Do I smell something burning?”
    Maggie sniffed the air. “I think that’s the pot roast. Fluffy knocked over a candlestick and the tablecloth caught fire. Hank dragged it all out into the backyard.”
    Elsie looked through the screen door at the smoldering rubbish. “It don’t look so bad. You didn’t burn down anything important. Is that black chunk the pot roast?”
    â€œYup.”
    â€œI’ve eaten worse,” Elsie said.
    Half an hour later the remains of the fire had been shoveled into a garbage bag, the floors were fresh scrubbed, and the unbroken dishes had been washed and dried. Mabel and Aunt Marvina, Elsie, Hank, and Maggie sat at the kitchen table, eating pie and ice cream.
    â€œI remember my first party as a new bride,” Mabel Toone said. “I’d only been married for three weeks and I had dinner for fourteen on Christmas Eve.”
    â€œI can see it like it was yesterday,” Marvina said. “I wore that green velvet dress with the rhinestones on the bodice. Everything was perfect, except that Great-aunt Sophie had too much to drink and fell into the pineapple upside-down cake. Her elbow slipped off the table,” Marvina explained, “and Sophie went face first into the whipped cream. It made a terrible mess.”
    â€œWe didn’t mean to interfere with your party,” Mabel said to Maggie. “It’s just that we were worried about you, so we came to check up.”
    â€œMom, I’m twenty-seven years old. I can take care of myself.”
    â€œYou left in such a hurry, and all you said was that you were going to live with this man in Vermont. We weren’t even sure you were getting married. There’s something fishy here. Are you…?”
    Maggie put her finger on her fluttering eyebrow. “No. I’m not pregnant.”
    Mabel Toone looked Hank over. “Did he force you into this? Did he kidnap you? He looks a little shifty to me.”
    â€œI wasn’t kidnapped,” Maggie said. “I needed a quiet place to write my book, and Hank sort of showed up…”
    Mabel looked horrified. “You mean you got married so you could write a book?”
    â€œYes. No!” She didn’t want her mother to worry about her. And she didn’t want her mother to think she was an idiot. “I got married because…I wanted to.”
    Hank inched his chair closer to Maggie and slung his arm around her shoulders. “Love at first sight,” he told Mabel. “As soon as we saw each other we knew this was it.” He gave Maggie a big, loud kiss on the top of the head. “Go ahead, buttercup, tell your mother how much you love me.”
    â€œUh…I love him lots.”
    Mabel didn’t look convinced. “I don’t know.”
    Hank loosened his hold on