Caught Between a Lie and True Love (Caught Between series Book 1) (28 page)

She felt sorry for her dear friend Olivia. But once Paige and her no good family were gone, Delores would make it up to the elderly woman. Maybe paint the shutters of her house or something.

The chants of the crowd finally infiltrated her thoughts.

“
Free Jeb. Free Jeb. Free Jeb
.”

Delores stared at the people closest to her, confused, unable to believe what she was hearing.

Why weren’t they happy that Brody was Mayor?

She raised her fist in the air and shouted, “Mayor Brody. Mayor Brody. Mayor Brody.” But her shout got lost in the noise, and she lowered her arm to her side and gave up.

What did it matter anyway? Soon she’d be
First Lady
of Serendipity Island and she’d have the power to make them all pay.

Up ahead, she caught a glimpse of Brody near the front porch. She shoved her way through the crowd, elbowing people aside, uncaring whether she jostled them to the ground or whatever.

Because she had to stop Brody. If he reached his floozy, her dream to become
First Lady
would be lost.

But by the time she got near enough to the house to see Brody kiss Paige, Matilda and Lisa had roadblocked her way.

It was time to reveal her secret weapon and embarrass the old bat. Delores knew all about the President of the Ladies Society’s secret rendezvous with the Judge. And the porn queen…well, she wasn’t even worth her time.

But before she could evade them, or open her mouth to shout out the truth, the two women looped their arms through hers, forced her to turn her around, and led her back to the street.

The crowd parted for them as though they were royalty, and the power Delores had felt upon waking that morning diminished even further. The islanders had never, ever treated her with such respect and dignity.

Before they got all the way through the crowd, she pulled back once to look over her shoulder, hope rising in her chest that Brody had spotted her and dropped Paige like yesterday’s fling.

But he was still kissing the other woman.

As she turned away, her stomach began to burn.

No way could she allow it to end here. She needed to focus on her mission. First Lady of Serendipity Island. Madame President.

The pound cake had failed and she was all out of rat poison, which is why Matilda had probably lived despite her reputation as a pound cake pig.

She could wait for the next moonlit night, when she was sure to see Paige try to sneak from Olivia’s house over to Brody’s. A shovel to the back of the head, and all of her problems would be over.

Finally through the crowd and on the street, she saw Olivia’s car blocking the FBI’s exit. And as they stopped in the middle of the street, Matilda and Lisa surrounded her.

The old bat tsked. “Look at you.”

The porn queen clucked. “Poor thing.”

Delores followed their gaze down her dirty wedding dress that nipped tightly at her waist and exposed the new roll of fat around her stomach and hips. The anger she’d kept bottled up escaped. “It’s Paige’s fault. She should never have come back. Brody was mine. Brody is mine. Brody will be—”

But as the shocked expression on the two women’s faces filtered through her anger, she realized that she’d gone too far.

Sometimes it was better to shut up and pretend to go along with things. There would always be another day to fight the good fight.

Matilda smoothed one hand down her arm and caught her hand, then with a tight expression, took a moment to inspect Delores’s chewed to the quick fingernails. “Everything will be okay, honey.”

Lisa patted her arm. “We’ll help you lose weight and find a man of your own.”

She choked back her response. She wanted Brody and only Brody.

In the next breath, she realized that if she couldn’t have him, she didn’t want another man to complicate her life and smother her freedom.

While Matilda and Lisa continued to chatter, and make plans for diet and exercise and God knows what else, Delores tuned them out.

What she really wanted was to be First Lady of the island. Or barring that, Madame President of the Ladies Society.

She tuned back in to hear Matilda say to Lisa, “Of course, I’ll be on the road with Harry.”

Lisa stroked one hand down the flair of her hip. “And I need to get back to L.A. to start making my new movie.”

Delores rarely missed a good opportunity and she jumped into the conversation. “If you want me to leave Brody and Paige alone, then appoint me Madame President of the Ladies Society.”

Matilda exchanged a worried glance with Lisa before fixing her apologetic gaze back on Delores. “Well now, honey, you know the Mayor’s wife is always Madam President.”

She fisted her hands at her sides and leaned forward, ready to give the old bat a taste of her own attitude. But when both women gasped and stepped back, Delores realized they were frightened of her.

Even if it was only a little bit, it was
something
.

Power surged through her chest. “Change the rules. Isn’t that what you always do to suit yourself? I swear, if you don’t, I’ll make so much trouble for Paige and Brody that they’ll never be able to show their faces on the island again.”

Matilda recovered first and placed one hand on Delores’s forearm. “How about if we start with Acting Madam President and take it from there?”

All of the anger and fight went out of Delores, and she smiled up at the woman she’d always aspired to be like. “Really?”

After all, the world wasn’t conquered in a day.

EPILOGUE

One month later
…

Paige stood beside Brody, holding his hand, happy, content, free.

They’d gotten married only a few days ago. Nothing fancy. Just a few friends…which happened to include almost the whole of the islanders. While she’d missed Jeb giving her away, Gram and Lisa had stepped into the role and gladly handed her over to Brody.

Brody had become Mayor by default, and although he still wasn’t accustomed to the role, he was adjusting just fine. Everyone in town loved him, and she suspected he would have a long career guiding and shaping the future of the island.

And best of all, he had full custody of Hope.

Matilda had accepted Harry’s proposal, and in the days after the election, had withdrawn her case to win custody of her granddaughter, and instead had begun preparations for her trip to the Mainland. As she came out of the house with another armload of stuff, Harry came out of the motorhome and stopped.

With that affectionate growl that he only seemed to reserve for Matilda, he grabbed her by the shoulders, gave her a quick kiss full on the mouth, and said, “You’re driving me nuts, woman.”

“And you love it,” she responded with a sunny smile as she shoved the items into his arms, then turned back toward the house to bring more.

Harry grunted, love shining in his eyes as he stared after her. “The damn woman is packing the entire house.”

Beside her, Brody laughed. “You had your chance to escape.”

The Judge grunted again, then turned toward the motorhome. “You know I wouldn’t give her up for the world.”

And as he disappeared inside, closing the door behind him, Starr and Hope came running up to join them. They each held on to a dog leash. As a wedding present to the girls, Brody and Paige had given them each a border collie from a local pet owner, and the girls were more thrilled about the puppies than they were about the wedding.

Hope skidded to a stop in front of her dad and gave a worried look as the door slid closed. “Are we too late?”

Brody ruffled her hair. “No. Grandma is still inside packing.”

Starr nudged her step-sister. “Let’s go see if she needs help.”

And then the two girls were racing toward the front door, the puppies barking with excitement.

Paige gazed after the girls as they disappeared into the house.

Starr’s sassy attitude had vanished the moment she discovered they were setting down permanent roots. And they were attached forever…to Brody and Hope and this island. It was a good feeling to finally be home, and living next door to Gram was an added bonus. It gave Paige the opportunity to check up on her every day, while Gram still enjoyed the comfort of living in her own home.

In fact, they no longer disagreed on every little thing…although Gram was still looking for her car keys and, Paige suspected as she watched the wily old woman from across the street, her grandma was Googling how to hot wire her car just in case she never found the keys.

Delores appeared from Gram’s back yard, and stopped to speak to the older woman, and for a moment, Paige felt the trepidation of running into the woman who had schemed so brilliantly to become First Lady of Serendipity Island. But as Brody squeezed her hand, she relaxed.

Ever since election day, when Matilda and Lisa had taken Delores under their wings, she seemed like a new woman. And Paige no longer had to fear her.

In fact, it seemed to be the other way around.

Whatever the two women had said to Delores caused her to be wary of Paige. Delores, if at all possible, would cross the street to avoid Paige, which was actually kind of funny, yet sad at the same time. Things had settled down since the election, and Paige was making every effort to bridge the gap between them.

Now that she was starting over, she wanted a clean slate between them.

And it seemed to be working, she thought as Delores crossed the street, sidled up to Paige, and leaned close to her ear.

“Did you hear the good news?”

Paige smiled at her. “Tell me.”

“For the next few months, Matilda has put me in charge of the Ladies Society meetings.” She slid a glance toward the house and lowered her voice. “It’s only on a trial basis, of course, but I plan to do an outstanding job, so it’s sure to become permanent.”

Delores without a plan was lost.

“I hope you’ll allow me to become a member.”

The other woman gave her a sweet smile. “Of course. I’ll need a new secretary.”

Brody nudged her in the shoulder. “You realize that the Mayor’s wife is always President of the Ladies Society, don’t you?”

Paige turned her gaze back to Delores and smiled. “Not this Mayor’s wife.”

And Delores looked so relieved that it squeezed Paige’s heart.

Now that all of her secrets were out in the open, Paige no longer had to run and hide.

Lisa was back making films, but this time, she was behind the camera, writing, directing, and finding backers—she was an outstanding schmoozer—to pay for the movie. Even Harry and Matilda had invested in the film, mostly because Harry was a big fan, and because Matilda claimed the screenplay read less like a porn movie, and more like a quirky, sexy, indie film, and the world could never have too many of those.

Brody squeezed her hand again, drawing her attention back to his beloved face.

“What are you thinking, wife?”

“That I am the happiest person alive.”

“And I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure you remain that way.” He leaned down and kissed her. Against her mouth, he said, “I love you.”

Beside her, Delores gagged and scurried away.

Playfully, Paige walked her fingers up his shirtfront. “Do you think anyone will notice if we leave? I have the sudden urge to show my new husband just how much I love him.”

Brody's naughty grin was all the answer she needed.

THE END

Look for these books by Sheila Seabrook

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CAUGHT BETWEEN SERIES

Caught Between a Lie and True Love (Book 1)

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES

Always Remember (Book 1)

Terms of Surrender (Book 2)

STANDALONE NOVELLAS

Wedding Fever

The Valentine Grinch

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sheila Seabrook writes contemporary romance and humorous romantic women’s fiction from her home on the Canadian prairies. Her emotional stories are filled with smart, sassy heroines, hot heroes who make them laugh, and a wild assortment of family members guaranteed to try to steal the show. Needless to say, Sheila has decreed that every hero and heroine’s journey must end on a happily-ever-after note.

When Sheila’s not writing, emailing her readers, or exchanging texts with her siblings, she can be found staring out the office window watching the wildlife wander through her yard.