Read Online Her Accidental Husband by Ashlee Mallory - Free Book Online

Vaughn envisioned something else for her daughter.”
    She was silent another moment, as if trying to decide how much more of herself she wanted to share with him. He shut the laptop, letting her know she had his attention. She smiled a little wistfully. “After I graduated and returned home, I had ambition. I even took the LSAT, like Kate, and was accepted into the U’s law school. I was going to focus on environmental law, maybe be a lobbyist or something.”
    He nodded, encouraging her to continue. “What happened?”
    “Just one crisis after another, starting with my grandmother dying—a woman my mother avoided like the plague when she was alive. Her death sent her into a spiraling depression. With her incapacitated, I found myself putting off law school and stepping into her shoes for the next year, thinking it would still be waiting for me later. But I did such a great job with the functions I helped host, and they needed new blood so badly, I found it hard to untangle myself from those obligations. And I have to be honest, it was fun and liberating at first, not having to worry about the next exam or research project, staying out late and sleeping in until well past noon. I was frivolous and stupid and…”
    She stopped, considering her words. Finally she shook her head, almost in disgust and sighed. “I guess, when I put it like that, I can’t blame my mother entirely for the course my life has taken. I could have said no. But it was so much easier going along with the tide than fighting it. And then Brad came back home and I starting seeing him, which made both of our parents ecstatic, and I got wrapped up in having the perfect life with him and”—she darted a glance his way—“you can see how well that went.”
    “So what are you now, twenty-seven? Twenty-eight?”
    “Twenty-nine.” She definitely sounded disgruntled about that.
    “Twenty-nine, then. It’s not like you’re in your fifties and are just now seeing Brad for who he is and having to get back out there and reinvent yourself. You’re still young. You can still go to law school, have a career. If you wanted to.” Look at him. He’d become Payton Vaughn’s own virtual cheerleader.
    “Maybe,” she said, not sounding particularly convinced.
    “Well, what else have you got to do? Host more tea parties?” Ouch, that sounded harsher than he intended.
    She laughed, though, unfazed. “You know, it’s only been twenty-four hours since the life I thought I was going to have was ripped out from under me. Give me a little time to recover. We can’t all be ambitious business men and women trying to earn a profit equal to the gross capital of—of Chile.”
    He smiled. He couldn’t help it. “I can assure you, that is not my goal. I just want to see my family’s company reach the level of respect and profit that it’s due.”
    “Yeah. About that. As Kate and Dominic tell it, you’re obsessed with some new deal that’s going to put the company on the map. Is that what you’re working on now?”
    “Yes, and if I nail this thing, the future will definitely be looking up for Sorensen Construction.”
    “Really? Who’s the deal with?”
    He flexed his fingers, reluctant to impart the details with her of all people. At least not until it was a done deal. It seemed like bad luck, not to mention potentially humiliating if for some reason this deal didn’t happen. But she would probably find out soon, so may as well get it over with. “Dick Eastman and I have been negotiating for months on a contract to build four new car dealerships for Eastman Motors and the new Eastman shopping district down in Provo.”
    “Dick Eastman? My almost father-in-law Dick Eastman?” She visibly shuddered. “I suppose congratulations are in order. I’m sure that must be a great opportunity. Only…” She stopped, wrestling with something.
    “Only what?” Did she not think he was good enough, that Sorensen Construction was not good enough for the likes