Read Online My Estranged Lover (Middlemarch Shifters Book 5) by Shelley Munro - Free Book Online Page B

need privacy?”
    “I promised to make a new dress.” Caroline chose to lie rather than tell her mother-in-law of the prospective job. “Ricky can’t sit still this week.” She stopped talking and glanced at her watch. “I must go.”
    “Wait. I need you to cook a cake for me to take to a party. You’re so much better at it than me.”
    “I’m sorry, but I’m too busy to bake today.”
    “Why?”
    “I’m going out for the day.”
    Dawn frowned. “Where are you going? You don’t have friends.”
    Bitch . Caroline bit back another retort, one that might be taken as rude. She refused to stoop to the levels of her mother-in-law. “I’m sorry, Dawn.” And she turned and walked inside their house, shutting the door behind her.
    Two steps toward the kitchen, her door flew open. “If you’re going shopping, who is looking after the children?”
    “Marsh.”
    “Marsh will be working. He can’t look after children.”
    “Marsh said he could. Is that all? I need to get moving.” Without waiting for a reply, Caroline turned and strode to the kitchen. It felt as if Dawn glared holes in her back, and she was glad when she heard the retreat of her mother-in-law’s footsteps, then the thump of the door closing.
    She glanced at the clock to check the time. Two minutes to the hour. Good enough. She wiped her palms again and reached for the phone.

Chapter Five
    “You ungrateful brat.”
    Marsh stared at his father and wondered if he should try to apologize again for the teenage mistake that had broken their family. His hand rose to rub at the ache of regret pressuring his chest. They’d never been close, and after the accident… He missed Angus too, mourned his loss, had cried like a baby in private to avoid his father’s scoffing. He’d loved his older brother, worshiped him, but now he had to move on with his life. Concentrate on his family, his responsibilities.
    He forced himself to speak, to hasten this confrontation when he’d rather escape to the peacefulness of the land. “Dad, half the time you don’t pay me. You owe me wages from months ago, and you expect me to work long hours. I have to beg for time off. Caroline and I can’t keep living this way.”
    “You’ve allowed that mealy-mouthed human to sway your good sense,” his father spat. “I told you no good would come from this union.”
    “You did,” Marsh said. “I didn’t listen then, and I won’t now. Caroline and I are leaving Middlemarch.”
    Charles laughed, bitterness leaching the sound of humor. “Where will you go? No one will hire you. I won’t give you a reference.”
    “That is why we’re leaving,” Marsh said. “Goodbye, Dad. Do you want us to stop by before we leave so you can say goodbye to James and Ricky?”
    “Don’t bother,” Charles roared, his feline rushing to the surface.
    Marsh stood his ground, meeting his father’s fury without flinching. “I’ve made my decision.”
    “Who will work the farm?”
    “Hire someone. Dad, I need my wages. Can you give me cash today?”
    Charles snorted, his face contorting into mean and ugly. “You have got to be kidding me. If you’re running out on me, you’re not getting a cent.”
    “I’ve earned those wages.”
    “You let someone steal a hundred head of cattle. That was your wages.”
    Marsh studied his father for long seconds. There was no softening in his expression, no compassion. “Goodbye Dad. Have a nice life.”
    * * * * *
    Dawn’s left hand gripped her phone. “Valerie, I thought the council might help us. Marsh is leaving and taking the boys with him.” She paced the length of her designer kitchen. “Of course he’s taking the human with him. This is where the problem started. If he’d kept his pants zipped…”
    “Your son is an adult,” Valerie said. “We can’t force him to do anything.”
    “I thought you’d talk sense into him. We didn’t want him to leave.”
    Valerie remained silent for a time, then her heavy exhalation echoed