The Arrangement [Box Set] Read Online Free PDF Page A

at the restaurant the other night?
    —He said that we’re family now.
    —And he meant it, honey. I’m his partner. I’ve been signing documents all day. You wouldn’t believe how comprehensive the partnership is. We’ve never been so secure in our lives.
    —It’s just so much, she said, indicating the house and the furniture with a wave of her arm.
    —I know it seems like a lot, but think of how hard we’ve worked for this. Do you know what I’ve gone through at the firm?
    —Of course I don’t, she said, smiling.
    Walter pinched her on the cheek affectionately.
    —Of course you don’t, and I don’t even want you worrying about things like that. Just enjoy it, darling. We’ve earned this. Believe me.
    She smiled at him. He looked so dashing in his blazer. His confidence had gone up a hundred percent since they’d told him he’d made partner and it suited him. It was true, he had worked hard for this, they both had. He’d spent years working his butt off for the firm, doing things no one else would do. Maybe it really was their time. This was their reward for all that hard work and they deserved it.
    —Come out and look at the car, Walter said.
    She followed him out to the driveway. It was a beautiful car. It even had fins.
    —It’s beautiful, honey.
    —I traded in both of our cars today. I figured you don’t need one now that we have use of the service.
    —Oh, she said. The car service? But what if I want to go for a drive?
    —Call the service. They’ll always be ready to take you out. Plus, I don’t want you coming up and down that windy forest road with the girls every day. It’s too dangerous. You shouldn’t be on a road like that by yourself.
    —Oh, she said.
    It was happening again and she was determined to keep control of her emotions. She always got like this, sabotaging her own happiness because of some hangup or other from her past. Having a car made her feel independent, in control of her life. All her life she’d been afraid of being abandoned and having a car made her feel independent. It was like, no matter what happened, she’d at least have somewhere she could take the girls and be safe. That security had just been pulled from beneath her feet and it was making her panic, but if she thought about it rationally she knew she had nothing to fear. She was in no danger of being abandoned, she told herself. And who wouldn’t want a chauffeur to drive them around?
    It was just another of her hangups that she would have to learn to control. She told herself to stop living in fear and to embrace all the great things that were happening in her life.

VIII
    I T WAS ALMOST MIDNIGHT BY the time all the new things had been unloaded from the delivery trucks and put in their final positions. At least they were in what April hoped were their final positions. She might still do a little rearranging, there were some items she really didn’t know where to place, and others that Mark had placed but which she still had doubts about. There was so much new furniture, and it was all so beautiful and expensive that she was overwhelmed by it.
    The house looked great though. It was like something out of an architecture magazine. The girls had loved their rooms and they’d even jumped into the swimming pool in their underwear when they found it on the back patio. The house was a dream come true. She was surprised at the furniture she’d picked out with Mark. Things she would never have had the confidence to buy, even if she could have afforded them, she’d picked out by the truckload with his encouragement. There was an entire room that was upholstered in real zebra skin.
    She fell into the bed next to Walter and intended to be asleep in minutes. Walter held her affectionately as soon as she got there. It seemed he’d been waiting for her to join him. She wondered if this was yet another new thing in her life she could start enjoying. The bed was brand new and it was achingly comfortable. It was the