Page 82 of My Husband Problem

Declan is a completely different story. He does not have to care for me. It would make sense that he didn’t. He’s been forced into all of this. He could be with literally any other woman in the world. And it certainly hasn’t been reciprocal. I’ve been a brat since day one. I’ve been pushing him away. I’ve been literally trying to get him to divorce me.

Yet here he is taking care of me almost as if it’s an instinct.

“Well, I guess I’m not going home for a little bit,” I say.

It seems he wants to surprise me with this. Which is…cute?

That is definitely not a word I would’ve expected to use to describe Declan.

But I can’t deny that I feel a little bit warm and fuzzy even as he’s tearing my house apart without permission.

“Great,” Nora says, relieved. “So want to help with Gardening Club?”

I shrug. “Sure. Why not?” I’m still not a gardening girl, but I have, literally, nothing else to do.

We gather supplies for the Gardening Club into Nora’s little wagon and head for the park at the center of town.

“We are doing some stuff down by the stream,” Nora says. “Everly is leading things today, so I’m not sure what all she has planned.”

Like all of Nora’s clubs, it’s a gathering of whoever wants to show up and somehow benefits the town. Honestly, Nora is amazing at her job.

We pull up to the spot and find one person waiting.

Janice Tobin looks up from the book she’s reading on the bench near the stream. “Morning.”

“Morning,” Nora greets. “Have you seen anyone else?”

“Not yet. But I might be here at the wrong time. I get things mixed up easily.”

I smile at that. Janice has a touch of dementia, but she knows it, and she knows that everyone else knows it and looks out forher. It’s really kind of sweet. She just goes about her business trusting that the people around her will take care of her.

Nora looks around. “Nope, you’re right on time,” she tells Janice. “In fact, I’m surprised no one else is here. I expected to have a little crowd by now.”

Nora’s phone dings with a text, and I find myself hoping that Alex is sending more photos from the construction project at my house. Of course, I hope the photos include Declan, but the chances that the guys are doing a photo shoot of my husband are probably slim.

Then again, it’s possible everyone there finds Declan O’Grady in a T-shirt, doing manual labor, intriguing, though I’m sure for a different reason than I do.

Nora reads the text with a frown. “Well, looks like we lost Everly and Quinn too.” She looks up at me. “Hope you want new landscaping at your house too.”

Everly Levette, one of Nora’s best friends and one of the women who has welcomed me into their circle, owns the local landscaping business, and Quinn, my hockey player, works for her. They do all of the landscaping for the city as well as private jobs.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“They’re over at your house with everyone else. Last minute, emergency, very well-paying job.”

Gee, I wonder who’s paying so well. I roll my eyes. “My yard isn’tthatbad.”

Sutton and Nora don’t say anything.

I widen my eyes. “Is it?”

“Well…” Nora says. “It’s just a little…” She glances at Sutton, clearly wanting help.

“Unkempt,” Sutton offers.

“I don’t know what they’re doing there,” Nora says quickly. “Maybe they’re just trimming things up. Or planting something new.”

I sigh. “Sure.”