To Love and to Cherish by Gina Robinson Read Free Book Online Page B

take the girl out of the dog.
    I cursed to myself.
    "What?" Dex asked.
    I handed him the phone. "How did she get my dog back? Ophie took her to a dog sitter. We have to hurry."
    Dex broke out laughing.

Chapter Five
    K ayla
    On Monday, Magda and the part-time maid came in to do a thorough post-birthday party cleaning. Ophie's fake email supposedly from Britt had gone viral and was all over social media and the gossip news. Even Sunshine Sheri covered it in her typically sensational way—"New bride Kayla Green's marriage has been ill-conceived since the beginning, and so is her child! Our anonymous source, a close insider of Justin's inner circle—"
    Ophie, again. Wreaking havoc and in a tempest after I snatched my dog back from her. Oh, and threw up on her. She was probably peeved about that, too. Huh.
    "—says that the passion cooled quickly after the impromptu marriage. Realizing she was going to lose Justin, Kayla connived to get pregnant as soon as possible so she could hang on to his money. Sources say that although there was no prenup, the assets Justin came into the marriage with, i.e. the majority of them, are untouchable as long as he hasn't comingled them with Kayla's. Our source says he's been careful to not do exactly that, and, as her marriage has crumbled and she's developed an eye for Lazer Grayson, Kayla has been desperate to find a way to attach herself to Justin's fortune—"
    After feeling betrayed by her, Magda had given up watching Sunshine Sheri. But I was a glutton for punishment. Or in this case, a glutton for keeping my finger on the pulse of the gossip. Especially after I'd gotten no response from Jus from my text of Data and me reunited. Did he know what trouble Ophie was causing? Did he care? Or did he still believe the hype?
    I was engrossed in the show, my blood pressure going off the charts, I was sure, when Magda came tiptoeing into the room, uncharacteristically tentative.
    "Mrs. Justin?"
    Magda was old-fashioned. Since Jus had gone, she called me Mrs. Justin exclusively. To her, Mrs. Kayla would mean I was either a widow or a divorcee. And she was still somehow steadfastly refusing to put me into the divorcee category, even though it looked like that was the direction I was heading. At a frighteningly fast pace.
    "Yes?" I snapped the TV off out of respect for her.
    Magda hesitated, finally coming toward me with her palm outstretched. "Are you missing this? Is this one of your medications? Is it important?"
    When she reached me, I looked into her hand and came face to pill with one of my birth control pills. I paled. And went ice cold to the pit of my stomach. Since finding out I was pregnant, I hadn't taken any of my pills. Where had this one come from?
    I took it from her tentatively and studied it. "This is one of my birth control pills. Where did you find it?" I couldn't keep from sounding stunned. Surely she wouldn't have been rifling through my stuff.
    "It fell out of your little wicker toiletry basket, the one you keep on the bathroom counter by the sink. Veronica found it. When she moved the basket, it fell out." Magda's voice was neutral, but she was studying me intently.
    "So that's where it went," I whispered, sudden realization dawning. "Mystery solved!"
    On impulse, I jumped up and hugged her. "You found it! You did it! So that's why I got pregnant." I squeezed her until I realized I was being inappropriate and let her go.
    I punched the air in victory. "I wondered what had happened. Why I got pregnant when I took my pill faithfully."
    Her brow knitted.
    I laughed. "I was hung—I was taking some pain medication for a headache at the same time I took my pill. I was still half asleep when I popped them in my mouth. I thought I heard one drop. But when I looked around, I couldn't find it. So I shrugged it off and chalked it up to my imagination. It must have fallen and lodged in the basket!"
    She was still staring at me suspiciously.
    "Oh, come, Magda!" I said. "You don't believe