Mated To The Wrong Alpha
Chapter 18

Her thoughts skidded to a halt. Where had that come from? Of course she still cared for Seth! Didn’t she? Yes, but…it wasn’t in the same way as she cared for Arthur. Seth was…well…a dear friend, someone she’d known her whole life.

Hmm… Could that be how Arthur felt about Marla? Perhaps she should just ask him.

She played the scene out in her head. ‘Arthur, what exactly is your relationship with Marla?’ He’d answer that they were simply friends and then she’d feel much better. She gave a satisfied nod and started to make the bed.

‘But,’ a nasty little voice asked, ‘what if he says they used to be more than friends?’ She paused, the pillow clutched to her chest. What would she do then?

Well, she’d straighten her shoulders and ask if it was definitely in the past. He’d say it was all over, and that would solve the problem. She fluffed the pillow and then dealt with its twin.

The nasty voice returned. ‘How will you know if he’s telling the truth? What man is going to admit to his mate that he’s having an affair with someone else?’

Growling in frustration, she pulled up the bedspread with more vigour than strictly needed. This was getting her nowhere. She needed to tell Arthur her side of the story. How Marla had insinuated that she knew Arthur intimately and that she, Ava, wouldn’t be able to handle him. Oh, that would be a fun conversation! Her face burned in anticipated embarrassment as she pictured that talk going in all sorts of uncomfortable directions.

By the time Arthur exited the bathroom, she was still trying to sort things out. His hair was slicked to his head and little drops of water decorated his back where the towel hadn’t reached. She decided to start a conversation about Marla and see where it went. As he walked past her to the closet, he pressed a quick k**s to her forehead. “I’m done in the bathroom, if you want to use it.”

Nodding, she took a deep breath. Arthur was a good man. He wouldn’t be cheating on her, even if he had, at one time, harboured feelings for Marla. Gathering her resolve, she decided to explain her side of what happened. Then Arthur would understand why she didn’t want to spend time with Marla and he’d realize that the woman had twisted everything around to her own advantage.

“Arthur?”

“Hmm?” His voice drifted out of the closet, where he was gathering a shirt and pants.

“I wanted to explain to you—” The phone rang, interrupting her.

Arthur tossed a smile her way, raised a finger to indicate she should wait a minute, and answered the phone. “Arthur here … Yes? … Uh, huh … I see … Well, if you feel that’s necessary … All right … I’ll meet you there in about half an hour … Right, I’ll see you then.” He hung up and stood pinching the bridge of his nose, stress radiating from his very pores.

“Arthur? What’s wrong?” She stepped closer and laid her hand on his arm.

“What?” He looked at her as if he’d forgotten she was even there. “Oh, that was the lab that tested our water after the oil spill. They want to take another sample and also do testing on the surrounding soil for possible contaminants. If it leached very deep into the ground, we’ll have to do a major clean up that would involve digging down deep enough until we reach ‘clean’ dirt, removing all the contaminated soil and taking it to a toxic waste facility, then replacing the soil and plants… It would be a massive undertaking and extremely costly, not to mention having people traipsing all over our land.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “This is not the news I wanted to hear this morning.” He sighed heavily before looking over at her. “You wanted to tell me something?”

“Uh—nothing important.” Her problem with Marla was insignificant in comparison to what Arthur already had on his plate. She squeezed his arm and kissed his shoulder. “I’ll just go take a shower. I hope your day doesn’t go too badly.”

“Thanks. And thanks for helping out with Marla, too. I really do appreciate it.”