The Marriage Contract by Natasha Black (best novels for teenagers TXT) 📕

phone. “Yes, engaged.” A pause. “To Chloe.” Another pause. “Hold on, I’ll hand you over.” He held the phone out to me. “She wants to talk to you.”

Tentatively, I took the phone, wondering what kind of response it was going to be. There was squealing on the other end when I said hello.

“My beautiful Chloe!” Mrs. Anderson yelled into the phone. “I am so excited and happy for you both. This is a wonderful day. You have made me so happy! My little Matthew has found his wife, and I have found my last daughter!”

I grinned. As much as I was worried about what we were going to do now, and as terrible I still felt about lying to them, I was enjoying that moment. I was enjoying hearing her call me her daughter. It made me feel a little bit like I was at home. But not LA. Just home.

“Thank you, Mama,” I said. Another round of cheers surrounded me, and I smiled as tears streamed down my cheek.

21

Matt

Work was smooth sailing for the lunch rush which I was especially happy about since I was working a double. The evening shift was going to prove to be a busy one, though, since we already knew we had two bachelorette parties coming in. The idea of competing bachelorette parties was already mind-numbing, but it provided the opportunity for a few jokes between Chloe and me. How appropriate to have them there the day before we were supposed to get married? It was almost like we planned it.

Jordan had been weird all day, though. He was planning on taking the evening off until he found out about the parties coming in and decided to at least stay until midnight. Hannah was off, and while he didn’t want to be getting home really late, he also didn’t want to leave us in the lurch. I figured that was why he was being weird, but as the day progressed, it seemed less like he was upset about the coming evening and schedule change and more about something else.

I had a feeling what it was.

Sure enough, as I was prepping the evening menu dishes, specially curated to include things like cherry pie and a special on sex on the beach drink, Jordan came into the kitchen. Usually, if Hannah was off for the day, Jordan went home for the middle portion and either gave Hannah a little nap break or took a nap himself. It was always obvious when he got a nap, because his mood was much better upon arrival.

Yet, there he was, twenty minutes after the doors closed for the break and very much not asleep. He was also frowning. Frowning was Jordan’s tell. If he was frowning, it wasn’t that he was actually upset at someone or sad. It was his thinking face. Jordan could be mad as hell at you and you would never know because he kept his attitude up. Or, he could be terribly sad, and unless you knew what to look for, you’d never see it. But when he frowned, it was a dead giveaway that something was up.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Not much,” Jordan said. “I just thought I’d come in while we have some downtime and talk.”

“About Chloe?” I asked, cutting right to the chase. He grinned and looked down into the bag of chips he was eating.

“You got me.”

“What do you want to know?” I finished up on my chopping of the onions I’d need later and rinsed off the knife and board.

“Well, I mean, I just guess I want to know if this is really what you want? Do you really want to go through with this? So soon?” he asked.

“Of course I do,” I said. “I’ve never felt anything like this in my life. I thought you were excited for me?”

“I am,” Jordan protested, “for real, I am. Just, as your brother, I needed to make sure you aren’t moving too fast, you know? Plus, with as close as Chloe and Hannah are, I’m looking out for her, too.”

“I get that,” I said. “But I’m not moving too quickly. For God’s sake, Mom gave me crap every time we talked, and even you joked about how I never settled down. Now I find someone, and you all the sudden have a problem with me moving too fast?”

“I didn’t say I had a problem with it,” Jordan said. “Just that I worry about you. You’re my brother, Matt. My little brother. It’s my job to keep an eye on you and protect you as best I can.”

“I know,” I said, moving back to the butcher’s block and pulling out the chicken breasts I needed to cut up for the night’s chicken strip dishes. “I know it’s fast. We just met and everything. I know all that. But we clicked, Jordan. And when you know, you know, right? Mom and Dad got married after knowing each other for two weeks, and they were together until Dad died. Remember?”

“That’s true,” Jordan said. “Look, I just want you to be happy. If that’s how you feel, then I’m happy, too. Happy for you and happy for our family.”

“Good,” I said.

“So.” He opened the small fridge that had our designated drinks and pulled out a couple of beers. He brought one to me and sat it down, popping the top with his keychain bottle opener. “When do you think you’re going to have the wedding? Or is it too early to start planning yet?”

“It’s not too early to plan,” I said, grinning, “since we’re just going down to the courthouse.”

“Oh,” Jordan said, a bit taken aback. “You’re not going to have a wedding?”

“No,” I said flatly. He looked surprised, which I figured would happen. Jordan was always a little more dramatic than I was, so avoiding the spotlight like that would seem weird to him.

“No?”

“No. Look, it’s not that important to me. And for Chloe, she would only have Hannah on her side. Her parents want