Page 28 of Merging Wright

“What about you?” I ask, curious.

“He was never in the picture. He died before I could meet him.”

“Were you young?”

“I was twenty-three when I learned who he was. I was too late to tell him how much I despised him.”

Ouch. Although I sympathize a little with the sentiment.

“So your grandfather was your father figure?” I question.

Mach huffs. “Yeah, he wasn’t exactly father of the year or grandfather of the century. He didn’t openly embrace my mother when she returned home. Granny threatened Fischer, though, and that’s how we ended up in the Small House.”

Looking out the back of Camilla’s home, I’ve seen the structure where Myles now lives. Without stepping foot inside, it’s evident the space is no more than a decent sized, studio apartment. Camilla raising two growing boys in that tight space must have been quite a feat.

“Fischer didn’t speak to Ma for years. He ignored us as well, until one day Myles snuck into the main house and ingested some of our grandfather’s pipe tobacco. A near-death experience opens your heart a little, I guess, and Myles became a favorite. He was constantly causing trouble, but Fischer turned a blind eye. But me? I could never do anything right and was punished accordingly.”

I hate to consider what that might have meant for him as a boy.

“By the time I was a teen, I was too big for the belt. Fischer found other ways to make me suffer.”

I’d ask what he means but this discussion has turned depressing, and again, not quite wedding feast conversation. “I’m sorry that happened to you. My granddad was a good man. He was our role model after my dad disappeared. He treated Garrett like he was gold as the only boy, but he was still fair and loving toward us girls.” Granddad paid for each of us to go to college, so we didn’t have to take out student loans. He’d been a man to save all his pennies for a dream he didn’t live to have come true. He wanted to own land and move away from the factory where he’d worked his entire life. Thinking of him gave me immediate resolve to help Wrightwood. I’d hate to see a small community disappear because some big power plant wants to take over the land and use the river. My granddad would have hated that idea. I suspect Mach’s grandfather felt the same way despite any other impressions Mach has of him.

“How is it your family owns an entire town?”

Mach sighs. “It’s a long story, but the short of it is, the Wrights settled here when the Scots crossed to America. Seen that show Outlander? It’s something like that.”

I snicker. “Have you seen Outlander?”

Mach shrugs, and I laugh harder.

“Anyway, my great-great something settled here and built up a small town around the woods. Wright’s woods. Wrightwood. They lumbered or raised sheep, or something.” Mach dismisses this part of his history. “They loved the rolling hills here, reminding them of the homeland. Most towns develop on a river as a water source plus transportation. Makes sense. The land remained in the family while the businesses changed over time into what they are today. The family owns the buildings, and the shopkeepers pay rent.”

“So, if your grandfather wanted to sell off the buildings . . .”

“There are entitlement laws or something similar that restrict the land from being sold outright. I imagine that’s why Fischer left the property to the state.”

“But he doesn’t want the state to have it,” I remind Mach. “He wants his town.”

“He’s dead,” Mach snaps, a little too sharply for my liking. “And for some reason, he’s given the damn place to me.”

“Which you’re going to restore.” I tip a brow at him. “Because that’s why you married me.”

Mach pauses on his last bite of steak, staring across the table at me. “Right. And you married me for a partnership.” He slows his jaw as he chews his final piece. His reminder stings.

This is a business arrangement.

“I married you so you can save the town.”

“We . . .” Mach waves between us with his fork. “Need to do it together.”

“I’m up for the challenge.” I mean what I’ve said. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I’ll dive into saving Wrightwood. Tonight, I’m still wrapping my head around sitting opposite Machlan Wright as his wife.

16

Playlist: “Run” – Matt Nathanson ft. Sugarland

[Mach]