CHAPTER ONE

 

Allegra

 

“He wants a damned prenup,” I say when Rosa asks: ‘So what’s got you so worked up today?’

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It’s a reasonable question, especially since we’re currently reclining in adjoining tubs enjoying the mud bath portion of our every-other-monthly Sisters Spa Day. It’s pretty hard to maintain the level of tension I’m currently vibrating at when you’re buried up to your neck in hot, smelly mud, but I’m managing it nicely.

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My sisters remove the cool, scented cloths that cover their eyes and turn their heads to stare at me, their movements as precisely coordinated as a synchronized swim team.

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Rosa frowns. “Clay does?” And I have to rein in the instinctive snarkitude that’s urging me to respond with, ‘no, the other guy I’m marrying.’ My sister is a much better person than I am, but that would be too good an opening for even her to resist.

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“Yes,” I say instead. “Can you believe it?”

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“No.” Bee, my other sister, shakes her head. “I can’t. It seems totally out of character for him.” 

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“It does seem surprisingly insensitive,” Rosa agrees. “He should have known you’d be triggered by anything that might suggest he’s marrying you for your money.”

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“Not that we’re saying he is,” Bee adds hurriedly. “But we can understand how you might feel like that. It’s odd that he doesn’t.”

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“Oh, he understands, all right,” I say bitterly. “That’s why he’s trying to get me to agree that he’s not entitled to receive anything if we divorce.”

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My sisters blink owlishly at me for a moment. Then, “But you just said—” Rosa begins.

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“He’s asking for a prenup to protect you from him?” Bee asks.

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I nod unhappily. “I told him I thought a sheriff’s deputy should have more respect for California’s community property laws, but he says he doesn’t care.”