The Cherished Wife

Noelle's candidness took Sean aback. "Wow, Noelle. You're really..."

"What?" Noelle looked up at him, curiosity in her gaze. Sean's eyes sparkled for a moment before he broke into a grin. "Nothing. Just admiring how thoughtful and sensible you are!" Noelle let out a light laugh. "I just didn't want to burden him. He shouldn't have to deal with this stuff in the first place."

Noelle knew all too well the kind of people her family was. If they got their hooks into her relationship with Charles, things would get messy, which was the last thing she wanted.

Sean shrugged, letting the subject drop. "So, where do you feel like eating?" With Charles out of the picture, he felt it was his duty to look after Noelle's every need. He could not have Charles coming back to find his girl hungry. That would be tough to explain, especially since he and Peter already felt like they were in Charles's shadow thanks to some old history.

Noelle was clueless about the little secrets Sean was keeping to himself. She was more concerned about the Hoffman family's urgent summons for Charles, which surely meant something big was up. As Charles's wife, she could not take on his worries, but she was determined not to add to them.

"What's on the menu for tonight?"

a second. "I'm still dreaming about that dinner you

hinting that you want me to cook? I am up for it. What about Peter, though? He's here too,

Peter's voice cut in out of nowhere, giving Noelle a bit of a

glanced around, puzzled. "How did Peter

held up a walkie-talkie. "Oops, looks like I forgot to switch it

playful laugh. "You don't

at all. So,

for it. But the three of us hanging out together is a bit of

quickly and chuckled. "If you don't mind, I could invite a couple of friends. You already know

Noelle. Had it been up t him, he probably