The Arrangement

By Yvonne Sibanda

All that Margaret Fletcher wants, is to pursue her dream before she settles down. Her family has other ideas; hence she thwarts them at every turn.
Garret Henderson is tired of the disastrous blind dates he has gone through in order to find the elusive wife fit for a junior pastor. A disastrous date with Margaret Fletcher has him contemplating a little arrangement that might benefit the both of them. Unlike the other ladies he has met, Margaret has one ace above them, she is totally not interested in him.
Find out what happens when the lines between fake and real blur as Garret and Marg find themselves contemplating what they have been dreading all along. With crazy families and friends like theirs, what's to stop them from being further confused?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yvonne Sibanda
• Release date: Dec 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215662618

Yvonne Sibanda

Yvonne Sibanda loves a good story with a happy ending. Born and bred in a small mining town of Hwange, Yvonne derives her inspiration to write from her family and friends around her. She believes that each and everyone of us is affected by the issues of the heart and therefore brings them out in her writing. To everything that has love in it, she's a softie, be it an emotional scene of a movie or novel, as she sheds a tear or two.

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The Arrangement

By Yvonne Sibanda

Copyright © 2023 by Yvonne Sibanda

Cover image by Kimberly Fowler [unsplash.com]

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems - except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews without permission in writing from the author, Yvonne Sibanda. This book is a work of fiction.

The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental and not intended by the author. All scripture reference has been taken from the message bible app.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Epilogue

Author’s note

Books by Author

About Author

CHAPTER 1

Harmony, 2009

One glance at him is all it took for Margaret Fletcher to instantly dislike him. Whatever confidence she had felt on her way to the restaurant plummeted down to her heeled toes as her supposedly blind date turned out to be everything that she hadn't anticipated.

Perfect.

Garret Henderson took off his dark tinted glasses, looked around him before his eyes zeroed in on her at the same time managing to knock her breath away. Oh-my-word is what she felt like hollering at the top of her lungs since for a brief second, Margaret felt like she was impaled to the wall by that intense gaze, which managed to strip her of every sense of pretense she’d put up.

She gulped down a few quick breaths, her modest dress proving to not be that under his unwavering gaze as Margaret wiped her sweaty palms on the side and reached out with unsteady hands to the glass on the table.

Oh brother, this is a mess, she desperately thought in a daze while she tried to hoist back her emotions that had suddenly run rampant like wild horses on the loose. She took a sip of the water. Her throat had suddenly gotten dry, and the water wasn’t doing anything to wet it up again. If only she could have something strong to drink, maybe then might she be able to go through this blind date without a hitch.

Catherine Gooding, her best friend, hadn’t been lying when she had babbled about Garret’s handsome face and broad physique, after she informed her that she would be meeting him for a blind date. In fact, what Cathy did was to downplay the good looks by modestly stating that the Henderson men were never a bunch that could be easily missed. The shocked shrill of Catherine’s voice before she feigned modesty, should have warned Marg of what she was up against.

A tall glass of wine, to make her forget the reason why she was there in the first place. She stared in dismay at the self-assured young man walking towards her, the anticipation of meeting a mouse of a man, meek and very much scared to death with his own shadow, suddenly flying out of the window like it hadn’t been there before.

She had had it all planned out on how she was going to act up her little drama as usual while the man would watch her with horror filled eyes and flee without a backward glance.

Here she was now left in a lurch, because this man, coming to meet her, was probably made of sterner stuff and wouldn’t bat an eyelid like she had imagined. What if he settled for her? Was the panicked thought that drifted through her mind as she envisioned being relegated to the awkward position her mother was always in?

Her mom was never herself, but always pandering to her dad's whims, while he on the other hand thought himself to be God's gift to women. By the way, who ever heard of a handsome man being faithful to one woman? Well, she hadn't. Even in the bible, men lauded for their good looks didn't stick to one woman, except for a few like Isaac who apparently could be termed the exception, since duh, Isaac didn’t appear to be bothered about relationships and at the freaking age of forty, got a servant ordered bride. Then there was Joseph, the point in all this being, such men were rare to find in the olden days, what more in their generation were morals had taken a nosedive for the worst?

Argh, her mind and head already hurt like hell from all the thinking she was doing, and Garret bloody Henderson was still to reach her table.

How long by the way did it take for a person to reach her table? Time suddenly slowed down to the point she was now imagining being in one of those favorite k-dramas of hers, where she took in every little detail about the hero and how a halo would glow over his body before he grinned and revealed one sparkly tooth.

Get it together Marg, be strong, she muttered beneath her breath. He might have been an impressive male specimen but she still was the same person who a while ago was averse to the thought of getting married! This blind date was merely a formality on her part. Something considered as, ‘the reasonable thing to do,’ when a parent sweetly asked.

At this moment though, she would have given anything to hear her father’s bellow at the top of his lungs, demanding she made this date worthwhile, than her sweet moms coaxing voice, which had made her give in to the blind date. Now she was trapped and her mom’s sweetness bane to all this.

Whilst she wouldn’t have had qualms in walking away if it had been her father who had ordered her to meet up with Garret Henderson, because her sweet mom had asked instead, if she were to walk away without giving this a shot, an all-consuming guilt was bound to follow her for the rest of her life. Scary, right?

Get it together Marg; she mumbled again, taking in the lean thighs snuggly encased in the navy-blue tailored pants, the broad shoulders in the black shirt with three top open buttons and a navy-blue jacket which further enhanced the broadness of the shoulders. A man at ease in his own skin is what he exuded.

Furiously flapping her face, she thought, I’m hyperventilating and I’m about to pass out. The notion of cradling her head between her thighs was absurd since it would make her look more stupid.

Briefly shutting her eyes in the hopes that Garret Henderson would disappear, instead his piercing gaze was felt on her skin, and the errant hairs on the nape of her neck managed to rise in awareness of his presence. She could swear if she were to look at her arms at that particular moment, they would be having goose bumps.

She slowly opened her eyes and met those dark piercing ones.

Come to think of it, why was she the one meant to elevate her mother's status in her life? She didn't ask to be brought into this world. Forget about her mother’s furiously flung words at the family gathering, she just wasn't her, no matter how hard her mother tried to turn her into a miniaturized version of herself. She watched in apprehension, as Garret sauntered to her and Margaret smiled, her jaw aching from the action.

Hi, are you Margaret Fletcher, I’m Garret Henderson, Garret introduced in a deep voice, more on the husky side like a person who smoked and stretched out his hand to her.

Really even his voice has to be sexy. Margaret nearly grasped at the little opportunity offered and answered, I’m sorry you’ve made a mistake, I’m Catherine Gooding, then walked out of that restaurant like her pants were on fire.

Garret was still staring at her with a questioning raised brow and besides—she wasn't that cruel hence found herself replying instead in a soft voice, Yes I am—hi, nice to meet you, Garret. Her voice was slightly shaky but a great improvement from the strident panicked one in her mind. Shaking his hand, she took a quick glance at her watch. Thirty seconds is all that had passed while she had felt like he took an eternity to get to her table.

She settled back on the chair after, cringing in mortification over what Garret was probably looking at, when he stared at her with those dark piercing eyes. It was certainly not a beautiful swan that he saw and she knew that for a fact. While he might have brought in his ‘A’ game to their date, she’d thrown in her childish tantrum by dressing like a witch minus the wart on her nose, and probably her make up at this point was beginning to melt and run down her face like the zombie apocalypse, all courtesy of the Harmony daylight heat and cold nights. Their towns’ weather could be temperamental like a hormonal woman.

Shall we order? Garret asked her and Marg quickly nodded her head, wanting to get this over with before she further made a fool of herself.

After their food was delivered to their table, Margaret toyed with it at a loss of what to say. Honeys was known to be the best when it came to the authentic, mouthwatering dishes that always managed to melt on the palette like butter, and derive unsolicited groans and moans from the diners.

At this particular moment instead of gobbling it up like she would, all restraint put aside, Marg didn't, but continued to toy with it like a three year old being forced to finish her greens. Her fork chased around the buttery green beans and poked holes into the creamed mashed potatoes while her mind ran in circles.

It was said, the rustic themed restaurant belonged to a young man barely in his mid-twenties and as to be expected of the rich, this was his baby on the side. Lucky, lucky him. Not that she was in any way a fan of the town gossip mill, the little tit bit of news was just something that accidentally drifted into her ears when she was getting her hair done at the salon. She’d also pressed down her curiosity by resisting the urge to ask about the young man's identity. It’s not like her having that kind of information would change anything about her pathetic lot in life. They were worlds apart.

Marg remained stiff, her back ramrod straight while she wished Garret would say something to chip the iceberg in their midst. Silence is what assailed their table as he continued to gladly have his meal and throw some long side glances to her face. No need for him to frown, she already knew that she was a mess.

I give up, I can’t take this anymore, the silence, the long side glances, her mind screamed, and then she placed the fork and knife into the plate. If he wasn’t going to be the bad guy in all this, then it was up to her to end this little charade. Clearing her throat, she softly said to him. Garret, it’s been nice meeting you. Our families are well meaning but I don’t think we’ll work. Just inform your parents that I’m not the right girl for you.

With bated breath after the announcement, she watched Garret take his time as he painstakingly and with deliberate ease, took the napkin on the side then wiped his hands and those infuriating eyes she had come to hate in an instant, lifted and looked straight at her.

***

Garret Henderson finally raised a brow at the lady seated across from him. Interesting indeed, he thought while he studied Margaret Fletcher precariously perched at the edge of the chair. She seemed like one who might either bolt if he said something, or fall in a faint. This was the first time when a woman had reacted in this manner after meeting him and for some reason; he was enjoying seeing her squirm.

Bravo pastor Garret, it’s official, you’re now a nutcase, he mused over the knowledge and took a sip of water while he studied her.

He wouldn’t have come if he had a say in this matter. Especially after the dates his mom was subjecting him to, which always ended with him making a fast trot to the door? He’d discovered the notion that women were the gentle and fairer sex questionable, as the ones he had met so far turned out to be aggressive beings that would do whatever it took to get the coveted title of being called Mrs. Henderson.

It was still a miracle that so far his clothes had remained on his back, despite what he had to endure in his search for the perfect bride. The brush and groping of the boobs, graze of a woman’s leg over his thighs under the table, the coy knowing glances like they expected any moment for him to kneel down and pop the question and not to forget the almost strip tease.

He had been abused beyond measure and he was beginning to despair when it came to the womenfolk in whether they were any decent ladies left. When he’d almost given up on the search, here she was, except she appeared to not be in the mood of being courted. Her garish powdered caked face, orange lipstick and tent-like dress warned him off than words could, to stay away if he knew what was good for him. Her fake drawn brows, looked like two whiskers in flight, giving her a feline expression.

Unfortunately, if Margaret Fletcher intended to deter him by that entire gunk on her face, she had another thing coming to her, because he wasn't convinced and from his assessment, she was nearly perfect.

Out of curiosity he asked her, Why do you think this will not work?

Margaret’s eyes widened at his question like she hadn’t expected it before she answered, I was given the impression that I’ll be meeting a junior pastor, not this.

What do you mean not this? I’m a junior pastor. Furrowing his brow, he crossed his arms over his broad chest and wondered if Margaret Fletcher was one of those who figured a junior pastor was meant to look humble—implying impoverishment.

He studied her every movement as he waited for her reply, while she continued to chew her orange glossed bottom lip, and then tentatively said, It’s just that—.

I get it, Garret said, cutting her off with the dismissive wave of his hand. You assumed that you would meet a shabbily dressed man who’s not in touch with the world. Am I to understand that I’m being judged because of the way I look?

He smothered a laugh when she pulled a face that could have been likened to her speaking audibly and saying, dude, you speak about shabbiness, did you actually take a second glance at me. I’m a zombie and you look like you have a fetish for those. Gosh, he was failing to keep a straight face. Thanks to having spoken to her aunt before their little date, she’d been more than willing to voice out that her niece would surely botch the date up, hence he was better prepared in meeting the monstrous woman she was pretending to be, than she was of him, who intended to make it not easy for her to escape.

No, it’s not that.

What is it then Margaret?

Margaret sharply inhaled over the unforgiving tone. Was he angry with her? Snapping her head up, a bit ruffled over the tone, she looked him squarely in the eyes. Yep, the man seated across from her was frowning like a city under siege and if she guessed right, the fortress would be hard to breach. With such confidence, it was more likely that if she continued to talk, she would end up the sore loser in this case.

He was correct on one fact too; she had judged him and immeasurably to her heart’s content. He was arrogant, a ladies’ man and not to forget a guy who had grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth. How in hell had her aunt pulled such a feat and found this guy?

Pastor Gee... her voice squeaked with insincerity and she nearly stopped talking from the narrowed gaze she received from him. It’s not about you but it’s about me. I want a man who will be faithful and loyal to the vows that he makes. Her voice had lowered slightly as she continued to throw that barb to the point it was inaudible, nevertheless Garret heard her clearly and asked, And you think I’ll not be that to you?

Marg bit her tongue and whimpered at the disbelief in his voice. She knew that was uncalled for, yet desperation at this point and time is what usually controlled her tongue, making her dig a huge comfy grave without thinking she would fail to come out of it once she jumped in.

Garret Henderson was surely a tough nut to crack, seeing he hadn't walked away from her after that little barb. Guns blazing, she desperately said, You can have any girl you want—and of your class, why me? she added with a pout of her lips and Garret nearly laughed at her anxious expression.

Look lady, don’t get your pants in a twist, that’s what he would have said, but Garret seeing that frantic look, scratched his chin, his mind working fast. Everything Margaret was doing, instead of putting him off, appeared to be having the opposite effect. He was intrigued. He thought back to what his mother had informed him about her, since she was now in social class status mode.

Margaret was Aaron Fletcher's daughter from his third marriage. Everyone knew Fletcher because of his musically talented sons, who started making hits in the entertainment industry from the age of six, reminding Garret of the Jackson five, except they were two. An interview was done pertaining to the twins’ lives and family, in counting, their father now had five wives.

His mother suggested Marg after he told her in no uncertain terms that he was done with her blind dates. She promptly pulled out the name from that handy diary of hers, which he suspected also, included a list of ladies for his younger brother Gregory, then the pen biting began. Umm I think you should meet her aunt first before you go on a date with her. Garret raised a brow and asked, What is wrong with her? She flagged her arms in exasperation. Margaret is a bit childish… Scratching her hair with a pen, she went on to say. My son you are unbelievable, thirteen good girls and you fail to pick just one. I never thought I would have to include her on the list.

Why not? I thought you liked every girl considering you have been quick to point out that I’m the choosy one in all this. Besides, being childish isn’t a big deal, at least she won’t paw at me like the daughters of the church you’ve sent my way so far. His mom gave him a wounded look after his statement and looked away. A first, and very telling indeed. This Margaret was worth the date.

Set the date with her, he advised then he watched her reluctantly call the aunt, before she sighed and groaned like that was the most dreadful two minute call she has ever been forced to make. Now looking at Marg, he realized the extent his blind date would go to, in order to put a stop to this madness, his mother and her aunt having not exaggerated it in any way.

His mind was made up then, and now it was time to put his idea across to her. Carefully choosing his words, assessing Margaret with his brooding eyes at the same time, Garret said, one month.

Margaret snapped her head up and her eyes widened at him in suspicion. A shadow of a smile flitted through on his lips. Marg frowned and asked, One month of what?

You can call this our little arrangement. Date me for a month. Pretend you are dating me, but he wasn’t going to say that out loud, not yet. They would have to be on the same page before he blurted out his parent proof idea in full.

Why would you suggest that? As you must be aware by now, I don’t like you.

Garret laughed at her classic expressions. She really did think the gunk on her face should have put him off. What else would she do if her acting failed? He wondered and replied to her question, The fact that you don't like me Marg is the reason why I think you are perfect? Just one month in which I’ll prove to you how wrong you are about me and that I’m not like any man you know. He grinned when Marg snorted in an unladylike manner at his declaration and the challenge he'd thrown her way.

Marg stared at him with a frown; Garret Henderson had just confirmed her first assumption of him. He was a proud man who, like her father, thought he could have any woman he wanted by just the snap of his fingers.

Well tough luck for him because she wasn’t that easy. While every lady she knew might simper at the prospect of being in his company and getting to know him on a deeper level, horror and dread was what she felt.

Why do you want to change my opinion on that? What's in it for you? she asked not hiding the look of suspicion on her face then watched a crooked smile appear on his handsome face that managed to set her heart aflutter. The pounding organ that had been acting up crazily in her chest and on its own accord since the first moment he entered through the door to the restaurant.

This will be beneficial to both of us. You will get the front row seat of being in the company of a gentleman. Marg scoffed. And maybe, my getting to know you better might prove me wrong over my first impression of you.

What do you mean?

In that you are very judgmental and think the worst of people, he answered with a dismissive shrug of his shoulders. Her jaw dropped.

CHAPTER 2

My little munchkin you are back, Beulah excitedly said before she got into Margaret’s room and hugged her. A gust of the flowery perfume she usually wore entered along with her.

How was your date with Pastor Garret Henderson?

A disaster, Marg thought of replying but kept quiet and resumed with her book instead. Beulah as usual was dressed in one of those skimpy outfits that said, baby let’s have a little bit of fun. Marg frowned at the get up which clearly signaled her dad’s weekly visit to their suit.

Your aunt said you will get along well. My darling girl is to be the pastor’s wife and will be tied to the most influential family of all. I can't wait to see Dorothy and the rest of the women die of envy.

Great, just great. Her mother was only doing this so she’d be one point above the rest of the co-wives and not for her daughter’s benefit. Margaret was still smarting from Garret having pegged her as a judgmental person, quick to entertain the worst of the worst thoughts about people. He hadn’t put it that way, but she got the point loud and clear. Who was he anyway to say that about her? He was the snob not her, as he haughtily looked at people beneath those dark browed eyes and aristocratic nose, while she on the other hand was kind, considerate and sweet to the brim. If she hadn’t been all those things she would have forgone the blind date and pretended to be sick instead.

Was her mother sure about him being a pastor? Nowadays people saw a couple of visions and preached a bit then claimed to be pastors on a whim. Speculatively looking at her mother. Mom is Garret truly a pastor?

"What a