Ruinous Love Trilogy, #2
Leather & Lark
by Brynne Weaver
Contents
Chapter Eight: Friction
Overview
Lachlan visits Lark’s workshop to plan their cover marriage, agreeing to face her family first and then Leander Mayes for business terms. An elevator failure triggers Lark’s severe panic, revealing hidden trauma and distance between them. Lachlan repairs the lift, but Lark withdraws, later singing a haunting sequence of numbers alone at night.
Summary
Lachlan finds Lark in her workshop sanding a resin coffee table while her Akita, Bentley, stands guard. They trade barbs before focusing on their plan: meet Lark’s family at Sunday brunch and then meet Lachlan’s boss, Leander Mayes, who will likely demand financial assurances. Lark agrees to sign whatever paperwork is needed.
Lark abruptly fixates on placing a black glitter star on the table and sends Lachlan upstairs for a star-shaped cake tin. He notes her hidden orderliness before returning; she pours and cures the star in resin. Their talk brushes music and Lachlan’s leather work, but he withholds connection, and Lark seems disappointed.
They move the table via the old freight elevator. Despite insisting she isn’t afraid, Lark is uneasy. The lift lurches and the light dies, and Lark spirals into a panic attack, whispering a repeated number sequence. Lachlan keeps his distance to calm Bentley, grounds Lark with quiet reassurance, and proposes exiting through the hatch to fix the mechanism.
Lark refuses to leave Bentley, calls Rose to stay on the line, and Lachlan climbs out to repair a failed electrical connection. After nearly an hour, he restarts the elevator, and they position the table upstairs. When Lachlan tries to talk, Lark shuts down the conversation and ends the night.
Later, Lachlan wakes to find Lark alone with a guitar, tearstained and singing the same sequence of numbers. He withdraws without revealing himself, realizing her trauma runs deeper and that his earlier actions contributed to a wound that still bleeds.
Who Appears
- LachlanNarrator; plans family and Leander meetings, steadies Lark during elevator panic, repairs the lift, senses her deeper trauma.
- Lark MontagueArtist and new wife; organizes plans, reveals anxiety in stalled elevator, withdraws emotionally, later sings a repeating number sequence.
- Bentley (American Akita)Protective dog; stands between Lark and Lachlan, remains with Lark during the elevator incident.
- Leander MayesLachlan’s boss; off-page but central to plans, expected to demand financial assurances from Lark.
- RoseFriend; keeps Lark talking by phone during the elevator outage, helping her cope.
- SloaneFriend/sister-in-law; Lark tries calling her first during the crisis but reaches voicemail.