Page 52 of Married at Midnight

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“How did your day with Viola go? Was it as treacherous as mine?” Connor asked when Ellie came home. He didn’t have the strength to get up from the couch in the family room, nor did he want to disturb the ice pack on his head or the one behind his neck.

Concern turned her face pale as she came to his side, kneeling on the floor beside him. “What happened to you?”

“Your dad tried to kill me.”

“What?” She grabbed the ice pack from him and flinched at the wounds on his head. “Did you come across a bear?”

“No.” Connor wished he had a better story to tell. “These are all self-inflicted wounds.”

Ellie sat back and pressed her lips together, no doubt fighting a smile. “It was that bad?”

“Terrible. Your dad was very patient. Though the sixth or seventh time helping me get the fly out of my head, he wasn’t as gentle as the first.”

“Well, at least that’s over. You did your duty as the new son-in-law. We’ll be divorced before he can invite you to go fishing with him in the spring.”

At her words, heaviness descended over him. For an insane moment, he considered fishing again if it kept Ellie in his life.

Any further thoughts died as the front door slammed open and footsteps sounded down the hallway. “Connor!” A moment later, his father appeared in the living room. His eyes snapped fire, and his jaw twitched. “What the hell is going on with Viola and your wife?”

Clark Grayson turned to Ellie, his six-foot frame towering over her. He looked like hell. His clothes were rumpled, and dark shadows were smudged beneath his eyes.

His injuries forgotten, Connor jumped off the couch and helped Ellie to her feet, standing beside her. “What’s going on?” He’d never seen his father so fired up.

Suspicion clouded Clark’s expression. “Ask her,” he said, pointing his finger. He continued to swear under his breath.

Ellie’s face was pale, but her chin was tipped up. She met his father’s heated gaze with a spark in her own. “I can see that you’re upset, and I’m sorry about that. I’m only doing what Viola asked of me.”

“Which is?” Connor prompted.

“She wants to get married the day after Thanksgiving.”

“To who?” Both men asked at the same time.

Ellie shrugged. “She’s keeping it to herself for now, but she did say it was one of the Elvises.”

Connor looked at her in surprise. “One of the Elvises? What are you talking about?”

“The men we met in Las Vegas. They’re here in Seattle. I only learned this afternoon that those same men are friends of Viola’s.”

“Lenny, George, Aaron, and Ernie?” Clark Grayson scowled, and pain and confusion laced his voice. “The men she used to sing with? That was a lifetime ago.”

“Looks like they’ve kept in touch,” Connor replied, not knowing how else to respond. “And that one of them might have touched Grandmother’s heart in a way no one has since Grandfather.”

Clark’s features darkened even more, his anger palpable. “I forbid such nonsense. We have to stop her.”

“Why?” Connor asked, suddenly curious why his father was so upset at the prospect of Viola finding love again.

“The man will break her heart.”

“How do you know that?” Ellie asked, her face turning speculative. “He might make her final days even happier.”

Clark snorted. “I doubt that. More like a living hell. Marriage is for fools who believe in ideals that don’t exist.”

A week ago, Connor might have agreed. Now he wasn’t so certain. But he’d never convince his father of that. His father was skeptical about things like love and forever. Mary Grayson had proved that giving your love to another could only end in disaster. And that’s what Clark would continue to believe for the rest of his days.

“I don’t know,” Connor said. “Maybe . . .”