Marion Lennox - Adopt-a-Dad

“I don’t think that.”

“That’s what it sounds like,” she said.

“Then I’m sorry.” But he couldn’t get rid of the edge of anger in his voice, no matter how unfair he knew he was being.

More constrained silence. Michael glanced at her. Damn, she did look tired.

“Jenny…”

“Michael, let’s just leave this,” she said wearily. “I feel so guilty anyway that I can’t bear it. At least not tonight.”

“There’s no need for you to feel guilty,” he told her, his own guilt still there. “You’re right. I offered. What my family does to me is no fault of yours.”

“Any family would do just what they’re doing. They’re right. And I should never have agreed to marry you. I need to-we need to do something.” She sighed. “But for now, heaven knows what the answer is. I seem to be getting deeper and deeper into a quagmire. Just drop me off at your house and go out to celebrate with your family. Please, Michael?”

“I don’t want-”

“If you weren’t married, would you ever stay home for dinner on a Sunday night?”

“No, but-”

“Then there’s your answer,” she said flatly. “You’re not married, not really. So do what you always have done.”

HE WENT OUT, but he didn’t return to the wedding. He’d be grilled within an inch of his life if he did. The look in Ellie’s eyes as she’d headed for the family portrait session warned him he was in for it. But the interrogation could wait.

Besides, he was convinced his brother and sisters would give him a hard time if they thought he’d left Jenny alone. Garrett and Lana had seemed far too fond of Jenny, and even Shelby seemed to be coming around.

So…

So he drove to his friend Harvey’s, drank a few beers, watched a ball game on TV and tried to keep his hand out of sight so Harvey wouldn’t notice the ring.

Not that Harvey would. He wasn’t into wedding rings.

Nine o’clock. The ball game ended. There was time to watch another, but just as Harvey flicked the remote, the phone rang. Harvey gave an apologetic grin and took the phone into the kitchen. He came back a couple of minutes later, a sheepish expression on his face.

“Sorry, but I need to kick you out, Mike,” he said. “Something’s come up.”

“Like…” Michael stared at his friend’s face, confounded. He’d never seen Harvey look like this before. “Like a woman?”

“Rose,” Harvey said, a dreamy expression drifting into his eyes. “I took her out last week. It was the first time she’s agreed to date me, though I’ve been asking her forever. It was worth the wait. She’s really something. She needed to go to Vegas to see her parents for the weekend, but I said if she got back in time, maybe we could go out together tonight-grab a burger or something.” He paused, and the sheepish grin intensified. “So she called. Guess this means she’s interested, huh?”

“I guess it does,” Michael said slowly. He rose. “Well, I’ll be off then.”

“I knew you wouldn’t mind. Hey, this morning when you didn’t show, that had to be a woman, right?”

Michael hesitated.

“I knew it,” Harvey said, interpreting his silence as confirmation. He clapped Michael on the shoulder and beamed. “Must be something in the water and we’re all catching it. See you next week, buddy-that is, if you’re not busy. Or if I’m not busy. But hey, I hope we are.”

OKAY, fate was telling him it was time to go home, Michael thought, and maybe it was. Nine was late enough. Jenny would most likely be in bed by now. He’d hit the cot himself, then get up early tomorrow and be at work before she woke. They’d start their independent lives together as of this moment.

Was Harvey right? Was there something in the water? He didn’t think so. He sure didn’t feel like a dose of domesticity.

He felt…trapped.

He drove his Corvette into the garage, his mind filled with dark thoughts. He entered his darkened house the same way and looked around as if he was expecting a wife in curlers, with rolling pin upraised. Which was crazy. No one was up. The lights were all off, and Jenny’s bedroom door was shut.

So. This was what he wanted, wasn’t it? He didn’t need to check on her. She’d be fast asleep.

He flicked on the living room light, frowned at the white sofa-she was right about that!-then went into the kitchen to make himself a coffee. He sure didn’t feel like sleep, though he didn’t know why. Just then a knock sounded on the outside door.

Who?

He opened the door, and it was Gloria.

There was a Gray Suit with her.

Michael’s first instinct was to slam the door shut on the pair of them, but the official beside Gloria looked just official enough to make him pause. This wasn’t one of Gloria’s thugs. It was the older of the two immigration officials who’d started this whole mess.

Even so, he only opened the door wide enough to speak, not to let anyone in.

“Mr. Lord?” It was the official speaking. He held out a card. “Henry Harness from Immigration. Can we come in?”

“No.” Short, blunt and to the point. The man took a step back and stared. Apparently he wasn’t used to people saying no to him.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You heard,” Michael told him. “No.”

“Can I ask why not?”

“Because you’re with the lady.” Michael nodded perfunctorily at Gloria. “This woman has been causing my wife grief, and she’s not welcome here.”

The man flicked an uneasy glance at Gloria, which made Michael wonder just how much he was being paid to take an interest in these proceedings. Where on earth had Gloria dug up an immigration official at nine-thirty on a Sunday night?

“There’ve been allegations of wrongdoings in relation to your marriage,” the man said, and Michael grunted.

“Yeah. Let me guess by whom.”

“I just need to satisfy myself that your wife is with you,” he said. “Unless I can do that, then tomorrow I’ll instigate investigations.”

“At whose request?”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’d better try harder then,” Michael said flatly. “My wife and I have filled out every required form and satisfied all criteria. But this woman…” He raised his eyebrows and gazed at the elegant Gloria as if she was some form of pond scum. “This woman came around to my wife’s old apartment last night while we were in the process of packing her belongings to come here. She made certain threats, and some of them were physical. She upset her so much that my wife hardly slept last night. Tonight, Jenny’s barely asleep, and here she comes to upset her again. My wife’s eight months pregnant. This is harassment and-”

“She’s not here,” Gloria said triumphantly. “I told you. The marriage is a sham.”

“Do you have a warrant?” Michael demanded of the official, ignoring Gloria completely.

“A warrant?”

“To search,” Michael said patiently. “I assume you know what a warrant is?”

“I…” The man was right off balance. “No, but-”

“Then go away and get one. And while you’re at it, I’d take out some insurance on events that may happen if you badger my wife into giving birth prematurely. Because I’ll sue you for every cent you’ll ever earn and then some.”

“I didn’t mean…” The man was flustered. “I’m sure if we inquire-”

“She’s not here.” Gloria was vitriolic in her certainty. “I tell you…”

“I’m sorry,” the official said heavily. “I can’t force my way in, no matter how-”

“How much are you being paid?” Michael asked, and the man flushed.

“There’s no need to take this further this evening. Good night, Mr. Lord. I’ll come back in the morning.”

“If you bring my wife’s ex-mother-in-law with you, then you’re not welcome.”

“We’ll act through the proper channels,” the man said stiffly. “I don’t believe this lady is central to our inquiries.”

“I’m sure she’s not,” Michael said pleasantly. “And if I were you, I’d make sure those channels of yours are legitimate, or I won’t answer for the consequences.” And he closed the door on the pair of them.

SHE MUST HAVE HEARD.

As he closed the door, Michael expected Jenny’s bedroom door to fly open. She had the downstairs room. The front door and her bedroom door were only feet apart. Unless she was sound asleep, she must have heard every word that had been said.

There was nothing. Only absolute silence from within. He heard Gloria’s car start and disappear into the night. They’d well and truly gone.

So why didn’t Jenny come out?

She must be exhausted, he told himself. She’d been up way before him this morning, and the wedding had been both a physical and emotional strain.

He didn’t want to wake her, but…

“Jenny?” he said softly, trying to fight his increasing sense that something was wrong. “Jen?”

Nothing.

She was asleep, he told himself firmly. Her bedroom door was closed, and that was that.

But he couldn’t for the life of him go to bed without checking. He was being stupid, paranoid, intrusive, but he opened her bedroom door just a crack.

Her bed was still beautifully made up, and it was empty. So was her bedroom.

Where on earth was she?

Michael stared at the untouched bed for all of two minutes, his mind racing in every direction.

Had she left him? His eyes roved around the room, taking in her folded pajamas on the pillow and her husband’s photograph in the frame beside the bed.

She wouldn’t have left that behind. So where?

The conversation on the way back from the wedding played uneasily in his brain. I seem to be getting deeper and deeper into a quagmire. I should never have agreed to marry you.

She was confused, she was depressed and she’d been alone all night.

Hell, he never should have left her!

Where could she have gone? His head was spinning as he tried to find answers. She didn’t have a car. She didn’t have any money, and if she was leaving, then surely she’d have taken her few possessions. So where?