Connor''s expression darkened even further, and that''s when Macy finally spoke
up.
"Mr. Kaufman, that girl you brought today asked me to pass along a message. She said you might have gotten the wrong idea. And—"
Macy hesitated, wondering whether to tell Connor the whole truth.
"And what?" Connor''s frown deepened, his patience wearing thin.
"She''s wearing a in ring on her left hand. She told me herself-she''s married."
Macy braced for an outburst, but Connor just let out a t "Oh," finished the whiskey in his ss, grabbed his jacket, and stood up. "You guys have fun. I''ve got something to take care of."
He picked up his car keys and headed for the door. Seeing the situation turning south, Laird shot Macy a re and hurried after him, lecturing her as he went. "You couldn''t have waited until tomorrow to drop that bombshell?"
Connor had clearly been drinking a lot. This guy was the star driver on Laird''s team—a real ace. If he stormed out, got pulled over, and got nailed for a DUI, he''d be facing charges and a permanent ban from racing.
Macy muttered under her breath, "How was I supposed to know? He''s never cared about a woman this much before."
Laird ignored her and ran after Connor, expecting to see him getting into his car. Instead, Connor was crouched on the curb outside, chain-smoking.
"No one needs to make up such a lousy excuse to turn me down. Married? Please. You''re barely out of high school," he scoffed, tapping out a message to Gwh. She looked not a day over eighteen, maybe just old enough to be legal. Not that he wanted to think of her as younger-dating a minor would be a crime.
At that moment, Gwh was curled up at home watching TV. Leonie hade over to keep herpany, as she always did whenever Hawthorne wasn''t home. It was like she had a sixth sense about it.
Gwh had just finished a long phone call with Hawthorne, and now Leonie was half-watching a show, halfining about how the male lead wore so much makeup you couldn''t tell one character from another.
A notification popped up. It was a message from Connor.
Gwh nced at it, expecting something mundane, but the first message left her speechless.
She replied simply, "I''m twenty-one."
Then, just to shut him up, she dug out the digital copy of her marriage certificate-cropping out Hawthorne''s photo and ID, course-and sent it to Connor.
nove
He waited for her reply, and when it
finally came, he just snortese.
can Photoshop a thousand of
Where do you live? I''lle over and see for myself."
Gwh felt a chill run down her spine. Did this guy not understand in English?
"I''m serious. have no reason to lie.
We''re having the wedding back
home during the holidays. I''ll be
back here by the end of the year, and
we''ll have another celebration
Greenvale. If you want, you can
Connor paused. Something about her words sounded familiar. Still, he was more
interested in where she was from. "You''re not from Greenvale?"
"No, my family''s from Starfall City."
Starfall City. The name hit Connor like a shot of adrenaline-he perked up immediately.
"No way. I''m from Starfall City too! Maybe we''ve met before."
Gwh was starting to get a headache. Leonie, still absorbed in her show, noticed Gwh glued to her phone and scooted over.
"Still talking to my uncle? Haven''t you two gossiped enough on the phone today?"
But then she peeked at Gwh''s screen and realized, surprised, it wasn''t Hawthorne she was messaging-it was some other guy.
"Wait-Auntie...?"
Gwh nearly jumped out of her skin at Leonie''s exmation.
"You''ve only been married to my uncle for a few days and you''re already thinking of cheating?"
Gwh couldn''t help butugh and groan at the same time. "No, it''s just that guy I bumped into the other day."
Leonie''s face darkened. "He''s not still bothering you, is he?"
"I just sent him the marriage certificate with your uncle."