Elaine was his third wife. He’d waited a decent amount of time after the death of my mother to marry his second wife, Cherise. Their marriage had lasted a grand total of two years before the divorce. He’d had to give her more than he’d anticipated when he ended that union, which meant he’d been brutal when marrying Elaine, who was only one year older than me. Her prenup had gone through three lawyers.
I hadn’t liked Elaine. She’d clearly been in it for the money. Nobody would marry my father if there wasn’t a financial incentive. He expected certain things of his wives, however. Elaine was a beautiful woman. He had a clause in her prenup that if she gained more than ten pounds she would forego the limited amount he planned to distribute upon divorce. She wasalso on a vesting schedule. For every year they were married, she made twenty grand. They were only married for two years, however, which meant my father had likely only had to pay out for the two years and nothing more.
“How did Elaine take it?” I asked.
Dad made a face. “Who cares? She turned out to be a snake.”
“Did you prove she had an affair with the groundskeeper?” If my father could prove infidelity in the divorce, he wouldn’t have to pay a cent. That was another stipulation he’d made for his third marriage.
“No.” He wrinkled his nose. “The judge said my best guess wasn’t proof. I explained to him that I knew it, but he said that wasn’t enough.”
I didn’t for a second believe Elaine had slept with the groundskeeper. She wasn’t an idiot. I didn’t like her, but she was shrewd. I had no doubt her plan had been to outlive my father. At the very least, she wanted to last five years. Dad had pulled the rug out from under her.
“Well, at least it’s done,” I said, faux brightness rolling off of me. “That’s the important thing, right?”
He shrugged. “If you say so.” He blew out a breath. “There’s a charity event I need you to go to in two weeks.”
My father was terrible at transitions but didn’t seem to realize it. I was instantly on alert.
“What sort of charity event?”
“Do you remember Henry Collins?”
I racked my memory. “Lawyer, right?”
Dad nodded and offered up the first real smile he’d graced me with since his arrival. “His law firm is raising money for monkeys.”
I blinked, sure I’d misheard him. “What?” I said after a beat. “Monkeys?”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, it’s weird. There’s some monkey going extinct in the rainforest. Henry’s law firm is going to save them or something. I don’t think I fully understand.”
“Does he know there are poor people in this country?”
Dad blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I’m sure there are people he could save stateside. Not that I begrudge the monkeys or anything,” I added hastily. “But there are plenty of other charities here that could use the money.”
Dad blinked again.
I had to bite back a sigh. “Or we could save the monkeys.” I flashed a flat smile. “When is this charity event?”
The date he rattled off stuck in my mind, and I pulled out my phone.
“You’re going,” Dad said when I was still searching my calendar. “I told them that I needed two tickets, and I don’t have anyone else to take at present.”
I was calm when I looked up. “I have an event that night.”
“Cancel it.”
“I can’t. I am contractually obligated to be there, by my publisher. We have reader events peppered throughout the summer. That night is already taken.”
It was the “contractually obligated” part that had him over a barrel, and we both knew it. My father was a stickler for following through when you were supposed to. It was one of his only good qualities.
“I don’t suppose they could move the event,” he hedged.
“It’s a collaboration between three publishing houses and involves more than twenty authors at each event,” I replied smoothly.
“So, no.”
