“Michael. And this must be my daughter-in-law.” His eyes cut to mine. “I thought it was time we met properly. Since you married my grandson without inviting me to the wedding.”
Oh no.
Jack hadn’t known about the wedding. My parents hadn’t known. And his grandfather too?
I glanced at Michael, expecting panic or at least concern—because I felt like a teenager caught sneaking in after curfew.
But he looked completely composed.
CHAPTER 11
Michael
He’d actually flown here.
“Grandfather,” I said. Couldn’t quite keep the surprise out of my voice. “This is unexpected.”
Taking a flight at his age should have wrecked him, but he looked alert as ever. He stood tall despite the slight hunch in his back that age had given him, fixing me with those sharp eyes that used to terrify me as a kid. They didn’t anymore. I’d gotten too used to them.
“Unexpected? You mean like your wedding?” His gaze shifted from mine and locked on Claudette. I stepped in front of her without thinking. Knowing him, I was praying he wouldn’t say anything unhinged.
“I thought waiting for you to visit with my daughter-in-law might take longer than I had left to live. So I let myself in.”
I felt Claudette tense beside me, her fingers tightening around the stuffed elephant—Failure, she’d named it, which felt suddenly prophetic.
“And I told you we were on our honeymoon. You didn’t have to fly all the way here.” I paused, looking around, half-expecting to see the nurse who usually took care of him. “Do you remember what the doctors say about your health?”
“Ha!” He scoffed. “Don’t pretend to care about me now, you rascal. Now are you going to introduce me to your wife or not?”
Claudette stepped forward. I almost reached for her arm to warn her about his sharp tongue, how he could slice you open with words when he felt betrayed. But she was already extending her hand.
“Mr. Ashford. I’m Claudette.” She said it like she was greeting someone she’d been looking forward to meeting, not facing down Augustus Ashford. “I know this wasn’t how you wanted to find out about the wedding, and I’m sorry about that.”
She met his gaze warmly. “You must be exhausted. If we’d known you were coming, we would have been home hours ago.”
My grandfather looked at her outstretched hand. Then her face. Taking his time with it, the way he did with contracts he was about to rip apart.
He still didn’t move. I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes. He didn’t need to be this petty about it. It didn’t matter to me whether he accepted her or not. Claudette was my wife now. He’d just have to deal with it.
Silence stretched between us.
“Will you accept my greetings or not? My arm is starting to hurt,” Claudette said. “And I’m sure since you are here, you have a lot to say. We can just begin with it already.”
I started to step forward when a laugh erupted, loud and echoing in the living room.
I stared, stunned. My grandfather’s whole face changed with his laughter.
“Oh, I see you don’t scare easily.” He shook his head. Then he finally took her hand. “Augustus Ashford. You just gave me several new gray hairs.” He shook her hand once. Firm.
Claudette caught my eye and this time she was smiling broadly.
I stood there trying to process what I’d just witnessed. She’d disarmed him in under a minute.
I’d spent thirty-three years trying to figure out conversations with my grandfather and she’d just made it look effortless.
Maybe I should be taking notes.
“Come, come.” He was already guiding her toward the couch, still holding her hand. “There’s so much we need to discuss.”
