Page 15 of Married at Midnight

CHAPTER FIVE

Ellie learned two important things about old houses on her first night at Grayson House: they were drafty, and they made lots of mysterious noises. After she and Connor had talked, they’d avoided each other for the rest of the night until finally they’d gone to bed in separate rooms.

Emotionally exhausted, Ellie had set up her space in the tower room above the master bedroom Connor had chosen. The room creaked and moaned as the October wind brushed past the old house. At first the sounds were unsettling, but soon she found them comforting as she lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

The stark reality of what she’d agreed to swam in her head. She had no doubts about fixing up the old house and decorating for the holiday open house. Both of those things were well within her abilities. But spending five weeks with a man who churned up so many memories might very well be her undoing.

She looked around her small room. The decorations were old but had a classic charm, much like the rest of the house. She could be comfortable here, especially since she’d gone back to her apartment after the hospital to gather enough clothes and personal items to get her through the next several weeks.

Ellie rolled off the bed and opened the bedside table, where she’d placed a picture of her and Connor from high school. Looking at the photograph now brought back all her old feelings of abandonment and betrayal, and not just from Connor. Years of broken promises by her father had started her on this path. She couldn’t even count the number of times he’d promised to pick her up from school or take her somewhere, and then had never shown up because he was out fishing or engrossed in creating his newest lures. He’d buried his disappointment in not having a son in a passion that had consumed his every moment.

He’d broken her heart beyond repair at the junior high school father-daughter dance. Her father had promised he’d be there on time. Instead, he’d gone fishing with a friend. She’d waited by the door for an hour for him to show up. She knew he hadn’t meant to be deliberately mean to her. He was her father, after all. He’d been as he always was—neglectful and never making her feel as though she were a priority.

Ellie stroked the photograph she held in her fingers as if by touching the image she could somehow transport herself back to that night. And, for the space of a single breath, she felt as if she were there. She remembered in that second the why and the how of her love for Connor. He’d been a geek to other people—but not to her. Whenever he looked at her, she always felt as if the warming rays of the sun were touching her skin. She closed her eyes and let that feeling wash over her again. A whole host of memories hit her at once: the sexy curve of his lips, the strength in his forearms when he crossed his arms over his chest, the deep rumble of his laughter.

She focused on the photograph once more. He’d made her heart thunder and her pulse quicken back then, especially when he’d said yes to her invitation to prom. Excitedly, they’d made plans—plans that went well beyond the dance. He would meet her in the gymnasium; then the two of them would head to Ellie’s parents’ cabin an hour away in the Cascade Range and spend their first night together.

Ellie had the evening all arranged. She’d gone to the cabin earlier that day and left a bottle of sparkling cider to chill, chocolates and strawberries to eat, and rose petals on the clean sheets, setting a romantic mood. There, they were going to plan their new life together, despite college, which would separate them temporarily.

Except that plan fell flat. Ellie had waited by the gym door for the first hour. The second hour, she sat outside, preferring not to see the other couples enjoying one another on what was supposed to be one of the biggest nights of their lives. As time stretched out before her, the old scars her father had inflicted became raw, mixing with this new, fresh wound.

And just when she thought her pain couldn’t get much worse, Connor had sent Mrs. Phillips, the physics teacher, to find her, with a note saying he’d been detained by the recruiters. Mrs. Phillips looked at her with pitying eyes. She had rattled off several excuses for Connor’s absence and how important the interviews were to his future. In some part of her brain, Ellie understood. But she wondered, with equal parts pain and sorrow, why she was never a priority for the men in her life. Connor knew how important that night was to her, to them. With tears in her eyes, Ellie had sent a note back to Connor:

Tonight was a mistake. I wish you the best of luck.

Fresh tears fell from her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut, battling the painful memories with everything inside her. Now they were married. And she felt just as abandoned as ever.

Suddenly she was both emotionally and physically exhausted by the reality of her future—a temporary future—with a man who still sent her pulse quivering. Perhaps it was better to remember the heartache than to long for something more from Connor Grayson. With a sigh, she put the photo back in the drawer. If she needed motivation to stay detached, she knew where to find it.

The next morning, Ellie—dressed in jeans, a navy-blue T-shirt, and a soft yellow cardigan—made her way down two sets of stairs to the ground floor. Even though an ache still lingered in her heart, she decided to stop dwelling on the past and start looking to the future. Viola had given her a great gift in Grayson House, and she would do everything in her power to make the project a success.

The goal for the day, apart from contacting contractors, was to clear the house of dust, cobwebs, and dirt to see what they’d truly be working with. She shivered at the thought of all the spiders lurking in the shadows.

Back in the kitchen, Ellie discovered a closet filled with cleaning supplies and a vacuum. She smiled. There would be a long hose between her and those spiders as soon as they revealed themselves.

She had barely finished the thought when Connor entered the kitchen dressed in khaki pants and a dress shirt. “Did you sleep well?” he asked, with a truly concerned look on his face.

“Better than I expected.” Ellie retrieved a mop and bucket, then shut the closet door. She frowned as she got a good look at Connor. “You’re a little overdressed for cleaning the house.”

“I can’t today. I’m off to work,” he replied, snatching an apple she’d brought from her apartment off the table.

Ellie moved closer. “You’re my co-foreman on this job.”

“Not today,” he replied.

“Does that mean you’re willing to defer all decisions about this project to me, because that’s the only way we will finish this job in five weeks?”

Connor frowned. “I’ll be gone for one day—”

“That’s your excuse today. And tomorrow?”

He took a bite of the apple, then glanced at her, puzzled. “I’m caught between this house and my job. What else can I do?”

“Help me clean,” she said, keeping her tone even.

He paused, taking another bite. “I will help. But I need to do my part in the evenings after work. I have a robotic car to finish, Ellie.”

“Don’t do this.” Her control slipped as her temper built. It was happening again. The men in her life always had other priorities besides her.