Page 18 of Married at Midnight

She took his arm and walked with him out the front door. After locking the door, she allowed him to lead her down the front stairs. “They let you take the car home?”

“It’s my car. So far all the funding has been mine, until Viola stepped up. Then today another amazing thing happened.” He stopped before the small white car and opened the door.

“What happened?” she asked as she slipped into the passenger side, slightly uncomfortable that there was no steering wheel or any other visible electronics that would give the occupant control over the car.

He joined her on what would have been the driver’s side. “The CEO of Microtech came to the lab today. He congratulated us on our marriage.”

“How did he know we were married? Nobody in Washington knows but your father, Viola, and Jordan.”

Connor twisted toward her. “He said he read about it in the Seattle Gazette.”

Ellie’s heart dropped to her toes. How did that happen so quickly? They’d been married for only two days. “Somebody leaked the news to the press?” Did her parents see it? Oh heavens, she’d catch so much guff from them.

“Looks like they did,” he replied with a pleased smile. “Whoever it was had to have high-level connections in order to get the announcement in so quickly.”

“I don’t know anyone with connections like that. Do you?”

“No.”

Ellie brought her fingers to her temples, trying to hold back the headache that threatened. “What did the CEO want?”

Connor’s eyes brightened. “He said he likes to work with family men. Not only did he offer me financial support, but he also wants to partner with my University of Washington development team, using his company’s proprietary software for the onboard computer. With Microtech’s support, we’ll be further into development than any of the other designs out there. If we’re first to market, it will mean billions in sales. And I hold the majority of the patents.”

“I’m really happy that everything you’ve worked so hard for is paying off. What an incredible feat to build the first successful self-driving car.” The words were sincere, yet at the moment fear blinded her to all else. Her parents would be upset to learn about her marriage in the newspaper. And when she told them she would be divorced soon, they would be disappointed in her—again. She’d been living under a veil of disappointment for so long, she wondered why she even tried to please them anymore. They’d wanted a son. They’d even had a name picked out: Edward. How many times had she heard the tales? They’d planned to have a second child, but her mother’s pregnancies never held after Ellie was born. After five miscarriages, her parents had finally given up. And they’d resigned themselves to having only a daughter.

Even though she knew they wouldn’t be pleased that she’d disappointed them once again, she had to see them to explain. “How do you drive this thing?”

“You don’t.” He gave her a cocky smile. “It’s a self-driving car.”

She sighed, her irritation growing. “How do you make it go where you want?”

He pointed to a speaker on the dashboard. “You talk to the onboard computer. Where do you want to go?”

She gave him the address but didn’t tell him exactly where they were headed. Maybe he’d remember her old address from so long ago. He’d met her parents before. Initially they’d liked him, until he’d broken their only daughter’s heart.

The car started forward, merging with traffic. A shiver of apprehension worked its way across her neck. How strange to let a machine have total control over your safety. Although, as they moved down Aloha Avenue, she was almost certain she could walk faster than the car was driving. “Why is it going so slow?”

“We’re working on accuracy, not speed at the moment,” he explained. “I’ve received a few tickets in this prototype for driving too slow.”

“I can believe that.” Thank goodness her parents didn’t live too far away or it might take hours to get to their destination. A lifetime later, they arrived at the address Ellie had given Connor. The car parallel-parked on the street across from Volunteer Park’s north side and in front of her parents’ house.

“Are we going to the park?” Connor asked as his brows knit in confusion.

“No,” she said, opening the car door and getting out. “You’re meeting my parents. Again.”

His face paled. “You could have warned me.”

“And let you talk your way out of it? Not a chance.” She grabbed his hand and almost pulled him up the driveway. Porch lights illuminated their way, revealing a crisply cut lawn and tidy flower beds. Fall color dappled the leaves on the trees while rambling rosebushes offered late blooms and a sweet scent to the early evening air.

They made their way up the stairway to the redbrick house. The house had been built in the 1920s in the Tudor style. Her parents had purchased the home thirty years ago. They’d remodeled once, updating the electrical and plumbing, and expanded the kitchen and family room at the back of the house.

Instead of walking in, as she would have usually done, she rang the doorbell. It seemed as if she should, given that she was bringing not just her boyfriend but her husband to the house.

“In all the time we were together our senior year, you only brought me over here a few times. Will your parents even remember me?” She could hear the fear in his voice.

“I doubt you have anything to worry about. They will be so focused on me and how much I’ve disappointed them by not telling them about our marriage that they’ll probably not even notice you.”

“What are your parents doing now?” Connor asked with a hint of anxiousness as they waited.