"I really wish you didn't have to go into the office today," Eileen said to Lawrence as they said goodbye in front of her house.
"So do I. If we weren't meeting with an important client today, I'd call off and spend the whole day with you. Just think, now we'll have the rest of our lives to spend together."
As Eileen smiled brightly, wrapped her arms around him, and gave him a lingering kiss, Lawrence still couldn't believe he wasn't dreaming. Everything had happened so fast that it was hard to believe it had really happened. After Eileen had accepted his proposal, they started talking about marriage plans and how neither of them wanted to wait another moment to be together. It had been Eileen's suggestion that they just take off and elope. And while he had never done anything impulsive in his life, he'd gotten caught up in the moment and agreed.
They went out right then and found a justice of the peace to perform the ceremonies. After spending their wedding night in the honeymoon suite of one of the local hotels, Lawrence was dropping Eileen off at her house while he was off to the office. He knew it was going to be hard to focus on his work today.
"I'll be back as soon as I can."
"I'll be waiting. Oh! Unless I'm at the airport. I almost forgot I'm supposed to pick up Dad and Veronica. They're coming back from their trip today. But come back here anyway I'm sure it won't take long."
"That's good. We can tell them the news tonight and then we can work on moving in together as soon as possible."
After a lingering goodbye, Lawrence finally tore himself away from his new bride and headed to the office, while Eileen went inside.
Eileen was on cloud nine. She couldn't remember ever being so happy and excited and so full of love. She wanted to dance and sing and just run out and share the happy news with everyone she knew.
Eileen's happy mood was brought to a sudden halt when she heard voices inside the house. The recent break in had left her more on edge than usual and she stopped in her tracks, momentarily panicked.
Her fear dissolved quickly when she realized she recognized the voices. Arthur and Veronica must have come home early. She hurried into the living room to greet them.
"Dad! Veronica! Welcome back. I didn't expect you to get in until later today."
"We caught an earlier flight," Veronica explained as she greeted Eileen with a hug. "It's good to see you. How have you been?"
"Great," Eileen replied. As she stepped back, she noticed how much older they looked in the short time they'd been away. Her father, who was sitting quietly in his favorite chair, seemed especially older and more tired looking than she'd ever seen him. When she moved closer to greet him with a hug and a kiss, she could see how much he'd aged.
"How was your trip?"
"It was nice. We had a good time," Arthur answered. "But I'm glad to be back home, in my own house. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed tonight."
"And we both missed you," Veronica added. "Your father talked about you all the time while we were gone. Eileen . . ." Veronica grabbed Eileen's hand and lifted it up to get a closer look at her ring finger. "What's this? An engagement ring? Are you and Lawrence engaged?"
"It is. He gave it to me last night," she said, smiling brightly.
"Congratulations. I'm so happy for you. Arthur, what do you think?"
Arthur lifted himself very slowly and very carefully from his chair and reached out to embrace his only daughter. "I'm thrilled for you both, darling. Lawrence is a good man with a sensible head on his shoulders. I know he'll take good care of you."
Arthur's touching words nearly brought tears to Eileen's eyes. "I'm so glad you approve. He really loves me too and I love him. This might seem really spontaneous to you, but I think we've both known, deep down, for a long time, that we belong together."
"I can't say that I'm surprised. I think it's great and the timing is just right. I'm so glad I can be here to see you get married. I don't know if I'll be up to dancing at your wedding, but I wouldn't let anything keep me from walking you down the aisle."
"Right . . ." Eileen said with a forced smile. When he put it that way, she didn't have the heart to tell him that they were already married. She didn't know what she was going to tell Lawrence, but he would have to understand.
"Thanks for inviting me to lunch," Vanessa said as she and Logan sat down at a table of the local diner together.
"It's my pleasure," he replied. "It's funny that we ran into each other this morning. You've been on my mind lately."
"Me? Why?"
"I keep thinking about your case and I've been talking a lot with your ex-husband."
Vanessa frowned. "Silas? You've been talking to him about me?"
"No, not about you, about his past, before he met you. I'm trying to find out about the crime organization that he was indebted too. So far the information he's given me hasn't turned up anything helpful."
"I wouldn't know anything about that," Vanessa said defensively. "I'm trying to put the years I wasted with that conman behind me. I'd rather not talk about him. If that's why you wanted to have lunch with me, maybe I should just go."
"No, it wasn't. I just have trouble leaving my work at work sometimes. Please stay."
He reached across the table and touched her hand lightly, without thinking about what he was doing. The touch shocked him and by the look on Vanessa's face he thought she felt it too. Nervously he pulled his hand back and tried to sound casual.
"So why don't you tell me a little about yourself? I'd like to get to know you."
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