Grayson's Vow (42)

“Mom, we should go. Hi, Gray,” the younger woman standing just behind her mother said.

“Hi, Suzie,” Gray said, more warmth in his tone. Suzie blushed, looking away. Ex-girlfriend?

“Yes, you’re right, dear. We should go.” Diane Fernsby turned back to us. “Well, my congratulations,” she said, sounding anything but congratulatory. “After what happened with Vanessa…I was worried you wouldn’t be able to move on.” She shook her head. “Breaking your engagement and then, while you were in prison, marrying—”

“We weren’t engaged,” Grayson said, his voice steady and cold. My heart gave a kick. Vanessa? Who is Vanessa?

Diane waved her hand in the air. “Oh, well, we all knew you would be soon enough. Your mother told me you’d even bought a ring. And then—”

“Mom,” Suzie said harshly from behind her. She smiled apologetically at both of us, pulling on her mom’s hand. “Have a nice evening,” she said. “And congratulations. Gray, good to see you.”

“Ah, well, good evening,” Diane Fernsby said, allowing her daughter to lead her away. When they had only moved a few steps from our table, Diane leaned toward her daughter and whispered none too quietly, “You dodged a bullet with that one, dear. I hear the vineyard is barely scraping by…and now an ex-con… After all the heartache he put his parents—” Her words faded as she moved farther away, but the sound of her tsk-tsking carried through the restaurant.

I waited until they had disappeared from sight, giving Grayson a worried glance before speaking. “Every small town has a graceless gossip,” I said. “I see Napa’s goes by the name Diane Fernsby.”

My remark elicited a small chuckle and a flash of that demented hyena. “That’s for sure,” he said.

I tilted my head. “I didn’t expect you to refer to me as your wife. You could have warned me.” But I made sure to infuse some lightness in my tone. It didn’t bother me. We were trying to make this marriage publicly convincing, after all. I was just glad I hadn’t taken a drink of water before he said it.

Grayson made a visible effort to relax, leaning back in his chair and regarding me. “You said we should make our marriage look real for the sake of preventing your father’s suspicion. I just figured if word gets around town that I’m married, it couldn’t hurt in that effort. Diane Fernsby will definitely help with that now.”

“True…” She’d probably already spread the news to several people and might only be down the block.

Grayson took the credit card receipt from the waiter and began signing the slip. I wanted to believe he was putting some effort into making our marriage appear legitimate in public, but I suspected he hadn’t mentioned I was his wife for my sake or because of my father. I had a feeling he’d mentioned I was his wife as a way to shut Diane Fernsby up and for that reason alone.

The disappointing thing was, I had known he ran hot and cold, but we had been getting along so well before Diane Fernsby showed up and mentioned his ex. What was that all about anyway? It sounded like some woman named Vanessa had jilted Grayson. Where was she now? I wondered if she lived in Napa and if one of the people Diane Fernsby would spread the news of our marriage to was her.

Ah well, I couldn’t concern myself with my husband’s personal life. No matter how physically tempting he could be, trying to read him was frankly exhausting.

Grayson led me out of the restaurant to his truck. The comfortable mood we’d managed during dinner was slightly stilted now. But when we were both seated in the cab of his truck, he turned to me. “I’m sorry about that, Kira. I’ve lived in this town my whole life, and a lot has happened with my family in the last six years. People are curious, I suppose. I’m sorry I exposed you to it. I’m sorry if that was uncomfortable.”

People are curious. Sure. I was too sometimes. But… “Curiosity is different than blatant rudeness,” I murmured, staring out the front window.

“I probably deserve their rudeness,” Grayson said. “As far as Napa is concerned, I’m a murderer and an ex-con. And I murdered a neighboring town’s golden boy.”

I studied his profile as he stared out the window. I remembered what I’d read about his crime online. The boy who had died had lived in the nearby county of Sonoma.

I bit my lip, not knowing exactly what to say. “You didn’t murder him, Grayson. It was an accident. You told me so yourself.”

“And yet he’s still just as dead.”

“Do you want to talk about it? I’m a good—”

“No.”

We sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment before he glanced at me. I thought I saw regret in his dark eyes. Was I beginning to read him better? “I know how to show a girl a good time, huh?”

I breathed out a laugh. “According to Diane, there are quite a few of them.” I shot him an ironic smile.

Grayson made a face. “Sorry about that. Despite the fact that my stepmother was never very fond of me, Diane wanted her daughter and me together. Suzie just—”

“Wasn’t your type?”

Grayson chuckled. “Was always just a friend.”

I nodded, glad the awkwardness of a few moments before was gone. But speaking of curious… “Grayson, who’s Vanessa?”