Married Or Not?: Married or Not? / Ian's Ultimate Gamble

Sherri looked at her food and sighed.

“Something wrong?”

“I see that I’m on a soft-food diet. I suppose this is better than clear liquids.”

“The doctor said to keep you on a soft diet for another week. If you have no problems, you could have normal meals again. Believe me, once you taste Hannah’s cooking you’ll know it was worth waiting for.”

She looked at his plate. Mmm. Baked chicken, mashed potatoes and what appeared to be fresh green beans. She almost whimpered with longing. Oh well. She picked up her soup spoon and began to eat. Actually, the food was delicious, much better than the hospital’s food.

The room was so quiet she could hear the soft tick of a clock somewhere in the house. She needed to get away from Greg for her own emotional preservation. Right now, though, she intended to enjoy her meal and being in Millie’s home once again.

Once she finished her meal, she said, “This was so good. My compliments to the chef.”

Greg grinned. “My secret weapon to coax you into continuing to stay here.”

She looked at him and he met her gaze. “I don’t understand any of this, Greg. Yes, we used to be married. It didn’t work. We’ve both moved on. Why in the world would you decide to take over my life like this?”

“Is that what it looks like to you?”

“That’s what it is. I’m pretty much confined to this chair until my bones heal.” She paused and said, “Did this chair belong to Millie?”

Greg nodded. “She fell last year and broke her hip.”

“I can see her now, zipping around the place. She was really something.”

“Yes, she was. I miss her a great deal.”

“So, why am I here?” She came back to her question. “And don’t answer a question with a question, okay?”

“I was hoping that we could use this time together as a chance to deal with some of the issues that caused the divorce.”

She frowned. “You’re looking for closure.”

He nodded slowly. “Something like that. You moved out without any warning. You gave me no chance to deal with whatever was bothering you.”

“Why don’t we leave it at this—I left you because I discovered that I didn’t really know you at all. What I did learn while we were married was that we were too different. We wanted different things in our lives. The longer I stayed, the more painful it was going to be to leave you. I also knew that if I talked to you about leaving, you would convince me to stay.”

“I would have liked the chance to know what in the hell I did to make you leave like that and refuse to communicate with me except through your lawyer.”

“Do you remember how we met and how quickly we came together?”

His lips quirked. “Oh, yeah. I remember it well.” His gaze was so heated Sherri felt scorched.

“Granted we had a great sex life, but—”

“Better than great, Sherri. Much better.”

“Okay. However, we didn’t take time to get to know each other out of bed. You wanted to spend our hours together in bed rather than talk to me.”

“And your point is?”

She shook her head. “This discussion is pointless and I’m tired. You’ve been a wonderful support since the accident and I do appreciate it, but this isn’t going to change anything between us, Greg. Being around you is upsetting, which is why I didn’t want to talk to you once I left.”

“You make me sound like an ogre.”

“You’re not.” She looked around the room. “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation. I’m really tired. I think I’ll go back to my room.”

Greg sighed and then stood while she backed away from the table, turned and rolled away.

He followed her to her room. “You’re going to need some help getting ready for bed.”

As tired as she was, she knew he was right. “Perhaps Hannah could—”

“She and Sven are off-duty. There’s no reason to have her come back when I’m here to help you.”

She looked at him and thought about changing clothes in front of him. That would be all it would take to get them into bed together, surgery or not, broken bones or not. Why did he have to be so attractive? He made her motor run nonstop whenever he was around. Right now, she couldn’t afford to be tempted.

“Don’t worry about it. I changed my clothes without help earlier this evening.”

“All right. At least let me put you on the bed before I leave.”

She rolled to her dresser and found one of her sleep shirts before going to the bed. She held up her arms.

He picked her up as though she were weightless and sat her on the side of the bed.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Greg said.

She nodded. He continued to stand there. She closed her eyes and looked down at her hands. She was on the verge of tears and she didn’t want him to know. She was so vulnerable right now in so many ways. It would be so easy to forget what she’d gone through in their marriage and accept the here and now.

She’d tried to make a clean break but fate was against her. She heard Greg leave the room and quietly close the door behind him.

Greg poured himself another glass of wine and wandered out to the back terrace.

He’d always loved Millie. She had been agile, both mentally and physically, all of her life until her fall. He’d spent as much of his childhood as possible in this home. His brother had refused to come for more than a couple of days at a time, saying there was nothing to do here. Kyle had found it boring and had preferred to spend his summers in Connecticut with his friends.

Millie was the reason he’d moved to Austin directly after graduating from the Police Academy. He had visited her as often as he could. She was the family he’d never had, she and Sherri.

There was no way he could get Millie back but he was going to do everything in his power to have a second chance with Sherri. He loved her too much not to try, and tonight he’d realized that she wasn’t indifferent to him.

That offered him a sliver of hope.

Six

Five years earlier

Greg Hogan saw the flashing lights from police cars and an ambulance before he turned into the restaurant’s parking lot. The yellow police tape already encircled the area behind the place and forensics was there gathering evidence.

A man had been murdered and it was Greg’s job to find his killer.