A Double Wedding

by Patricia Knoll

  "I'm listening," she said.

  The waitress bustled up with her pot of steaming coffee. When she started to speak, Dan gave her an impatient glance. Startled, she poured the coffee and hurried away.

  Silvey knew that Patsy must have felt the tension between them. It was as thick as ozone during a summer lightening storm.

  With her gone, and sure of Silvey's compliance, the set of Dan's shoulders eased and he inclined his head. "I've been out of town for several weeks-just got back today. And found out about Leila Canton's relationship with my father."

  Silvey started to protest but he held up a hand. "I came to talk to you because I'm a reasonable man. I'm willing to give her whatever amount of money she wants if she'll leave him alone-and, of course, I'll give you an equal amount." His eyes flicked over her. "Within reason, of course."

  Silvey stared at him, her eyes wide. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. She'd never been offered money like this from a total stranger-or anyone else for that matter. It was so insulting it was laughable. She swallowed and tried again.

  "None of this makes sense. Why don't we start from the beginning, Mr. Wisdom? There's obviously been some kind of mistake here.

  Your father is involved with some woman...."

  "Leila Parkins Canton."

  "That's impossible," she scoffed. "I would know if Grandma had started seeing a man."

  "Oh, they only met recently." Dan steepled his hands on the tabletop. "They've been corresponding for a number of weeks." His glance came up and focused. "She seems to have learned only lately of his last divorce."

  "His last...?" She paused, then gasped, making the connection.

  "Lawrence Wisdom, the actor?" Her voice shot up two octaves. "That ... that ... lecher?"

  CHAPTER TWO

  DAN jerked forward, ready for battle. White lines appeared around his mouth and nose, but before he could speak, she went on.

  "You really are nuts if you think I'll believe Grandma is involved with that old ... tomcat."

  Silvey was flabbergasted. Lawrence Wisdom had been a famous swashbuckling movie actor in the forties and fifties. The roles he chose now were more staid and mature, but he hadn't slowed down yet in his lovelife. He had made a much-publicized move to Tucson the year before, saying he wanted to leave the Hollywood lifestyle behind. About time, too, Silvey thought, since he was well into his seventies.

  Watching her expression, the narrow lines of Dan's face coalesced into a mask of contempt. "You'd better watch what phraseology you use, Miss Carlton. There are words for you and your grandmother, too, such as gold digger and opportunist."

  "Gold digger?" Color washed out of her face, then rushed back in a crimson flood. She arched over the table and stabbed a finger at his chest. "I've got news for you, mister. The Carltons aren't wealthy but we do just fine, thank you, and we're not interested in anybody else's money."

  "I've heard that before."

  "Well, this time, believe it, because it's true!"

  As they argued, he, too, had risen and they were leaning toward each other. Mere inches separated them. Silvey could see the pupils in his eyes contract to pinpoints.

  She knew she was very close to losing control, but she let the anger take her, anyway. "Just who do you think you are? What gives you the right to make these accusations against someone you don't even know?"

  Dan straightened slowly, sat back down, and crossed his arms over his chest. He clasped his biceps and looked more formidable than ever. "I do what I have to in order to protect my father."

  "From me and my seventy-two-year-old, white-haired grandma?"

  Silvey splayed a hand over her chest, then shook her head and continued. "You've worked very hard to protect your father, and that's admirable. I would certainly do the same." At the swift hardening of his features, she realized she was taking the wrong approach and hurried to add, "The problem is, you've got the wrong people."

  "I have proof." From his pocket, he drew a folded piece of paper.

  With exact gestures, he opened and smoothed it, then handed it over.

  Silvey cast him a suspicious glance, but accepted it. It was a photostatic copy of a typed letter. Her gaze flew down to find the identical twin of her grandmother's signature at the bottom.

  Uneasily, she studied it, then her eyes rose to Dan Wisdom's expectant face. She returned to the letter.

  It gushed, so full of syrupy phrasing she was amazed the paper didn't stick to her fingers. The writer told Lawrence Wisdom how she had admired him through the years, commiserated with him over the breakup of his latest marriage, and asked if they could meet.

  The writer said she worked with a group concerned with a number of environmental and social issues, and asked if he would be interested in joining. Silvey frowned, studying the signature that looked more convincing the longer she gazed at it, and began to have doubts about her adamant denials.

  Grandma had been acting strange lately. She had gone to a trendy hairdresser who cut the long hair she had worn for years in a neat bun. It was now short and sleek. Her closet was filling up with new, chic clothing to go with the stylish cut. Though she had always been in good shape-as a circus acrobat a gain of only a few pounds could make the difference between a successful routine and a bomb-Leila had taken up race walking.

  And, strangest of all, she had begun suggesting Silvey call her by her first name!

  Silvey glanced at Dan, then once again at the letter. Impossible!

  Someone must have used Leila's name and forged her signature; she couldn't possibly have written that letter herself. She was a senior citizen, for goodness' sake! She simply didn't chase men, especially men with the type of unsavory reputation Lawrence Wisdom had. And yet ... that signature looked so real.

  Her face composed, Silvey folded the letter and handed it back.

  Dan returned it to his pocket, propped his elbows on the table, and spread his hands wide as if her agreement was a foregone conclusion. "Well, was I right?"

  His certainty only fuelled hers. "Of course not. My grandmother would never have written anything like that in a million years."

  "You're an obstinate woman, Miss Carlton," he said on a sigh. He glanced away, dropped his hands, and began drumming his fingers on the table. "But there's no point in denying that your grandmother wrote that letter."

  "Why would she write instead of call? They live in the same city."

  "He's a celebrity," her adversary noted reasonably, removing the letter once again and holding it between his fingers. "His number's not listed. Also, he was in California for several weeks, wrapping up a movie."

  "And mopping up his last messy divorce," Silvey supplied sourly.

  Dan hissed an exasperated breath. "Which cost him a great deal of money. Is that what your grandmother wants, too, a nice, fat, divorce settlement?"

  Silvey was so furious she could barely speak. "Absolutely not!"

  Dan shoved back the coffee cup he had been fidgeting with. His gaze seared into hers. "What about you? What are you interested in? As if I didn't know," he snorted. "How do you explain the sizable deposit to your bank account today?"

  Silvey's hot retort died unspoken. How had he known about that?

  She had no answer because she didn't know where the money had come from. "My finances are none of your business," she bluffed.

  "How did you find out all this information about us?"

  His gaze sharpened as if he sensed he was getting somewhere. "As I said, I was away. My father's housekeeper picked up my mail, checked on my house. When I dropped by Dad's place to get my things, that letter was mixed up with my mail. And when I showed it to him, he confessed everything."

  "Confessed, hmm? Was that before or after you used the thumbscrews on him?"

  Dan's jaw became as hard as granite. "I'm protecting him." He stood suddenly, reached into his pocket, and withdrew several bills which he threw on the table. "There's only one way to solve this. We'll go ask your grandmother."


  He started from the restaurant. With a squeak of protest, Silvey scrambled after him. "Wait a minute. She's probably asleep."

  Dan was at the door by this time, but he glanced over his shoulder.

  "Then we'll simply wake her up."

  "Well, of all the..." she sputtered, but found she was talking to the silently closing glass door. Running after him, she gave the door a stiff-armed shove. She reached the parking lot hot on his heels and discovered that he was parked right beside her.

  "If the house is dark, you're not to wake her," Silvey insisted. "Older people need their sleep." He ignored her as he unlocked his car.

  Surrendering, she threw her hands in the air. "I won't bother to give you directions," she said hotly. "I'm sure you know where it is."

  Beneath the yellow glow of the parking lot lights, she saw him nod.

  "As a matter of fact, I do."

  They both climbed into their cars and Silvey led the way, fuming all the while. Lawrence Wisdom might be in hot pursuit by some female, but it wasn't Leila. Grandma would have told her if she'd begun dating someone. She never dated. Silvey's fertile brain couldn't even form a picture of her grandmother going out on a date, and especially not with someone as famous-or infamous-as Lawrence Wisdom.

  If her car could have operated on the energy produced by Silvey's furious thoughts, she would have flown home. As it was, she zipped down the nearly empty streets and bit back a curse as she pulled onto her own. The driveway of the home she and her grandmother shared, as well as several of their neighbors' driveways, was being resurfaced. Temporarily, they had to park on the street, already packed with cars.

  She managed to find a tight spot to squeeze her little Mazda into.

  Let Mr. Nosey Wisdom find his own place. She jumped out of her car and discovered that to her further irritation, he solved the problem by double-parking directly across from her house.

  Well, fine. Maybe he would get a traffic ticket.

  They met on the front walk of the house and she pointed a finger at him. "I don't know where you got this crazy idea, mister, but we're going to straighten it out right now! My grandmother isn't the type to chase anyone, or write the kind of letter you're flashing around."

  Silvey marched up the walk, flung the door open and plunged inside.

  "She's a woman of principle!"

  Her ringing announcement might have carried more weight if her grandmother hadn't been standing in the middle of the living room kissing a total stranger.

  "Grandma!"

  "Dad!"

  Silvey's gaze shot to the astounded face of the man behind her, then swung back to the couple that had sprung apart as if they'd been halved by a cleaver.

  "Silvanna."

  "Daniel."

  Dan placed his hands on his waist and said, "Well, now that we've established everyone's identities, why don't you run through a couple of quick explanations, Dad?"

  Silvey could only stare helplessly while Leila smoothed her fluffed hair, pursed her kiss-swollen lips, and straightened the blue cotton top she wore over her new designer jeans. "I'd like you to meet Lawrence Wisdom."

  Silvey finally found her voice as she stared in bewilderment. "I get the impression we should have met some weeks ago."

  "Dad, you promised to go slowly this time." Dan ran his hand through his sandy hair in a gesture so harsh he should have plucked out every strand.

  The tall, handsome man with the thick mane of white hair, piercing blue eyes, and a trim waist looked so offended that guilt surged through Silvey. She quickly reminded herself that he was a professional actor. Manufactured emotions were his stock in trade.

  His answer came out in ringing tones. If he'd been onstage, he could have been heard in the back row of a distant balcony. "Son, I am going slowly. My beautiful Leila and I have known each other for an entire month and we aren't even engaged yet." He turned to Silvey and swept her a courtly bow. "Miss Canton, it's a pleasure to meet you at last."

  Silvey dropped her purse onto an overstuffed chair and sank down beside it with a groan of despair. "Oh, Grandma." Everything she had told Dan Wisdom, every impassioned defense had turned out to be a lie. When she looked at his face, though, he didn't look happy at being proven right. In fact, he looked as sick and frustrated as she felt.

  That silly, sappy letter he had shown her really had been written by her scatty grandparent. What could Leila have been thinking when she had begun pursuing a man like this? Silvey looked up at Lawrence's face as he confronted his son. He was still a goodlooking devil, appearing years younger than what she knew him to be.

  "What are you doing here, anyway, Daniel?"

  "Proving to Miss Canton that the two of you have a thing going," he answered. "Dad, after all you told me earlier, did you think I wouldn't look into it?"

  Lawrence Wisdom's brows drew together and he shifted his feet uncomfortably, but he seemed to be without an answer.

  Silvey watched as Leila smiled and stepped forward to take Lawrence's arm. "This is your son? The college professor?"

  Silvey looked at him in surprise. College professor?

  "Yes, this is Daniel." Pride rang in the older man's voice. There was obviously a great deal of affection between the two of them. She could admire that if she let herself. But she wouldn't, she decided, straightening her shoulders.

  No matter what Dan might think of Leila, someone had drilled manners into him. He shook the hand Leila offered as his serious gaze searched her face intently. "How do you do?"

  "Lawrence speaks so highly of you, my dear. Of your intelligence and dedication to your job. He's quite proud of you."

  Dan gave his father a long-suffering look. "Yeah, well, he's quite a specimen, himself."

  Leila's hands fluttered to her waist. "Oh, well, yes, he certainly is."

  Amazed to see her feisty, outspoken relative at a loss for words, Silvey rose. "Mr. Wisdom," she began, speaking to Dan.

  "It's Dr. Wisdom," his proud parent broke in.

  "Dr. Wisdom," she corrected. "It appears that perhaps you were right and I was wrong." She gave him a quick look, then glanced away. She didn't know what to make of all this. She wished the two men would leave so she could collect her thoughts.

  "So it seems." Dan answered her with another piercing look, then turned to his father. "Dad, we'd better go now. We need to talk, and I think Miss Carlton wants to speak to her grandmother."

  "Oh, of course," Lawrence said, and reached for Leila's hands. He drew her forward, and kissed her once again.

  Silvey glanced at Dan, who was watching the older couple with a closed expression. Giving her a dismissive look, he stepped to the door, swung it open, and held it, allowing a warm breeze in. Fingers drumming the knob, he waited for his father, who finally parted from Leila, said goodnight to Silvey, and stepped outside.

  Dan didn't look back or say goodnight, and neither did Silvey.

  As the men's steps faded down the walk, Silvey rounded on Leila, hands on hips. "Why didn't you tell me about this, Grandma?"

  "Leila," she corrected with a saucy grin.

  Silvey closed her eyes and prayed for patience as her grandmother walked over to fluff the sofa cushions. Her full lips pulled together as she imagined what kind of activity had crushed them. "All right, Leila. Why didn't you tell me you had met this man?" She recalled the letter. "Chased this man?"

  Leila sat down and folded her hands. "Several reasons," she admitted. "I didn't know how you'd react to a man in my life. After all, you were very close to your grandfather."

  Silvey nodded, still frowning. "Yes, but I would have understood, or tried to. Besides, it's been five years."

  "Also, I wanted to see where things would lead...."

  "I've got an idea where they're leading," Silvey sputtered, eyeing the sofa.

  Leila gave her a quelling look, reminiscent of her usual iron will. "All right, maybe I wanted to keep it to myself for a while."

  To savour falling in love again. Silve
y didn't need to hear the words to know it was true. There was a softness about Leila that she hadn't noticed before.

  "But why Lawrence Wisdom, of all people? He's had a battalion of wives!"

  Clearly affronted, Leila drew herself up. "Don't be ridiculous. Those silly young things were merely ego-flattering diversions. Trophy

  wives. They only wanted alimony from him. I've already told him I have no interest in his money."

  Silvey's eyes widened. "But you do! What Dan said is true, isn't it?

  The money you got for me to buy the shop was from Lawrence, wasn't it?"

  "Yes." Leila examined her nails, lacquered in bright fuchsia polish, then she gave Silvey a troubled look. "Lawrence said he had told his son about the wonderful investment he had made today, but the boy stormed out without waiting for an explanation."

  And stormed straight over to Silvey's shop. Thoughtfully, she pinched her bottom lip between her thumb and forefinger. No wonder Dan had been upset.

  Seeing that Silvey was worried about Lawrence's loan, Leila went on.

  "To him, it's an investment. You'll pay him back."

  "Of course, but..."

  "No buts about it. It's a straightforward business deal. His attorney will draw up a contract and you and I will hire one to look it over."

  It sounded good, but Silvey wasn't sure. How could she accept a loan from Lawrence Wisdom? She didn't even know him.

  Leila studied Silvey's frown. "Don't worry, honey. Although you never see it in the tabloids, Lawrence has helped a number of young entrepreneurs get started

  "But did he date their grandmothers?" "It's business!"

  "With a few fringe benefits."

  "Yes, a few. For me."

  Silvey stared at the soft joy glowing in her grandmother's face.

  Uncomfortable before it, she stood and mumbled something about needing sleep. She walked slowly to her room..

  This was going to take some adjustment-and she wasn't the only one who would have to adjust. Dan Wisdom would, too. Thinking uncomplimentary thoughts about men who threw around words like "gold digger" and "opportunist," she began getting ready for bed.