Читать книгу Death of a Wicked Witch - Lee Hollis - Страница 16

Chapter 10

After some reassurance from the short, bearded doctor they met earlier that Trudy would make a full recovery, Hayley finally headed home. It was already past ten at night, and she was hoping to get to bed right away.

When she pulled into the driveway, she noticed all the lights upstairs were off, and when she entered the kitchen and was greeted by an excited Leroy jumping up and down with his tail wagging, she could hear someone in the living room watching an opinion show on a cable news channel. After grabbing a doggie treat from the cupboard and tossing it to Leroy, Hayley wandered down the hall to find Conner slouched in one of the recliners, relaxing in sweatpants and a T-shirt. He clutched a half-empty bottle of water in his free arm, the one not in a sling.

He sat upright, startled, when Hayley suddenly appeared as if he had not heard her come into the house. “How is she?”

“Doing better.” Hayley sighed. “They say she has to stay overnight for observation, but the doctor thinks he’ll be able to release her sometime tomorrow.”

“What a scare,” Conner said, shaking his head.

Hayley nodded, still not quite believing that someone—as in Cloris Fennow—would deliberately poison her chief food truck competitor.

It just didn’t seem real.

Cloris was many things, but a poisoner?

“You heading up to bed?” Conner asked before taking a swig of his bottled water.

“After I take Leroy out for a quick walk around the block.”

Leroy’s ears perked up at the mention of his name.

“Mind if I join you?” Conner asked.

The question surprised Hayley. Not that she didn’t want him coming along, she just realized that she had never really been alone with Conner, or had any kind of meaningful conversation without Gemma present.

“No, of course not. Glad to have the company,” Hayley said.

Conner jumped out of the recliner and bounded into the kitchen to grab his sneakers, which he had left near the back door. Leroy was running around in circles now, unable to contain himself as it became clear there was a lot of activity happening that indicated they were going out. When Hayley grabbed his leash from the hook next to the laundry room, he nearly took flight he was so beside himself with excitement. It took Conner a few minutes to get his shoes on as he only had the use of one good arm. After struggling a bit, Hayley decided to help him out by kneeling down and tying his laces.

A few minutes later, they were strolling down the sidewalk side by side, Leroy a few feet ahead, straining to break into a run but held back by his leash.

Hayley glanced at Conner, who was keeping stride next to her, an intense look on his face, which was illuminated by the streetlamp they were walking past. Hayley knew he had something on his mind, but she waited for him to speak first.

After about half a block, Conner cleared his throat, kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead, and said quietly, “There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.”

“Okay...” Hayley said tentatively, still clueless as to what might be coming.

“I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and I didn’t want to move ahead with anything until I had your blessing . . .”

Hayley didn’t respond. She was thoroughly confused. But then he just came out with it.

“I want to marry your daughter.”

The shock of his words caused Hayley to drop the leash and Leroy bolted ahead of them, the tags on his collar jangling in the night breeze.

“Leroy, get back here!” Hayley cried.

Leroy ignored her and kept running.

“Leroy!”

Finally, Leroy stopped and sniffed some grass on a lawn, allowing them to catch up to him and get a hold of the leash that he had been dragging along behind him.

“I take it you didn’t expect that,” Conner said with a wry smile.

“To be honest, no, I didn’t.”

“Do you think it’s too soon?”

Hayley shook her head, still stunned. “No... I...”

“I’ve already spoken with her father.”

“You called Danny?”

“Yes, to formerly ask for her hand in marriage.”

Hayley had not realized just how old-fashioned Conner was. Asking permission from both parents before proposing seemed like a throwback to another era.

“Luckily he got on board right away and granted me his permission. But he also strongly suggested I run it past you as well.”

“Wise advice,” Hayley said, chuckling.

They walked in silence for a few more seconds. Hayley’s mind was reeling. How could Gemma and Conner be on such different pages? How could he not on some level suspect Gemma’s general dissatisfaction with the relationship? How could one person be on the verge of ending it while the other one was on the verge of making it official?

Conner winced, his shoulder causing him some pain and discomfort. Then he scratched his chin nervously, furtively looking at Hayley, trying to judge her feelings about this major decision.

For Hayley’s part, she was just trying to stay calm and not do or say anything that would break her daughter’s confidence and upset the situation.

“So... ?” Conner finally asked.

Hayley thought long and hard before finally responding. “If Gemma wants to marry you, then you have my full support.”

Not exactly a glowing endorsement, but it would have to do in a pinch.

Conner breathed an audible sigh of relief. “Great. Now I just hope she says yes.”

Hayley tried giving him an encouraging smile, but it was hardly genuine since she was now full of dread. Gemma was going to be blindsided by a marriage proposal, and Hayley was now in the uncomfortable position of having to decide whether or not she should at least warn her daughter that one was coming her way at breakneck speed.