Page 9 of First Date: Divorce
“Good.”Ellyn added another note to her list.“We’ll need a cake.I’ll do that.Nothing too frivolous, not for you two, yet a bit unexpected.And fun.Definitely fun.What else?”
“Music,” Rebecca said with a slanted look at Luke that spoke of history.Luke slid his hand under the table and Eric would wager it ended up on Rebecca’s leg.
“We don’t need music for—” K.D.started.
“Video,” Rebecca inserted firmly.“You have to have a wedding video along with photo albums.Marriage-Save expects that.We’ll need to get photos and video on your phones and social media we set up for you, too.Beyond Kendra’s formal shots from the wedding.”That drew syncopated nods from around the table.“As for a dress, I have a few possibilities with minimal alterations.Except the length.”
“I can shoot around the length,” Kendra said.
“Decorations,” Daniel said.
“Right.Let’s hear ideas,” Ellyn suggested.
Eric heard the snatches of conversation from K.D.Hamilton’s point of view, and knew it had to be confusing.
Too bad, K.D.Hamilton.You could fix this by saying you won’t participate.
He had absolutely no obligation to clear things up for her.
… and then he opened his mouth, near her ear, and what came out was, “Far Hills is the Susland family ranch.Each of the four branches has a share — Kendra and Daniel, Grif and Ellyn, Rebecca and Luke — he’s also foreman— and Marti and Robert, who aren’t here.”
She turned her face at that.“How are you tied into this close-knit group?”
The first surprise was she’d apparently absorbed all that detail.
The second surprise was how close their faces were.Close enough to…
He eased back with a shrug.“Known Cully and Grif for years.That’s why they thought of me when Ellyn found out about Marriage-Save.”
“What did she find out?”
The woman in question might have heard their low-voiced exchange, because at that moment, she spoke up.
“Do you all have enough ideas to get started on arrangements for Thursday?”She looked around the table.
Affirmative murmurs rose.“Makes it a lot easier when the couple leaves it all up to us,” Rebecca said with a grin.
“Great, then you all get started on the wedding and we’ll—” Ellyn gestured to the group that had met in Grainger’s office.“—start on the divorce.”
*
“Ms.Griffin,” K.D.said, as the outside door closed behind the others, leaving the group from the office, along with Grif.“What did you hear that made you suspicious of Marriage-Save?”
“Please, call me Ellyn, K.D.You sound like a law enforcement officer when you call me Ms.Griffin.It started with a friend of my mother’s who’d worked there in housekeeping for nearly a year,” Ellyn said.“She kept saying something washinky.”
“Nothing more specific than that?”K.D.asked.
“No.And, in fairness, this friend is not the most reliable source.But I suppose that stuck in the back of my head when I encountered one of the first brides married here at Far Hills Ranch.She said they’d hit a rough spot after he changed jobs.They went to Marriage-Save for the same program you and Eric will attend, and before she knew it, they were embroiled in a contentious divorce.
“Shortly after, we had three couples in a row want to use Far Hills Ranch for second weddings whose first marriages ended in divorce after a stay at Marriage-Save.We said no because we want to keep this operation small and we didn’t know any of the people.But I began to ask around.I have a list of fourteen divorced couples with similar experiences.They have two things in common.”
Ellyn looked at Eric, inviting him to explain.K.D.turned to him.
“They’ve all been to Marriage-Save and the same divorce lawyer is involved every time.Not me,” he added, amusement emerging despite himself.“I checked into her track record.It went from so-so to darned impressive, coinciding precisely with Marriage-Save coming to Bardville.”
“We’ll keep looking into her, while you two are at Marriage-Save,” Tal Bennett told K.D.
“We’ll also do background checks on Marriage-Save employees,” Cully said.
