Free Love and Shenanigans (Ballybeg, Book 1) (The Ballybeg Series) by Zara Keane Page B

narrowed to mascaraed slits. “What impediment?”
    Gavin’s stiff bow tie was tighter than a noose. “I married Fiona in Las Vegas eight years ago.”
    She turned chalky white under her tan. “What? You married
her
?” She half walked, half stumbled into the room, hampered by the meringue dress. Her blond hair was teased into a bouffant style that, like the dress, engulfed her tiny frame. She looked from Gavin to Fiona, then back to Gavin. “Tell me this is a joke.”
    Sweat gathered beneath the collar of his ridiculous suit. “I wish I could.”
    She slapped him. Despite her petite stature, she delivered a decent hit. “Tell. Me. Everything.”
    He tried to clear the frog in his throat, but his voice still sounded croaky. “Until a few minutes ago, I had no idea the marriage was legally valid.”
    “If you got married, why wouldn’t it be valid?” Her voice was reaching a crescendo.
    His jaw twitched, and his gaze slid toward Fiona. “Because the wedding officiant was drunk, and I paid him off the next morning. A Vegas wedding must be registered within ten days of the ceremony. I gave the guy who married us money not to file the papers.”
    “When did this happen? When we visited Fiona on her
au pair
year?”
    “Yes,” Fiona said. With her pale face whiter than usual, she looked as wretched as he felt. “The rest of you had a falling out with Gavin and left him stranded on Route 64. I collected him, and we headed for Vegas while you went on to the Grand Canyon.”
    The nostrils of Muireann’s button nose flared. “You wasted no time getting your clutches into him. Well, you can’t have him.” She pivoted on a stiletto heel. “Father, surely you’re not taking this seriously?”
    “I can’t perform the ceremony until I’ve confirmed their marriage isn’t valid.”
    She placed a delicate hand on the elderly priest’s sleeve. “Everyone’s here,” she said in an imploring tone. “You have to marry us.”
    “Not if I have reason to believe one of the partners might already be married,” Father Fagin said sternly. “It would be bigamy.”
    Her lower lip trembled, and tears filled her large blue eyes. “But it’s my wedding day. Everything’s ready. Everyone’s here. Everything’s supposed to be perfect.”
    “I’ll fix this,” Gavin said. “I don’t know how, but I’ll fix it.”
    Her tears were falling now, forming jagged lines of color down her face. “I should have listened to my parents. They always said you were beneath me. You’ve wrecked everything.”
    “Muireann—”
    “Don’t ‘Muireann’ me,” she screamed. “Look at the state of you. You stink of mothballs. Where’s the beautiful suit Claudette made for you?”
    He swallowed a treacherous laugh. “Wiggly Poo ate it.”
    “You’re blaming the dog?” She was shaking now, rage emanating from her every pore. “You’re unbelievable.”
    “It’s true,” he said. “Ask Jonas.”
    “Jonas is a writer. He lies for a living.”
    “I had to swing by Nora Fitzgerald’s suit rental place. I’m sorry about the suit, but it was the only one she had in my size and I was desperate.”
    “Desperate is right,” she said, indicating his feet. “So desperate you let her kit you out in one of her husband’s old Elvis impersonator costumes.”
    “What?” Gavin looked down at the suit and the furry boots. Now she mentioned it, they did have an Elvis vibe.
Jaysus
. He was being haunted by Elvis impersonators today, all intent on ruining his life.
    “Tell me, Gavin. Did you sleep with Fiona? Was it a once-off, or did you regularly cheat on me with my first cousin?”
    “He didn’t cheat on you,” Fiona said with quiet determination. “You and Gavin weren’t an item yet.”
    “Why should I believe a word you say?” Muireann snarled.
    “It’s true,” Gavin said. “It was just a one-night stand.”
    Fiona teetered as though he’d punched her.
    Aw, crap
.
    “A one-night stand that ended in marriage,”