Free Once Upon a Marriage by Tara Taylor Quinn

even tenor over the eighty years of her life, but it still rang with purpose.
    â€œGordon’s back home?” Edith asked, sounding more surprised than pleased.
    â€œYes, I came looking for you when you didn’t come back up immediately, and I found him in your kitchen. He’s taking a nap now. In his own bed. And if you don’t want him in your house, then lock your doors, woman.” She glared at Edith. “You don’t need to go bothering the kids over Gordon. I told you that already. They’ve got enough to do with their jobs and running this place. They saved our lives, and we don’t need to thank them by filling theirs with nonsense we can handle ourselves.”
    With that Grace turned to Marie. “The gunman is in custody.”
    Sweet relief made her weak. “Was anyone hurt?”
    â€œNo. The kiddos are terrified, of course, and their parents, too, but everyone is safe.”
    Uniformed personnel had been all over the scene she’d been watching on television. They’d done their job well.
    â€œAnd no shots were fired?”
    â€œNope.”
    It was over. She could relax.
    Feeling as though she needed a good cry, Marie excused herself back to work.
    * * *
    â€œD ID   YOU   TALK to Marie?” Gabrielle fired the question at Elliott before she’d closed the passenger door of his SUV behind herself. His gut clenched.
    â€œNo. What’s up?” He’d been by the Arapahoe twice that afternoon. Once after he’d dropped his client’s very scared son off at his father’s office. And again after his trip down to the local precinct to fill out paperwork regarding his part in the day’s arrest. Neither time had he gone inside the shop. He’d seen Marie, though, through the window. And when he’d canvassed the neighborhood, everything had seemed fine. Normal.
    Had another threatening letter appeared?
    â€œShe saw you on the news this morning. At that school. She was pretty upset.”
    Oh. It wasn’t another threat. He put the car in gear. “Everyone was pretty terrified,” he agreed. “Thank God it all worked out.”
    Watching in his rearview mirror, he slid out into traffic. Liam couldn’t always be relied upon to wait inside. Which meant Elliott couldn’t be late.
    â€œI heard they caught the guy,” Gabrielle said, her gaze turned in his direction. “They said he was just a kid.”
    â€œYeah, that’s what I heard, too.” Elliott couldn’t say any more than that. Not about the underage alleged perpetrator. Nor about why he’d been there.
    â€œYou were there because of a client?” Gabrielle asked next.
    â€œYes.”
    He caught her nod in his peripheral vision. He liked Gabrielle, respected her, but her penchant for not being chatty didn’t mesh well with his habitual reticence, leaving them in silence.
    â€œMarie was really upset.”
    With a quick glance her way at the words, Elliott pulled into the employee parking garage behind the Connelly Building.
    â€œEveryone was.” He was saved from further awkwardness as he spotted Liam just coming out of the secured door and pulled up to pick up his second charge.
    â€œYou talk to Marie?” Liam asked before the back door of the SUV was closed behind him.
    What was it with these two? They and Marie were close. Elliott knew that loud and clear. A guy could easily feel like the odd man out around the owners of the Arapahoe. If he’d been anything other than a hired professional there to keep them safe. But still...he hadn’t called either of them after the morning’s events, either.
    â€œI already asked.” Gabrielle forestalled Elliott’s response.
    â€œAnd?”
    Catching a glimpse of Liam’s raised eyebrow in the rearview mirror, Elliott said, “No, I haven’t spoken with her. But I’ve checked on the Arapahoe twice.”
    â€œHave you talked to her?”