The Rented Husband (Southern Nights Series)

Chapter 15

**Edited by krisgee**

“The Rented Husband”


2011 Copyright All Rights Reserved

Chapter 15


                Seth stepped off the elevator, looking for some place to maybe get a drink and relax a little since his wife and kids were napping and paused when he spotted his in-laws, facing each other off.  In the six years that he had known his wife, he had never seen the two of them glower at each other like that.

                He stood there for a long minute and silently debated on what he should do. 

                If he was smart, he would just quietly walk away but then he would have no idea why the two were looking at each other like that.  If he was itching for trouble then he would approach them and take it from there.

                The problem was that now his curiosity was peaked and as a creature of habit he was finding it hard to ignore that nagging curiosity.

                “Ah hell,” he muttered, already knowing what his decision would be.  I must be a glutton for punishment, he thought to himself, approaching his wife’s parents.

                He put on his biggest smile.  “Ted….Erica, fancy running into you two down here.  I thought you would have been at the pool by now.”

                Ted Murray glanced over at Seth and shoved his hands in his pockets.  "Have you heard the latest news?” he all but growled out.

                “Now, Ted- it’s not all that bad,” his wife rebuffed him.  “You’re just mad because she didn’t consult with you first.”  She straightened her spine and with one look the older woman dared her husband to argue with her.  She was at least two heads smaller than her husband but she wasn’t scared of him in the least.   

                “She’s our daughter,” he argued.  “She should have told us about something as big as that.  Not drop it like a bomb at Caley’s wedding.”

                Erica smacked her lips.  “Did you see the two of them Ted?  Did you see the sparks igniting off them?  They are perfect for each other and you’re just mad because you didn’t have a hand in picking out who her husband was going to be.”

                Seth was slowly starting to put the pieces together as he watched the two converse, his head going back and forth between them like a ball during a tennis match.  He concluded that this had to do with Olivia considering she was the only unmarried daughter and evidently she had gone off and gotten herself hitched without telling her parents about it first.

                That would most definitely be a recipe for disaster.  He knew how protective Ted was over his children, especially his daughters.  He even remembered the arduous interrogations he went through while courting Ashley.

                Ted turned to Seth once again.  “What do you think?”

                His eyes widened.  “Um,” he started, his gaze flitting between the two knowing all too well that this was the part where he usually stuck his foot in his mouth.  Hoping to divert the attention back off of him, he turned the question back on them.  “Think about what exactly?”

                Ted blew out a heavy breath.  “Olivia getting married to that gigolo,” he said, as if Seth should have already known that.