Cinderella's Sweet-Talking Marine. Cathie Linz

occasions, or if he’d simply been so self-involved that he hadn’t cared how she felt. She suspected it was the latter.

      “Then what happened?”

      “Why do you care?” Ellie countered.

      “Because I cared about John and you’re his sister.”

      “I already told you that I don’t need anyone looking after me.”

      “Humor me, okay? What can it hurt, telling me about your marriage? Unless you’re still so in love with the guy that you don’t want to talk about it.”

      “I don’t want to talk about it, but not because I’m still in love with Perry. Oh, I loved him in the beginning. Blindly so. I met him in my freshman English class in college. He asked to borrow my notes and never gave them back. That should have been a clue that Perry was only out for Perry. But he was a sweet-talking charmer. Incredibly good-looking. He swept me off my feet, promised me the world. We got married a few months later and I quit school to support him. Dumb I know, but Perry made it seem like the most responsible plan. He could focus on getting his business degree and then he’d get a great job and I could stay home with the family we wanted. At least I thought we both wanted a family. Perry said he did. He said all the right things. And we were happy in the beginning. Then I got pregnant. That wasn’t part of Perry’s plan. Not until he graduated from college. Even so, he pretended to make the best of things. And I worked until a week before Amy was born.”

      “What happened then?”

      “Perry acted like he was so proud of his baby daughter. He showed off pictures of her to everyone he met. But there were signs that things weren’t going well. We were always short of money. Perry would come up with one get-rich scheme after another. This time, babe, he’d tell me. This time it’s the real thing. But it never was. He graduated from college when Amy was two. A few weeks later we discovered that Amy has asthma.”

      Ellie sighed and sat on the couch, kicking off her sandals to curl her feet beneath her. Talking about her marriage made her feel sad and stupid. “Perry didn’t take the news well. He likes perfection and suddenly Amy wasn’t his perfect little girl any longer. He took off a few months later and we haven’t heard much from him since.”

      Ben sat on the couch beside her. “He doesn’t stay in contact with his daughter?”

      “No. Not really. I keep telling her that her daddy loves her, and he probably does in his own shallow way. But Perry isn’t really capable of loving anyone other than himself.”

      “Is he at least paying child support?”

      He could feel Ellie retreating from him even though she didn’t move. “Look, I shouldn’t have gone on about things the way I did. I never meant to. When I’m tired, my mouth gets away from me sometimes.” She leaned forward. “Can I get you something to drink? A can of soda maybe?”

      “Relax.” His hand on her arm prevented her from leaping up and retreating to the kitchen the way she clearly wanted. “I’m fine.”

      Ben suspected that her refusal to answer his question about child support meant that slimebag Perry wasn’t paying. No surprise there. The guy didn’t sound like the responsible kind. He wouldn’t make a good Marine.

      John had never gone into any detail about his sister’s ex-husband, other than referring to him as a dirtbag and much worse. Ben hadn’t pushed him for more information, that wasn’t his way. He wasn’t sure now that John had known the exact specifics. Ben suspected Ellie had shielded her brother from the worst of what had really occurred in her marriage.

      Ben’s anger at her jerk of an ex-husband made him lose his focus on diplomacy. “You need money. I’ve got money.” He reached for his wallet. “More than I need or could possibly use. Here.” He held out a bunch of hundred dollar bills. “Take it.”

      “I’m not for sale. Not in this lifetime,” Ellie growled, before leaping to her feet and pointing to the door. “Get out!”