Marriage by Mistake

business."
    "Really?" Kirk was still beaming. "And what sort of business are you in, my dear?"
    "Oh." Kelly waved a hand. "I'm a dancer."
    Kirk's smile dropped. For the first time since they'd arrived back home, he came to a dead halt. "A dancer?"
    Dean felt his teeth grind. His father's surprise was way overdone.
    Indeed, eyes wide, Kirk now turned to Dean. "We're not talking about Las Vegas, are we?" His disbelief was enormous. Apparently Kirk knew the whole story.
    "Oh, sure we are." Kelly spoke up cheerily. "On the Strip."
    Kirk rounded on her. "And I suppose you met outside the stage door ?"
    Why not ? It was on the tip of Dean's tongue to say it, to demand Kirk explain why Dean wasn't allowed to meet women outside stage doors. But Kelly jumped in first.
    "Actually, it was by a slot machine," she explained.
    "A slot machine!" Kirk gasped. "You can't tell me my son was gambling!"
    "Oh, no. I mean, it was just a quarter machine," Kelly quickly clarified.
    Kirk put a hand over his heart. Dean felt more annoyed than ever, and that was before Kirk's eyes narrowed on Kelly, before he tried to look, almost, serious. "Tell me, if it's not too much to ask—just how well did you two know each other before you tied the knot?"
    Dean's eyes widened. Now that was the last straw, Kirk playing holier-than-thou. "We knew each other well enough," he claimed, firm. But he caught Kelly's eye. For an instant the truth hit him like a two-by-four. They'd only known each other for two days. Everything Kirk was implying was, well...true. But fine. That—that was still irrelevant. Dean waved an arm, determined to regain control of the conversation. "Why don't you tell us what brought you home, Dad?"
    There was silence around the table then. Even the waiters, who probably didn't understand a word of English, shut up. Dean met Kirk's eyes and smiled. He could easily imagine Kirk's true situation. He'd screwed up his trust fund, his latest wife was suing him, or he was running from an irate mistress. It was no surprise when Kirk backed down.
    "We'll discuss that later," he said, sounding lofty.
    Dean smirked to himself. Oh, he'd just bet they would.
    ~~~
    With dinner done, Kelly felt dazed. Something was happening between Dean and his father but she couldn't tell exactly what. Once the meal was over, Robby glommed onto Kirk and dragged him out of the room, chattering something about a really great video game. The French waiters rushed the table like a pack of piranha, stripping linens and piling china.
    In the midst of all this, Dean remained in his seat, tapping his thumb rhythmically on the table top. "I'm sorry about that," he finally said.
    "Sorry?" Kelly asked. "What do you have to be sorry about?"
    "The hypnosis, how we met—that was all my responsibility. You didn't have anything to do with it."
    Kelly was surprised. Where was this line of thought coming from? And besides— "What do you mean? I fell in—I mean, I decided to go out with you, to marry you. Of course I had something to do with it."
    Dean turned to look at her directly. "You had no idea what you were getting into."
    "Well..." Kelly couldn't argue with that. The man she'd married hadn't told her anything about his real life. But then, he hadn't had much time to tell her anything. She'd just figured they fit.
    And as it turned out, they did.
    Dean rose from his seat with a sigh. "Don't worry. I'll do everything in my power to get Kirk out of here by tomorrow."
    "Well, I—" Suddenly they were talking about Kirk again.
    "He only wants something—money, help with his lawyers, a place to hide. It should be easy enough to gratify him." Dean stretched as though he were perfectly at ease and smiled down at Kelly. "He'll probably come by the study to discuss it with me as soon as he can shake Robby."
    "Oh." Frowning, Kelly rose from her seat, too. "Then I guess...I'll see you later?"
    "Of course." But Dean's casual expression faded. "Don't worry. I won't let Kirk become an issue in our lives."
    Their eyes met. In that moment Kelly saw that, in fact, Kirk was going to be a big issue in their lives. "O-kay," she said slowly.
    Abruptly, Dean smiled again. "Your bedroom tonight?"
    Her bedroom? Kelly halted. They were keeping separate bedrooms? Even after their agreement to 'keep things going?'
    They were going to have to talk about this. Just like they were going to have to talk about Kirk and Dean's problems with him. And maybe they had to talk about the hypnosis, for good