"Oh, you've met him. Nice guy." Zac replied.
Austin gave him a strange look.
"I, I have?"
"Yeah, sure. He teaches Zoe the trombone remember?"
"Oh! Oh, umm, I wasn't talking about that Mark."
"Which Mark then? I know a few others."
Austin was quiet for a moment.
"Marie's father."
Zac raised an eyebrow.
"Well, now. That's a topic that hasn't come up in years." He said coldly.
"I wouldn't be asking," Austin rushed on, "but Jess had a nightmare about him last night, and, well, I'm worried about her."
Zac nodded slowly.
"He was actually a friend of ours to begin with. One of the few we had that actually went to public school y'know. He, umm, was actually dating my late wife for a few months. We came back from the Albertane tour and he started cheating on her with Jess."
"Oh."
"Jess was coerced into sleeping with him." Zac continued. "And he was abusing her. I, I remember seeing bruises and stuff, and I would ask her about them and she would totally dismiss it."
Austin noted that Zac was visibly upset by the memory.
"We came back from the promo tour for This Time Around, and Ike happened to walk into her room. She had a coat hanger and was about to... well, y'know. Mark happened to be over at the time. When Ike came down and told me... well, that was the last time we ever saw that double-crossing, two-timing, abusive, son-of-a-bitch jerk."
Austin had never heard Zac talk so venomously. Zac gave him a wry smile.
"So, I guess know you know why I've been so protective huh?"
"You had good reason. My, umm, my sister died in a similar situation."
"You had a sister?"
"Yeah. The jerk shot her point blank, right in front of Mom too."
"Oh man, I'm so sorry."
"And like you, it was a guy she met through me." He shook his head sadly. "The only consolation I have is that he's in jail now."
"Does Jess know?"
"I told her I had a sister who died a year or so before we met. All she told me about Mark was that he coerced her."
There was a brief silence.
"I still can't believe you guys'll be getting married in two days."
"Yeah." Austin said with a smile.
Zac clapped him on the shoulder.
"Well, at least I can rest assured you'll look after her." A gleeful smile crossed his face. "So, plan on carrying on the Hanson tradition of having lots of kids?"