Kenzi squared her shoulders. I’m going to hear it sooner or later anyway, so why not now? “I should go talk to him. I won’t be long, okay?”
“Take all the time you need,” Willa said.
“Hey, there’re three of us. If he gives you trouble we can take him,” Lexi said with a wink.
“It’s Lance,” Kenzi said in resignation to her fate. “He won’t yell at me, he’ll just tell me all the reasons this wasn’t a good idea and possibly suggest some ways we could squash the story before the media picks it up.”
Willa looked from Lance to Kenzi. “We’ll squash him if he is anything but supportive.”
Kenzi chuckled at Willa’s uncharacteristically aggressive comment. Most people were intimidated by her brothers, but Lexi and Willa never had been. That was one more reason Kenzi loved them. “I’ll be right back.”
The students had left by the time Kenzi made her way over to where her brother was standing. Kenzi prepared herself for whatever Lance would say. No matter how angry or how disappointed he was in her, she couldn’t let it diminish how good she felt about what she’d just done. She stopped a couple feet from him. “Lance, before you say anything—”
Lance raised a hand and cut her off. His face was tight with anger. “How could I have not known? How could none of us have known?”
Kenzi shrugged helplessly. He’d heard her how and why. She didn’t have answers beyond that.
“Dean knew, didn’t he? That’s why he—”
Kenzi nodded wordlessly.
Lance blinked twice, and his eyes looked glassy for a moment. “Kenzi, I don’t know what to say.”
Kenzi sniffed as her own eyes misted. “I had to do this, Lance.”
With his hands clenched at his sides, Lance said, “I know. I mean, it all makes sense now. Dad asked us to give you some space to figure some stuff out. This is what you were figuring out, isn’t it?”
Kenzi made a little face. “Yes.”
“Dad thought it was about your birthday, because we didn’t celebrate it.”
Typical that my father thinks I’m worried about something that superficial—that narcissistic. Why wouldn’t he? What have I ever done that mattered? When have I ever looked beyond myself?
“That did bother me, Lance, but it was all entwined with this. I feel badly that I didn’t tell the family first, but I knew someone would try to stop me. I don’t want to live a lie anymore. I don’t want to be perfect anymore. I want to get angry sometimes and not worry that everything will fall apart if I raise my voice. I want to cry when I’m sad. Say what I want to say. Outside of our family people fight and forgive each other. They work things out. They don’t hide everything they feel. I want to be like that, Lance. I tried the other way, and it was killing me. I know no one will be happy with what I did today, but I hope you respect that I had to do it.”
Lance rubbed a hand roughly up his jaw. “Okay.”
In surprise, Kenzi asked, “That’s it? Okay? What does that even mean?”
Lance raised and lowered a shoulder. “It means I understand why you’re doing this, and you have my support. If you need me to explain it to Mom and Dad, I will.”
Kenzi clasped her hands in front of her as the love she had for her brother doubled. “No, I’ll do it. The hardest part is behind me. I’m not afraid anymore.”
He hugged her, and Kenzi took a moment to savor the calm before what would surely be a storm later with her family. She stepped back and said, “Lexi and Willa are taking me to lunch. Would you like to join us?”
Lance glanced over at her friends. “The way Willa is glaring at me I probably shouldn’t. You go and enjoy yourself. I have to get back to the office.”
A quick look confirmed that Lance had put the right name on the right twin. “She was just worried you’d say something to upset me.”
Lance winked at Willa. “Tell her if she keeps frowning at me like that I’ll stop considering her the prettier one.”
With the tension falling away, Kenzi looked back at her two friends and said, “May I suggest you never have that conversation with either of them?”
Lance smiled, agreed, and left. Tempting as it was to tell Willa what Lance had said, Kenzi kept it to herself. If there was one thing she’d learned over the years, it was that comparisons between twins were never welcomed.
Kenzi spent a very enjoyable lunch with her friends at a sandwich shop near her house. She was tired when she said goodbye to them early in the afternoon, but she felt as if a huge weight had lifted from her. With that weight gone, she knew she could handle her family’s reaction. She checked her mail on the way in and saw an envelope with just her name on it. She knew the handwriting.
Dax.
She tore the envelope open. The only thing written on the inside was an address. His?
Her hands were shaking as she dialed his number. “Dax?”
“How did it go?”
“Good. Really good.” She paused. “Did you put a card in my mailbox?”
“Yes.”
“There’s nothing on it but an address.”
“I know. I wrote it.”
With her heart beating with excitement, Kenzi asked, “What’s at that address?” You?
“You’ll have to go to find out. I suggest you go soon, though.”
“Should I take anything?” Wear anything?
“No, but call me later.”
Call him? So he’s not going to be there? Disappointment swept through her. “It’s been a long day, Dax. I don’t know. I appreciate whatever it is, but—”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” Kenzi said without hesitation.
“Then go.”
Dax was sitting at his desk still smiling a few minutes after he’d hung up with Kenzi. With Kate’s help, he’d found a privately owned pet shop on Newbury Street and paid it to close for the day. Although the shop had claimed to have several breeds on hand, Dax wanted to make sure Kenzi was able to find exactly what she wanted, so he had several litters with impeccable pedigrees brought over from local breeders. Money was no option, and Dax was confident Kenzi would leave there with a new friend.
He couldn’t wait to see if she chose one of the tiny dogs women often stuck in purses or a large breed that would protect her apartment. Whatever she chose, she’d have the dog he knew she’d wanted since childhood.
“Mr. Marshall?” Kate asked.
“Yes.”
“Can I have a raise?”
Dax shook his head to clear it. “What was that?”
“You look so happy, I figured it might be a good time to ask.”
“Happy, huh?”
His secretary smiled at him. “Very.”
I feel happy. As the words popped into his head, he realized how true they were. In the past he’d done many things that had brought him satisfaction, but he couldn’t remember feeling as good about anything as he felt about getting Kenzi a dog.
“So, I’ll just write a proposal for my increase and have you sign off on it, okay?”
Dax stood and walked over to the window of his office and looked out over the city. He’d convinced himself that the best thing for Kenzi was to stay away from her, but what if that wasn’t true? She said she felt better because he’d listened to her. He felt incredible every time he spoke to her . . . or even thought about her. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe she wouldn’t hate him when it ended. “Sounds good,” he said absently. “Cancel my meeting tonight. I’m leaving early.”
