Dale added, “Asher and Emily have an announcement.”
Lance joked, “She’s pregnant.”
Emily laid a hand on her very round stomach. “It shows?” Emily asked with a laugh.
Lance watched Asher smile simply because Emily had and envied his brother for a moment. He’d never wanted to follow in his brother’s footsteps. In fact, there had been a time when he’d wondered if he had enough in common with Asher to bother to see him more often than at the holidays and during the one week each year when his family gathered to mourn the loss of Kenzi’s twin. That feeling had changed since Asher had gotten engaged. Emily had brought out a softer side of his brother, as well as dragged his family together twice a month for what she called game nights. At first everyone had attended them simply because doing so had made their mother happy. Over time, though, it seemed to bring them closer. Emily had done that, as well as brought life to Asher’s eyes that hadn’t been there before.
Lance didn’t put much faith in the idea of love, but he could tell his brother did. It was the ability to believe that any of this would last that Lance envied. In concept love was a beautiful thing, but in reality it was fragile and short-lived. Nothing an intelligent man invested too much of his time or energy into. Most relationships fell to pieces in less than a year.
He hoped Asher and Emily were the exception.
Asher put his arm around Emily. “Emily and I have been dragging our feet regarding the location for our wedding.”
“As long as it happens before the baby arrives,” Dale said.
Sophie clasped her hands together. “I’ve offered to help you.”
Glancing up at Asher, Emily added, “And we appreciate that, but weddings are really stressful. We had my museum opening and the groundbreaking on the school in New Hampshire.” She rubbed her baby bump. “Plus this little one. I’m exhausted.”
Asher kissed Emily on the temple then said, “We hope you’ll understand when we say we eloped. Emily and I are married. We had a small, private ceremony the last time we were in New Hampshire, and we’d like to consider tonight our wedding reception.”
Collectively there was a hesitation as everyone waited for how Sophie would handle the news. Even though her children were all adults, her mood and reaction still set the tone for everyone around her. Kenzi had recently shaken the family up by breaking her silence about something she’d held in out of deference to their mother. Lance was proud of her for finding her voice. It was ironic that the youngest of them had become the boldest.
Braver than the rest of us.
Sophie covered her cheeks with both hands and rose to her feet. “I would have loved to see the ceremony, Emily, but I’m so happy I can finally, officially, call you my daughter.”
Emily stood and the two exchanged an emotional embrace.
Lance met Grant’s relieved gaze from across the table. They were both thinking the same thing: That could have gone either way.
Ian was the first to walk over and congratulate Asher. Their father was sporting a huge smile when he walked over to hug Emily and then Asher.
Even Dax, someone Lance had initially struggled imagining as part of the family, shook Asher’s hand and seemed genuinely happy for him. Kenzi was out of her seat, bubbling over in excitement.
Grant rose to his feet to congratulate the happy couple and Lance followed. He pushed aside the way his brother’s happiness made him feel about his own life and clapped Asher on the back then hugged Emily. “One sister was rough. What will I do with two?”
In response to being called his sister, Emily burst into tears. “I’m sorry I’m bawling, but I am so grateful to be part of this family. You have no idea how much all of you mean to me.”
Asher hugged his new wife to his side and kissed the top of her head. “You mean every bit as much to all of us.”
Dale looked around at his children and nodded in approval. “You do, Emily. You’ve been a real gift to this family.”
Sophie slid beneath her husband’s arm and hugged him. She smiled up at him. “One of our babies is married.”
Asher shook his head and Emily wagged a finger at him. Asher arched an eyebrow in challenge, and she blushed. Lance looked away when the couple’s expressions revealed they were having a very intimate, albeit wordless, conversation.
Dale nodded at Kenzi. “Now you, young lady, will break my heart if you rob me of the opportunity to walk you down the aisle.”
Kenzi glanced up at Dax then at her father. “Don’t worry, Dad, I want a big wedding. Huge. Dax and I have already started planning it. It’ll be down in Clearwater, Florida, on one of Clay Landon’s properties. I can’t wait to show you the place.”
Emily looked down at her stomach again. “Are you sure you still want me in your wedding party?”
Kenzi nodded vigorously. “We can wait until after the baby is here. I don’t mind. I’m thinking that a beach wedding in late spring would be beautiful.” She glanced at her fiancé. “Dax?”
“If we leave married I’ll be happy with whatever, wherever, and whenever.”
Her level of confidence in something Lance didn’t believe in made him uncomfortable enough that he excused himself from the conversation. He strode out of the house onto the steps that led to the driveway. He’d never smoked, but he wished for a moment that he did. It would have given him a reason to need to step outside. He sat on the top step and hung his hands between his knees, neither analyzing his feelings nor successfully shaking them off enough to go back inside.
A few minutes later, the door behind him opened. “Mind if I join you?” Without waiting for permission, Kenzi sat down on the step beside Lance. “Are you okay?”
Lance knocked his shoulder against his sister’s then continued to stare out over the cars lined up in the driveway. “I’m fine. I just needed some air.”
Kenzi shoved her shoulder against his and said, “If I’ve learned anything from being with Dax, it’s that honesty, however uncomfortable it may make a situation at first, is always better. Tell me whatever is bothering you is none of my business, but don’t lie to me and say you’re fine.”
Lance let out an impatient sigh and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not lying. There’s nothing wrong.”
In a quiet voice, Kenzi said, “I don’t believe you.”
Lance ruffled his sister’s hair as he had when they were much younger. “So serious. Stop looking for issues where there are none. It was getting stuffy inside.”
“I can see how you’d want to come out here and cool off in this ninety-degree weather. I’m melting.”
Lance stood and offered his sister his hand. “Me, too.”
Kenzi took his hand and held on to it even once she was standing. “I love you, Lance, and how you feel matters to me. When you do want someone to talk to, remember I’m here for you. Always.”
Lance gave Kenzi a quick hug. “Come on, squirt. Let’s go in.”
Just before they opened the door, Kenzi said, “Clay came over for dinner last night.”
Lance tensed. “And?”
“He said the two of you had had a falling out.”
“More of a difference of opinion.”
“He implied he wouldn’t be working with you on the Capitol Complex.”
“That’s right.”
“What happened?”
Lance opened the door of the house and held it while Kenzi walked through. “It was a miscalculation on my part to involve him in the project. He’s flashy where I’m practical. Our visions for the complex wouldn’t have melded well.”
Once inside the house, Kenzi turned and blocked Lance’s entry. “It sounded like more than the complex.”
Lance closed the door impatiently behind him and stepped around Kenzi. “Drop it, Kenzi. I don’t want to talk about it.” He started walking away.
Kenzi put a hand on one hip. “Willa called last night while Clay was there.”
Lance stopped but didn’t say anything.
&nbs
p; “She asked Dax if he still had a job for her. I thought you should know that Clay jumped in and said he has a position that would be perfect for her.”
I bet he does. Lance’s temper rose, and his hands fisted at his sides. He slowly turned on his heel back to face his sister. “Did she take it?”
“She hasn’t decided, but she’s going for an interview with him tomorrow.”
“What is she thinking? He has a handful of employees, but no company. As far as I know he flits around the globe, choosing his projects on whims.”
“However he does it, he’s successful at it. Travel was something he highlighted as a perk of working for him. Willa hasn’t been many places. He said he’d love to change that.”
I’ll kill him. Lance realized he’d made a growling sound deep in his throat when both of his sister’s eyebrows flew up.
With rounded, innocent eyes, Kenzi added, “Willa has always had an artistic eye. Someone like that might be useful on your project.”
