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.
“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.”