Willa tried to smooth the situation over. “We just had the most marvelous tour of Emily’s museum.”
Dale’s smile returned. “That’s fantastic. We’re very proud of our newest daughter.”
“Then you should probably let her in, Dad. It’s hot as hell out here,” Asher said, with one arm around his wife’s waist.
Emily laughed. “I’m planning my next pregnancy for the winter months. This is horrid.”
“Next?” Asher asked in a fake shocked voice that had everyone chuckling.
“Come in. Come in,” Dale said, opening the door wide. “Asher, why don’t you take Emily and Willa to the living room? Everyone else is already here.”
Lance expected Asher to do just that. Despite how assertive each of the Barrington sons were in the business world, they bowed to Dale’s authority. It might have been different if he used brute force to try to control them, but he never had. He lived his life with dignity and expected his children to do the same. There was no worse feeling than being the reason Dad’s head shook with disappointment. He spoke softly, argued rationally, and when all else failed, he implemented his dark weapon—guilt.
None of his children wanted to be the reason their mother had a second nervous breakdown and although he’d never outright said they could be, the implication was always there. Lance and his siblings came home when asked to and whenever their mother was around they acted like the happy family she needed them to be.
Kenzi was the only one to challenge that unspoken doctrine. She’d put her pent-up anger and her pain right out there for all to see. She’d demanded a more honest relationship with Sophie and was doing her best to cultivate one. There was a beauty in her courage that rocked the Barringtons like an earthquake. Kenzi challenged the relationships her brothers had both with their parents and with each other. Could they be themselves and still be a family?
The people we allow into our lives change us. Asher was no longer self-absorbed and distant. Emily had brought out a softer side of him Lance had never imagined existed in his brother.
Asher surprised Lance by saying, “Em, you and Willa head in. We’ll be just a minute.”
Had they been alone, Lance would have assured Willa that everything would be fine. He wasn’t entirely sure, though, that it would be. He released her hand and nodded for her to go with Emily. She didn’t look like she wanted to leave him, but she did.
Once the women were out of earshot, Lance raised an open hand in request. “Dad, before you say anything . . .”
Standing shoulder to shoulder with Lance, Asher cut in, “Lance has always had a good head on his shoulders. He wouldn’t bring Willa home if he wasn’t serious about her.”
Lance continued, “Today is important to me. It’s important to Willa. I don’t want to hide that I’m with her.”
“He shouldn’t have to,” Asher said in steely voice Lance had never heard him use with his father. “He’s a grown man, and Willa is a wonderful woman.”
With a sideways look, Lance said, “I can handle this, Asher.”
Asher shrugged, but stayed at his side. “Just be clear about what you want, Lance.”
Lance looked skyward. “That’s what I’m doing.”
“Tell him that you understand the risk, but what you feel for Willa makes this necessary.”
“How do you feel about her?” his father asked in his deep, don’t feed me nonsense tone.
“I don’t know yet, Dad—”
“I would have gone with something more definitive,” Asher added dryly.
“But I know I want to give whatever we have a real chance. I want to lay a strong foundation for it. She needs to know that I care about her. That’s the reason I brought her today. If that upsets anyone, they’ll have to get over it.” Lance ended his impassioned explanation by crossing his arms over his chest. He braced himself for his father’s reaction. Willa deserved to feel valued, no matter where their time together led. He refused to feel badly about bringing her home as a way to do that.
His father blinked slowly a few times as if processing the scene before him. “Asher’s right, Lance. You’ve always made sensible choices. Willa’s a sweet woman who has been a good friend to your sister. I’m proud of you for treating her as you are.”
Lance nodded and relaxed. He doubted his father would approve of how he planned to spend the next couple days with Willa, but that was one topic that didn’t require disclosure.
“Are we good?” Asher asked.
Dale made a pained face. “I had a question for Lance which was the reason I wanted a moment alone with him.”