“Ah, then maybe the heat will be off me for once,” Shane said.
Olivia’s blue eyes twinkled mischievously. “I doubt that. You know how gossip runs in this family. It’s all over that you had a pretty good party Friday night. Glad it was you and not me. So tell me, have you recovered?”
“All but my memory,” Shane admitted. Thankfully it was a cool night and the turtleneck he wore hid the telltale mark. “I even cleaned up some so that Cleo won’t throw a fit.”
“A wise move,” Olivia said. “Did Sara and Dad ever call?”
“Yeah, this afternoon. Of course it was like 7:00 a.m. Australian time, and of course Monday there.”
“Ooh,” Olivia said. “Did they even try to give you an excuse?”
“You know. New secretary. It was Easter weekend. That type of thing.”
“Cocktail, sir?” James, the family butler and groundskeeper of over twenty years, approached.
“Water is fine,” Shane answered. “And how is Cindy?”
“She’s fine, sir. I’ll tell her you inquired.”
“He’s so funny,” Shane said to Olivia after James had moved away.
“Unlike Dad and Sara, I can’t imagine a family event without James and his wife,” Olivia replied.
“True.” Besides being the family cook, Cindy had also been Shane’s first nanny. They were practically family. Of course, Lindy wouldn’t agree, Shane thought as he reached for the water James was handing him. She’d say they were employees.
The ringing of a knife tapping a glass interrupted Shane’s momentary bitterness. His attention diverted, he turned to see his cousin Harry holding up a champagne glass. “Everyone, before we go into dinner, Megan and I have an announcement to make. In eight months you’ll be welcoming the newest addition!”
Shane saw his grandmother Henrietta clasp her hands together and hug her husband. Then she went and hugged both Harry and Megan. “I think we need champagne,” Grandpa Joe told James.
“On its way, sir.”
“Congratulations,” Shane said later to his Aunt Lilly, Harry’s mother. His hand still clutched his water instead of the expensive bubbly. Lilly, however, was on her second glass.
“Isn’t it wonderful? First Darci, and now Harry. I’m so thrilled. My dad and mom are so thrilled. Look at them.” Lilly gestured toward Grandpa Joe and Henrietta. “New great-grandbabies on their way. After all, Bethany’s youngest is almost five.”
“Ah, but they’ll be Sanders babies, not Jacobsens,” Lilly’s husband Andrew said as he entered the conversation.
“Oh please, Andrew. My dad doesn’t care about that.”
“No, but you know the old coot wants a great-grandbaby with the surname Jacobsen.”
Lilly shot her husband a look of mock disgust. “My father is not an old coot.”
“I work with him. Yes he is.”
Lilly’s Jacobsen-blue eyes twinkled. She and Andrew had been married for over thirty-five years, and as president of Jacobsen Enterprises, Andrew was Grandpa Joe’s right-hand man. “Okay, I’ll admit he is. But maybe these great-grandbabies will keep him so busy that it’ll stop him from meddling so much.”
Andrew laughed, put his arm around her, and pulled his wife closer to his side. “Nah. I’m sure he’ll just turn his attention to your brother’s children. What do you think about that, Shane? Even though Claire’s the eldest, it’s only you and Nick who can pass on the Jacobsen name.”
“Huh?” He hadn’t been paying attention. Both Lilly and Andrew peered curiously at him.
“You aren’t worried that you’re next in Grandpa Joe’s quest to marry off his grandchildren?” Andrew asked.
Was he next? Grandpa Joe had made no secret of his matchmaking and meddling in Darci’s and her brother Harry’s lives. So was he next? Shane shook his head. Time to put an end to that idea. “You know I love my grandfather, but if he hasn’t been able to get me into the family company, do you really think he can pick my wife? He’ll have better luck with Nick, not me.”
Andrew laughed, which didn’t sit well with Shane. “Are you certain? I wouldn’t put it past him to start with you.”
Great. “I won’t let my guard down.”
Andrew gave Shane a manly pat on the back and Shane had the feeling Andrew knew something he didn’t. “You do that. Be sure you do that.”
“Dinner,” James announced.
AT THE END of the main course, Henrietta leaned toward Shane. As always, his grandmother smelled of fresh lavender. “Isn’t it wonderful news about Harry and Megan? This old house has been too long without tiny babies.”
Not knowing how to respond, Shane simply nodded. His grandmother smiled, and then placed her warm left hand over his right one. “You do know the pressure is going to be on you?”
Not again. “I’m not getting married.”
Henrietta patted his hand. “Oh no dear, not that. My husband thinks I don’t know anything, but there’s a bond between a mother and her son. Do you think Blake doesn’t tell me what’s going on? I know Joe’s been trying to get you to the corporate offices for quite a while. And with Megan’s job opening up, he’s really going to want you. After all, you went to Princeton like he did.”
Shane set his jaw stubbornly. That had been the one and only thing he’d ever done that had pleased his grandfather. “Family is family, business is business. I don’t want to mix the two.”
Henrietta gave him a sympathetic smile. “I know, but your grandfather will never understand that. When he sees what he wants, he goes for it. How do you think he won me all those years ago? Stole me away from Steve Boswell. I didn’t think your grandfather could be the one. But somehow he wormed his way into my life and swept me right off my feet. One day I just realized that although he wasn’t what I’d expected the dream to look like, he was the one that would make it all come true.”
Shane frowned. “Well, I’m not liable to just fall for someone he waves in front of my nose. Love is much more than that.” Isn’t it?
“Of course it is. But love isn’t just a feeling. It’s also a choice. You young people are much more modern these days, so much so that I think you wait for a moment that never comes. Speaking of not coming, what happened to that nice assistant you have? Lindy? I was so disappointed that she wasn’t able to be here tonight. But Joe said he’d ask her why tomorrow.”
That caught Shane’s attention. “Tomorrow?”
“Yes. I think he’s meeting her at 9:00 a.m.”
“Really.” The honeybaked ham that had been dinner flipped in Shane’s stomach.
“Dessert,” James said. He placed a coconut cake confection down. Despite the beauty of the dessert, Shane didn’t think he could tolerate one bite.
Shane stared down the table to where his grandfather sat deep in conversation with Megan. So Grandpa Joe was meeting Lindy tomorrow. Grandpa Joe’s words resounded in Shane’s head. Maybe I should just steal her away from you.
Was that why Lindy had refused to come tonight? Was that why she’d cut him out as a friend? Was she going to Jacobsen Enterprises without him?
Shane’s eyes narrowed. Grandpa Joe was as elusive as an eel when necessary. Shane would just have to wait and ask Lindy tomorrow. After all, she never was very good at hiding things from him.
BY NOON Shane found himself pacing the small confines of the room that served as his and Lindy’s office.