A Fortune's Children's Wedding

by Barbara Boswell

  “All right, I’ll go. Now what haven’t you told me?”

  “You and I won’t be alone for dinner tonight.”

  She tried not to appear disappointed. “Okay.”

  “Don’t you want to know who’ll be joining us?”

  “Could it be…Brandon Fortune? Just a wild guess,” she added unenthusiastically.

  “Smart girl.” Flynt tried to coax a smile from her. “But tonight won’t be a repeat of last night’s awkward trio. Brandon has invited along some new friends he’s made in the city. You know them extremely well—Romina, Sarah and Casper.”

  “Ohhh!” Angelica did not smile.

  “I have to admit, I didn’t exactly jump for joy either, when I first heard.” Flynt reached for her hand. He couldn’t be near her and not touch her. He smoothed his thumb over her palm. “Since the undercurrents at the table tonight will be more like a riptide, I decided to bring along some reinforcements. You know, the more the merrier, there’s strength in numbers. Very applicable clichés.”

  Angelica found it difficult to concentrate; his subtle caress was making her shiver with renewed longing. “You asked somebody else to take part in this surefire fiasco? Who?”

  “Your old friend TJ. I saw him at the police station this morning. He agreed to come along, but he’s under the impression that Mara will also be there.”

  “And how did he get that impression?” Angelica tried to sound cross, but she couldn’t work up any real ire.

  “I guess I gave it to him. Will you convince Mara to come? Then we’ll be a party of eight. Enough people to provide diversions, if need be.”

  “Actually, your safety-in-numbers theory isn’t a bad one,” she conceded. “I’ll talk Mara into coming. If all else fails, I’ll play on her sympathy for Sarah and Casper. The thought of two innocent kids being subjected to an evening with Brandon Fortune ought to do it.”

  “You’re an excellent strategist.” Flynt lifted her hand to his mouth and brushed his lips across her knuckles. “I’ll talk to you later.” He left the office, his stride swift and purposeful.

  “Later,” Angelica murmured wistfully.

  She stood in the doorway of the waiting room and watched him go. He didn’t look back at her. It wasn’t until he had turned the corner and was out of sight that Angelica realized how much she’d wanted him to.

  Flynt sensed tension the moment the Carroll family, accompanied by Mara and TJ, walked into the Plantation Family Restaurant. There wasn’t a smile to be seen among them, and everyone kept glancing covertly at Romina, whose face was a study in fury.

  Even Brandon, not known for his astute observations, realized something was wrong. “Oh, man!” He was already seated at the table they’d reserved for their dinner party. “Romina looks ready to blow sky-high.”

  Flynt’s eyes locked with Angelica’s.

  She made a slicing motion across her throat with her finger, and Flynt had a sudden image of Romina as the volatile Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland ordering, “Off with their heads.”

  “This place is stupid!” Casper announced upon joining them. “I didn’t want to come but she made me.” Her jerked his thumb toward his mother.

  Flynt, always a man of action, decided to step in and head off the inevitable fight. “Romina, did Angelica mention that my company is upgrading computers? I would like to send Casper one of the—”

  “You want to give Casper a computer?”

  “Yes, I talked to Angelica about it at lunch,” said Flynt. It wasn’t hard to guess that his offer didn’t please Romina, judging by her troubled expression.

  Angelica came to stand beside Flynt. “Mama, before you say anything—”

  “Give a computer to a kid who ditches school and spends the day hanging out in a video arcade?” Romina’s voice rose on every word.

  “You skipped school today, Casper?” Brandon chuckled. “I played hookey a time or two myself at your age.”

  Apparently Romina hadn’t. She ranted on about Casper’s various misdeeds, before roundly rejecting Flynt’s offer of a computer. Casper burst into tears.

  “What’s the big deal, Romi?” Brandon looked confused. “We used to ditch school all the time, remember?”

  “Yeah, and look at us! Just take a good look at the both of us! We messed up our whole lives! You think I’d let my kids do what I did? Drop out of high school, spend the rest of their lives having to scrounge for every cent! Let my kids turn out like me? Ha! Not ever!”

  Nobody said much during the decidedly tense dinner that followed.

  “At least the service was fast. We got our food in record time,” Flynt remarked to Angelica as they left the restaurant thirty minutes later. He hung back, catching her hand to keep her at his side as the others filed out.

  “The staff couldn’t wait to get us out here. I think they were expecting Mama to start overturning tables and throwing plates.”

  “Hmm, so was I.”

  “It wouldn’t be the first plate Mama’s ever thrown, although she hasn’t overturned any tables.”

  “Not yet, anyway. It doesn’t seem too far beyond the realm of possibility.”

  Angelica sighed. “I tried to call you to warn you not to mention the computer tonight, especially not after the school called to report Casper’s truancy today. I knew it would make Mama even madder. Unfortunately, you’d already left to come here.”

  “You know, it’s not so awful for a twelve-year-old kid to choose a video arcade over school once in a while, Angelica,” Flynt said calmly.

  “But he’s never done it before.” Angelica looked troubled. “And then he lied about where he’d been. Lately he’s been lying a lot. Mama is so worried.”

  “I noticed.” Flynt’s lips quirked. “But Brandon eggs him on.”

  “He would!” she said, with feeling. “There is an up side to all this, though. If Mama was harboring any sweet, nostalgic pangs over Brandon Fortune, he’s killed them. And since his celebrity-sized ego won’t tolerate Mama calling him a loser, I don’t have to worry about the two of them hooking up anymore.” Angelica was visibly relieved.

  “So you consider this evening a success?” Flynt rested his hands on her waist, enjoying the feel of her supple curves. “Well, I’m glad someone had a good time here tonight. The rest of us were holding our collective breaths, just waiting for the next round of hostilities to resume. It’s hard to enjoy a meal under those circumstances.”

  He happened to look up and see Romina and Brandon at the front of the restaurant. They stood apart, but both of them were staring intently at him and Angelica.

  Their scrutiny made Flynt even more uncomfortable than he’d been during dinner. “I agree with you, Angelica. It’s a good thing Casper’s day off put that pair on opposite sides of the abyss.”

  “Definitely.” Angelica smiled wryly. “Look what happened the last time Romina and Brandon played on the same team—me!”

  Flynt gazed down at her. She was beautiful and strong and smart. Behind her self-protective wall of cool reserve, she was funny and warm.

  Which made him completely rethink his dire Romina-and-Brandon-apocalypse hypothesis. If the two of them could produce Angelica…

  “Do you two want to go to the Have A Nice Day Café with Mara and me tonight?” TJ joined them to issue the invitation. “It just opened last week and is supposed to be cool. Everything is from the seventies, the music and raised lit dance floor with a mirrored ball hanging from the ceiling. There are posters of celebrities from back then plastered all over the walls. It could be fun.”

  Angelica and Flynt looked at each other and quickly looked away, each remembering their previous evening at another nightspot, Swank. The booth. The kisses.

  “We’d better not,” Angelica said quickly.

  “Ah, come on, Angel,” TJ pleaded. “Mara won’t go without you. She’s still not over me going into your mom’s house with the search warrant.”

  “I know that wasn’t your fault, TJ,” Angelica s
aid in his defense.

  “Certainly not,” Flynt agreed. “And if going to this retro place with you will persuade Mara of that, maybe we ought to go along. Although we aren’t really dressed for the seventies, are we, Angel? Nobody is wearing bell-bottoms or platform shoes.”

  “I’d give a lot to see you in bell-bottoms and platform shoes,” Angelica retorted. Flynt hadn’t called her Angel before, and the way he said it was something of a challenge. A dare. Should she go with him?

  She glanced at Mara, who had remained at the door in earnest conversation with Romina. Sarah and Casper were laughing at something Brandon had said.

  “I hope your father isn’t sharing tales of his Hollywood childhood with the kids,” Flynt said, following her gaze. “Casper’s escapade at the video arcade pales in comparison to some of Brandon’s preteen adventures.”

  It was as if he’d read her mind! She supposed their shared confidence today had given each of them a certain insight into the other. She thought of little Mark Corrigan, snatched off the streets near his home and still missing, of Flynt’s grim family life following his brother’s disappearance. But Flynt hadn’t used the tragedy as an excuse to fail; he’d grown into a successful, strong adult. Who could still empathize with a troubled kid like Casper.

  And like her, he didn’t burden himself with fantasies about love and marriage providing all the answers to life’s uncertainties; he didn’t kid himself that loving was a salve to soothe pain. It was a relief to find a kindred spirit.

  Angelica decided then and there to extend their evening together. She wasn’t ready to go home alone, she really wanted to be with Flynt.

  The revelation was both scary and exhilarating.

  “I’ll go tonight,” she said, before she could change her mind. “I’d like to see those old posters, I bet they’re hilarious. And I want to persuade Mara not to hold a grudge against TJ.”

  She couldn’t admit that she simply wanted to spend more time with Flynt. Old habits, like holding back, died hard.

  “Of course,” Flynt said, and tucked her hand into his pocket.

  “I haven’t heard from either you or Brandon in nearly two weeks, Flynt Corrigan.” Kate sounded perturbed. “I was beginning to wonder if the two of you were still in Birmingham or had taken off on a lark for parts unknown. No one has called me, and any time I’ve tried to reach either of you, you aren’t in.”

  “Kate, I—I am so sorry!” Flynt stammered, his face reddening.

  He’d come back to his suite to change clothes for his date with Angelica tonight just in time for Kate’s phone call from Minneapolis. “There is absolutely no excuse for not calling. It’s, um, well—Brandon and I are seldom around the hotel, and when we come in at night, it’s very late, too late to call you, and—”

  “Gracious, listen to you!” Kate laughed, her sense of humor reasserting itself. “You sound like my grandchildren back in their college days, when they would forget to call their parents for weeks on end. There were apologies and excuses, and if I’m not mistaken, next come the abject regrets and fervent promises to do better.”

  “I really am sorry, Kate.” Flynt smiled ruefully. “Consider me abjectly regretful. And I fervently promise to phone you every day.”

  “Heavens, no! I’m on the phone enough as it is, I don’t need daily reports from you. But I have been dying to hear about my granddaughter. As you know, Brandon called me the first night he was in town and said things had gotten off to a shaky start between them. I’d like your impressions and opinions, Flynt. Tell me about Brandon and Angelica.”

  Flynt sat down on the bed, cradling the phone between his shoulder and his ear as he fastened the buttons of his shirt. “You’re going to be very proud of your granddaughter, Kate. Angelica is—” He paused.

  How to describe Angelica to her grandmother?

  It wasn’t as if he didn’t know her well enough to give a detailed description.

  He and Angelica had spent every evening together since his arrival in Birmingham; sometimes they met for lunch in the hospital cafeteria, too.

  Three nights ago, one of her patients had gone into labor and delivered the baby close to midnight. The late hour hadn’t deterred Flynt from stopping by Angelica’s apartment when she got home. He’d arrived with a pizza, knowing she had been in the labor-and-delivery suites for hours and missed dinner.

  It was a quick visit. After eating, Angelica had been so tired he’d left so she could go to bed. But merely spending that short time with her buoyed him; letting a whole day pass without seeing her was unthinkable.

  “Brandon said she was beautiful, that first night he called,” Kate prompted helpfully.

  “Yes, but there’s so much more to Angelica than looks,” Flynt countered, sounding slightly defensive. “I know how important physical appearances are to Brandon, but to simply rave on about Angelica’s beauty is to, uh, to—” He broke off, aware that his heart was pounding and his entire body felt flushed with heat.

  “To lessen the impact of her fine character?” Kate suggested. She smiled widely as Sterling, who was sitting in the room, chortled behind his newspaper.

  “Exactly!” Flynt exclaimed, his tone almost reverential.

  “Are you having any problems keeping up with your company while you’re in Birmingham, Flynt?” asked Kate, ever the businesswoman.

  “No, not at all. I’ve been on trips overseas that’ve lasted longer than this particular sojourn. I have an excellent staff. I call headquarters at least once a day and make good use of conference calls, e-mail and faxes, so it’s been business as usual for SMS.”

  “Good. I’m very glad to hear that, Flynt. Now tell me what I’ve been longing to know. How is Brandon’s relationship with his daughter developing?”

  “Brandon’s relationship with Angelica,” Flynt repeated, stalling.

  It was a tough question, because he wanted to give Kate the answer she so hoped for: that Brandon and Angelica were getting to know each other, that they were making up for all their lost years apart.

  But the truth was, Brandon’s relationship with his daughter hadn’t developed at all. How could it when they never saw each other?

  Which was probably his fault, Flynt silently conceded, since he and Angelica were together every evening.

  They’d sampled a little of everything that Birmingham had to offer. For nightlife, the clubs in the rejuvenated Southside, for culture, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and historic Linn Park and for all-around fun, the Alabama Spots Hall of Fame and the Birmingham Zoo.

  Last weekend Mara and TJ had accompanied them to Oak Mountain State Park, thirty miles south of the city, where they’d rented canoes and paddled around the lake and sunbathed on Oak Mountain Beach.

  Flynt pictured Angelica in her demure, yet incredibly tantalizing, one-piece blue swimsuit and felt his mouth grow dry. He’d been both grateful and frustrated with the other couple’s presence. They had served as an effective restraint against his increasingly powerful need to—

  “Oh, dear, from your long silence, I’m going to assume that Brandon and Angelica haven’t—what’s the popular lingo?—bonded.” Kate’s voice jarred Flynt from his reverie.

  He cleared his throat. “No, they haven’t, Kate. They haven’t—er—bonded. Yet,” he dared to add, feeling like a fraud. He didn’t want to lie, but would a little prevarication be such a bad thing?

  Otherwise, Kate would be doomed to disappointment, because Angelica was more than happy to avoid Brandon Fortune. She did not want her father in her life, she’d told Flynt too many times to count. She didn’t want any of her mother’s exes around, ever again, but especially not her own father.

  After hearing some of the chilling tales about the men in Romina’s past, as experienced by Angelica and her siblings, Flynt understood her opposition to fathers. She was equally opposed to the concept of husbands. She admitted she’d never seen a happy marriage firsthand—“no man ever bothered to marry Mama”—though some of the exp
ectant couples whose babies she delivered seemed to “act” happy.

  “But it’s like you said, Flynt, the good times can’t last forever,” she’d told him earnestly during a surprisingly frank conversation they’d had about relationships one evening. “And love is the first thing to go when the bad stuff happens.”

  Something in Flynt urged him to recant his earlier pessimism, to argue that he’d seen people—his aunts and uncles, his grandparents, face adversity together and become stronger and closer. That his parents’ particular tragedy and weaknesses weren’t universal. But he hadn’t contradicted Angelica because he didn’t understand his own strange shift in perception.

  “Do Brandon and Angelica have anything at all in common?” Kate asked a little plaintively, once again drawing Flynt out of his strange reverie.

  It took a moment for him to reconnect. Yes, he was supposed to be facilitating the Fortune father-and-child reunion; the lucrative SMS contract with the Fortune Corporation depended on his efforts to at least try to establish a connection between them.

  But when he was with Angelica, the last thing on his mind was Brandon—or the Fortunes or even SMS. His interest, his thoughts, were riveted to Angelica herself.

  “Well, there’s no common interests yet, but we’ll keep looking for something, Kate,” he said, feeling like a fraud.

  “Thank you for being honest with me, my dear,” Kate said wistfully. “And as long as you are able to remain there, I won’t give up hope that somehow Brandon will…bond with his child. I know my great-nephew Jack’s trying to do the same thing with his young daughter, Lilly, now that his ex-wife Sandra is dead.”

  Now Flynt felt acutely guilty. “I’ll try to get them together again tonight, Kate,” he promised. And grimaced.

  How could he do that, when he didn’t know where Brandon was going to be?

  They seldom saw each other because, as Brandon put it, “Let’s just continue doing our own thing, man.”

  To Flynt’s amazement, Brandon Fortune, known for quickly growing bored, had yet to tire of Birmingham. While Flynt conducted his company business from his suite during the day, Brandon went out—somewhere—without ever complaining about the limitations of a city that wasn’t Los Angeles.