Lily and Aspyn disappeared down the stairs, leaving him to the grumblings of his brothers. The smell of bacon grew stronger, and they arrived on the terrace just as Gloria and one of her many minions were bringing out a mountain of food.
Ethan surveyed the table. “All of Finn’s favorites again, I see.”
Gloria swatted Ethan and leaned in to kiss Finn’s head as if he was still a child. Last night’s menu had been one of his top five favorites, too. He hadn’t eaten that well in months.
“You, Ethan Marshall, are out here all the time, eating your way through my kitchen like a teenage locust. I don’t get to cook for Finn very often.”
“I’d consider that a blessing,” Ethan grumbled as he pulled out a chair for Lily.
Aspyn took a seat across from him, leaving Finn trapped between Ethan and Brady.
“Just eat,” Gloria scolded. “Especially you, Lily. Aspyn, that sausage is the vegetarian type you like.” Gloria fussed around the table for a minute more, then patted Finn fondly before she returned to the kitchen.
“See, it’s true that absence makes the heart fonder.” Finn loaded up his plate with Gloria’s famous French toast—so famous that the White House chef had asked for the recipe and been politely turned down. “That and an autographed picture of Pierce Brosnan gets me French toast today.”
Ethan dumped a pile of bacon on Lily’s plate before filling his own. Lily slid half of it back onto the platter. “I guess we’re lucky she didn’t kill the fatted calf,” he muttered.
“Maybe that’s dinner tonight,” Granddad offered.
“Alas, I can’t stay. I’ll be leaving right after breakfast.” Nana started to protest, but Finn shook his head. “I’m sorry, Nana, but I’m just covered up with work. I’ll be back next weekend, I promise. And once we wrap I’ll come stay for several days before I head home.”
“This is also your home,” Nana said pointedly.
Guilt swamped over him, just as he knew she’d intended. “I know.”
Brady sipped at his coffee. “Some prodigal son you are, coming home and immediately leaving.”
“You should really brush up on your allegories before you try to drop them into conversations. Prodigal would imply I’m coming home broke or in disgrace, and I’m neither, thank you very much.”
Ethan leaned close. “Nor looking to reconcile with Daddy,” he muttered under his breath.
Finn snorted, Ethan jumped as Brady kicked him under the table and Nana frowned at them all. Her tone cool, she said, “That much is true for the time being. It would be nice to keep it that way.”
Finn knew she wasn’t addressing Ethan’s crack about their father. She understood that minefield too well to go there. They would all just pretend nothing had been said at all. That was the Marshall family plan. Ignore everything you can.
“Believe me, Nana, I’ve got plenty of money. Ethan can vouch for me on that.”
Her eyes narrowed. “That’s not what I was referring to, and you know it. I’m very tired of seeing your name in the paper for all the wrong reasons.”
A smart remark about not reading the papers sat on the tip of his tongue, but Finn held it back. He had no such reservations when it came to Ethan and Lily, both of whom were fighting back smiles and looking ridiculously innocent. “Oh, like you two have any room to talk.”
“Ethan is one hundred percent reformed.” Lily somehow managed to sound prim. “And I’m the freakin’ poster child for reformation.”
“There’s nothing worse than a former sinner to lay on the condemnation.”
Lily merely smirked at him. Ethan was obviously a bad influence on her.
“The point, Finn, is that eventually everyone must grow up and settle down.” Nana leveled a look at him. “You’re almost thirty. Don’t you think it’s time?”
Finn looked to his grandfather for help, but Granddad feigned interest in his breakfast. Brady wore his usual smug smile, and Aspyn examined the hem of her napkin. But Lily and Ethan, those traitors, were nodding in agreement, egging Nana on. Not that she needed help at any time, but after marrying off both of his brothers in a little over a year, Nana was looking for the hat trick.
Finn leaned back in his chair and glared at his brothers. “Really? You want to go there?”
They both just lifted their left hands to show wedding bands.
“Nice try. But neither one of you got anywhere close to an altar before your thirtieth birthdays, so I figure I still have a little time.”
“You’re missing the point, dear. While I—and your grandfather—” she waited for Granddad to nod his agreement “—would love to see you settled and happy with a nice girl one day, I’m more concerned with the situation currently at hand.”
Oh, please don’t go there. I’m not in the mood. “And that would be …?” he asked innocently.
“Caitlyn Reese.”
Yep, she had. Nana had a knack for going right where he didn’t want her to—and she could make him feel twelve years old again at the same time. Defensive maneuvers would only play right into her trap. And this was Nana, so offensive maneuvers weren’t allowed at all. Playing dumb seemed his best bet. “What about Cait?”
The irritated lift of her eyebrow clearly stated she wasn’t buying his dumb act. And a quick look told him that Lily and Aspyn had joined Granddad in his studious approach to eating, leaving Ethan and Brady watching avidly with get-yourself-out-of-this-one smirks on their faces. He couldn’t look there for help, but maybe they wouldn’t be a hindrance, either.
He could hope. But he wouldn’t hold his breath.
Nana set down her fork and met his eyes evenly. “I met Miss Reese the other night at the benefit. She’s not at all what I expected based on her previous behavior with you.”
“We were young and just having a good time. So we made the tabloids. It’s not like I’m the first Marshall to steal a headline. It’s practically a rite of passage in this family.”
Brady cleared his throat. “It was more than just one headline. You two tore a swath through southern California. We remember those days clearly, even if they’re a vodka-soaked blur to you.”
Oh, his memories were just fine. Working overtime, in fact.
He looked to Lily, who merely shrugged, then to Aspyn, whose nose was wrinkled slightly in apology.
“Even I remember them, Finn, and I spent most of that summer chained to a tree in Oregon.”
Brady turned to Aspyn. “What?”
“Nothing. More coffee?” Aspyn smiled angelically at Brady’s we’ll-talk-about-this-later scowl. “All I’m saying, Finn, is that you two were news, and no one has forgotten it. Caitlyn may have been more low-profile the last few years, but you haven’t. I saw an interview with Caitlyn’s mother recently, and she’s very excited about her daughter’s return to their family business. Put all of that together, and you’ve got people’s attention whether you like it or not.”
“Exactly,” Nana added. “Regardless of your past deplorable behavior, Miss Reese seemed to be a lovely and quite charming young woman. And from what I hear she’s showing signs of reformation as well.”
There was a bear trap here, waiting to snap on his foot, but damned if he could tell exactly where. “I’ll tell her you said so.”
“I’d like to have the same things said about you. You’ve already made the papers …”
“It’s nothing, Nana. You know how these things go. Rest assured that I have no interest in Cait beyond her performance. This is strictly professional. In fact …” He could not believe he was saying this. “Rumor has it that Cait and Jason Elkins might be becoming more than just co-stars.”
“I’m glad to hear it, and I wish them well.” Nana picked her fork up again. “I’m sorry to have brought up such an unpleasant topic at the table, but I’m happy that we got it sorted out.”
“Nice save,” Ethan whispered behind his coffee cup. “You almost had me believing it.”
“Shut up before I make Lily a lovely
young widow.”
Nana cleared her throat. “We’re old, not deaf, you know.”
Lily snickered, which earned her a grin from Ethan, but Finn could only frown at her in retaliation. So he kicked Ethan under the table instead, earning him a “what did I do?” look.
Granddad, thankfully, changed the subject. “How’s my movie coming along?”
“Fantastic.” Finn liked the way Granddad smiled when he spoke about “his” movie. The first Senator Marshall had been the subject of a bio-pic about his career and characters in movies about the civil rights movement and the war on terror. He’d even played himself in a comedy set in the Capitol. But Folly was the movie Granddad considered “his,” and that pushed Finn to put up with whatever he had to in order to make it happen.
It was because of Granddad that Finn had even gone after the rights, and it was Granddad who’d finally been able to convince the heirs to agree to sell. It turned out that the author had been a supporter of Granddad’s career. Folly was Finn’s present to the man who was more his father than his grandfather, and he’d even gone as far as to cast his brothers and cousins in small cameos as an extra treat—but Granddad didn’t know that.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come to the set and watch? Maybe be an extra?”
“No, no. I don’t want to ruin the experience by knowing what went into it. I expect excellent seats at the premiere, though.”
“Done.”
With that assurance, Granddad stood and extended a hand to Nana, and they left for their morning walk over the grounds.
Lily sighed as they walked down the path. “Your grandparents are like characters from their own romantic movie.”
Finn looked at her over his coffee. “Still reading those romance novels, Lily?”
Lily lifted her chin proudly. “Every chance I get. I believe in happy endings. Your Grands, Brady and Aspyn …” Lily paused to accept Aspyn’s nod of agreement before smiling adoringly at his brother, who grinned back like a lovesick teenager. “Ethan and me.”
“Spare me the details, please. I just ate.”
Lily grinned as she pushed her chair back from the table and stood. She kissed Ethan, and then leaned down close to Finn’s ear. “Your day will come, Finn Marshall,” she whispered.
“Is that a threat?” He heard Brady’s snort and Ethan’s chuckle.
Lily shook her head. “Just faith in your happy ending. You deserve one, too.” She winked before she straightened up and turned to Aspyn. “I’m going to the stable. Want to come?”
Aspyn nodded and stood. “I’m with Lily on this one—literally as well as metaphorically.”
With that, both women walked away, the sound of Aspyn’s anklet jingling along with Lily’s laughter. That left him with only his brothers at the table, and both of them were staring at him. “What?” he finally asked when the silence got too long.
“She’s not wrong, you know.”
Of course Ethan would agree with his wife. “That my day will come?”
“That you deserve a happy ending.”
Finn looked at Ethan carefully, but couldn’t find any trace of sarcasm. “Not you, too? I get enough of that from Nana. Just because you—”
“This has nothing to do with me.”
“Or me,” Brady added.
“Or even Nana’s quest to get you to the altar,” Ethan said.
“Then what is this about?”
Ethan cleared his throat and looked slightly uncomfortable. Brady sat silently and Finn knew he was about to hear something he wouldn’t like.
“At the risk of sounding like your therapist—”
He was right. “I don’t need a therapist.”
Brady coughed. “Maybe you should reconsider that stance.”
He leveled a stare at both of them. “Because …?”
Ethan snorted, sounding so much like Brady that Finn did a double-take. “The one relationship you’ve had with a woman that lasted longer than six weeks was with someone even more screwed up than you.”
The anger that flared on Cait’s behalf startled him. “Don’t—”
Brady stopped him. “There’s no need to jump to her defense. I’m sure she’s got many fine qualities, but you two took hedonism to new extremes, and it doesn’t take a shrink to see that you simply fed off each other’s demons.”
If anything, they’d been exorcising them. “I don’t know what the hell you are talking about.”
“Don’t you?” Brady’s eyebrow went up. “Caitlyn’s background is oddly similar to yours—a famous family, the constant scrutiny by the press, the pressure of expectations. You seemed to find the one person on earth who was equally as emotionally disconnected as you—and you couldn’t even make that work.”
“Cait and I were just having a good time.”
Brady lifted his coffee mug in a mock toast. “And you just proved my point.”
“You had a point?”
“You barely let us—your family—into your life. You certainly don’t let anyone else in. It’s all superficial and safe. Easy, even. I know how attractive that feeling can be. But it’s dangerous. If you can’t find someone else to care about, you end up caring only about yourself. And then you’re no better than our father.”
“That is ridiculous.”
Ethan took the opportunity to pile on. “We have always backed your decision to move to California. We, more than anyone, understood your need to get the hell out of Dodge. You were so young when Mom died. It was much harder on you, because you didn’t know what an ass he was before then. Things were so screwed up after that I’m surprised you didn’t end up in therapy.”
The jump from Cait to his father had Finn struggling to keep up. “You think I have daddy issues? Me and half the world. The man’s a royal bastard, but I’m hardly scarred by it.”
“Aren’t you?” Ethan asked.
Before he could do more than shake his head Brady added, “Why do you think the Grands ride you so hard? They see the signs, the pattern re-emerging.”
That cut disturbingly close to the bone for Finn, but Brady wasn’t done.
“Do you think they’re proud of the kind of son they raised? The man he is today?”
“He’s a senator, for God’s sake—and a good one, too. Most parents would be pretty pleased.”
Ethan waved that away. “Professional success isn’t the same thing. You have that already and they’re proud. Disgustingly so, if you ask me. But still they worry.”
This conversation had hit too many sore spots, and Finn wanted out. “Then find them something else to worry about.” He turned to Ethan. “I know—why don’t you get Lily pregnant? That should distract them nicely.”
Ethan smirked. “Done. But it’s really too early to be telling folks.”
Finn choked on his coffee and it burned all the way down. “Seriously?” At Ethan’s nod, he looked at Brady, who showed no surprise on his face. It must be true, and Brady must have known already. “Congratulations. When?”
“About seven months. But we’re not changing the subject just yet. Back to Caitlyn—”
Cait wasn’t exactly a change of subject, but it beat their armchair therapy hands-down. “I have no interest in Cait beyond her performance in Folly. And it’s award-worthy, by the way.”
“I don’t doubt it. Lily and I saw her in London about eight months ago. She made a wonderful Desdemona.”
“Her acting ability has improved dramatically, pardon the pun.”
“And that’s your only interest in Cait?”
Finn nodded.
“Then have a little pity on the poor girl,” Brady said. “Haven’t you caused her enough trouble?”
Damn it, he was not the villain in this. In any of it. Not now and not then. Cait was not some poor, naïve girl he’d led astray. “Cait grew up in the tabloids, and she understands this business better than you think. If she didn’t want to be in the headlines again she wouldn’t have signed on to one of my projects.”
“It’s nothing that’s anything for you to worry about.”
Ethan turned to Brady. “Twenty bucks says it’s something.”
“There’s no way I’m going to take that bet. We both know it’s something. My only question is how much of a something it’s going to be.”
This was one of the many reasons he spent his life on the opposite side of the country from his family. No one should have to put up with this level of interference. “I’m going to say this one last time, so pay attention. Regardless of what Cait and I used to be, our relationship now is strictly professional.” His strange reaction to seeing Cait kiss Jason niggled at him, but he pushed it aside.
That statement got him disbelieving snorts from both brothers.
“Then you’re stronger than I gave you credit for. Either that or you’re an idiot,” Ethan clarified.
He’d kill Ethan, but the Grands would disapprove. They seemed to actually like him for some reason. “Speaking of idiots, you and Lily are due on the set Friday by two for Wardrobe and Makeup.”
Ethan and Brady exchanged a look that told him they were dropping the topic, but Finn knew it was probably only temporary. Their matching smirks confirmed it, but Finn would take what he could get at the moment. All this talk of Cait had churned up too much history, and he didn’t need that today.
Ethan’s smirk transformed to a grin. “Oh, I’m really looking forward to it.”
He sounded far too cheerful and sincere for someone who’d grumbled about it from day one. Finn was instantly suspicious. “Why?”
“Because who can resist watching a slow-motion train wreck?”
Brady nodded. “When are Aspyn and I scheduled again? I can’t wait.”
With a glare that only caused his idiot brothers to laugh, Finn stood and tossed his napkin on the table. He didn’t bother to comment as he walked away, leaving them laughing like loons behind him.
Had he really been considering a move back to this side of the continent? Where he could have this kind of conversation on a regular basis?
Redemption of a Hollywood Starlet Page 6
