by Hope Ramsay
“What are we celebrating?” He came around the table to stand behind the one unoccupied seat, right beside Brandon.
“What are you doing this coming Sunday?” Brandon asked.
“Watching the Redskins?”
“Sorry, buddy, but you’ll have to give that up,” Brandon said with a big grin, “I need you to be my best man.”
A surge of adrenaline hit Andrew’s bloodstream, making every one of his nerve endings ache and buzz. “Who are you marrying?” Andrew asked.
His family roared with laughter. “Laurie, you dumbass. Who else?” Brandon said, slapping Andrew on the back.
The adrenaline evaporated, leaving Andrew feeling shaky.
“Hey, man, don’t look so surprised. After all, you’re the guy who wouldn’t give up on getting us back together. You and your plan helped me see the light. I’m really sorry I didn’t believe you on Saturday, but Laurie told me the whole thing. And then Roxy confirmed everything, especially about Laurie’s fake date with Danny, which convinced Laurie to have a heart-to-heart with Roxy, and now look at them.”
Andrew shifted his gaze toward Danny. He had his arm draped around Roxy’s shoulders, and he looked happier than he had in months.
“So in a way, you even helped take care of my sister. You’re a great guy, Andrew.”
“By the way,” Danny said, “Roxy and I have decided to get married too. I’m trying to convince her to elope.”
Roxy gave Danny a long, sober look. “That’s not going to happen.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.”
“Thank you, man,” Brandon said, interrupting the lovebirds. He pulled Andrew into a big man-hug. “You’re the best friend a guy could ever have.”
When Brandon let go, Andrew scanned the table a second time. “Where is she?” he asked.
“Oh, she couldn’t make it tonight. She’s got some teaching thing, and since the wedding is next Sunday, she’s pretty busy.”
“But we thought we’d surprise you,” Edward said.
A moment later, Andrew found himself sitting at a table surrounded by joyous friends and family. The wine flowed. Toasts were made. Dinner was ordered and consumed. But Andrew was too numb to connect with the reality unfolding around him. Was he the only one at the table who missed Laurie?
She should have been there.
He sipped his wine and realized that the idea of Laurie marrying Brandon was so repulsive to him that he could hardly contain himself. How could she tie herself to a man who had taken her for granted? How could she forgive a man who had humiliated her in public? Maybe it was a good thing she hadn’t come. Because if she’d been there, Andrew might have spoiled the evening by asking her difficult questions. By second-guessing her. And that would be wrong.
Because he’d seen couples reconcile all the time, even when the facts of their relationship seemed starkly negative. So it wasn’t his place to judge Laurie. But he was certainly entitled to his feelings. He recognized that tight, cramped feeling in his chest as the worst kind of jealousy.
The next morning, Andrew awakened with the headache to end all headaches. So much for his plan to drown his sorrows. He’d had more than one glass of wine at the restaurant, and then he’d come home and polished off a bottle of bourbon. Drinking alone was a bad sign.
At least he hadn’t broken any furniture or dishes this time around, probably because his current situation was so different from Val’s betrayal. Laurie had never promised him anything. She’d never lived with him. She’d never imposed her rosebud china on him.
Which was sort of the point, because Laurie wasn’t the rosebud china type, although he couldn’t say for certain what her china looked like.
Not that he cared about china. It was just that…
Hell.
Laurie was a lot like him. She was neat. She made hospital corners on her bed. She picked up her clothes. When she fell apart, she didn’t blubber or resort to fake tears. In fact, when Laurie fell apart, she shut down or she retreated into herself. And when she cried, it was heart wrenching.
Hell.
He made it to work and sat in his office, his head pounding, his mouth dry, his body aching as he stared at his cell phone weighing the pros and cons of calling her. He was locked in a battle between his good and evil angels when Noah came bursting into his office with such fanfare that Andrew’s head almost exploded.
“You’re being hailed as the hero of the hour,” he said. “If I’m to believe Brandon, you are the main reason my daughter is going to be married next Sunday.”
Andrew stared at Noah. For some reason, his boss didn’t seem all that pleased. But what the hell, Andrew had given up trying to figure out what Noah wanted. A tight ball of anger formed in his chest.
“What’s the matter?” Noah said. “We’ve brought young lovers back together. Aren’t you happy?”
What the hell was Noah’s game anyway? It was almost as if he were goading Andrew or something. It worked because Andrew’s anger exploded. He stood up, leaned over his desk, and spoke in a hard voice. “Yeah, I’m ecstatic. When should I start packing my stuff up for the move to Lyndon, Lyndon & Kopp? Before or after the partners’ meeting?”
Noah’s face went still as stone. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the crap storm that’s coming when the partners meet at the end of October. You took me off the AVIEN negotiations, and I had a lot of time on my hands. So I did some research. Wilson Kavanaugh’s profits per partner have been taking a beating the last few years. I’m thinking the partners in New York and Chicago want to shut down the D.C. office and give all of us pink slips. So naturally you’ve been looking for somewhere to take the mediation practice. I get it. But it’s not fair to Laurie, making her marry someone she no longer wants just to advance your career. And furthermore, it’s not necessary. If you hadn’t wanted August to jettison Charles, he would have been happy to entertain a merger discussion. He told me that last Saturday.”
Noah sat there with his mouth half open. “How did you know about the declining PPP?”
“I looked up the gross receipts figures that are publicly reported, and I did a little back-of-the-envelope math.”
Noah nodded and looked away for a moment. “I’m sorry about that. There won’t be any partnerships handed out this year. Not to anyone. But if you think I’ve been using my daughter as a way to worm my way into Lyndon, Lyndon & Kopp, then you’re out of your mind.”
“I don’t believe you, Noah. You’ve lied to me for weeks about this. You’ve made me do things I never should have done. These last few weeks have made me see what my future would be like if I worked here. You’re a master at helping people compromise, but I swear, sometimes you bully them into it. And I don’t want any part of that anymore. You’ll have my letter of resignation by midmorning.”
“What? No. I won’t accept your resignation. And besides, you’ll regret—”
“I already regret the stuff I’ve done. It would have been better if we had refrained from manipulating Brandon and Laurie. It would have been better if they’d taken time to figure out what each of them truly wants in life.”
“So you are concerned about this wedding then?”
“Of course I am. Laurie and Brandon don’t know what they want because we manipulated them into thinking they wanted each other.”
“Andrew, we didn’t manipulate them into anything. Your job was simply to set my daughter up with some dates.”
“Right, so Brandon would see the error of his ways. Look, Noah, I know how you operate. You push people around until they capitulate. And that’s what we did.”
Noah stared at him for a long moment. “It wasn’t my intent to push Laurie or Brandon around.”
“Of course not. It’s never your intent. But it’s what you do. You don’t always listen. You don’t always try to help people get what they want. You push them into accepting a deal.”
Noah stroked his chin, as if in thought. “So te
ll me, Andrew, what do you want?”
Laurie. But that was impossible. “What I want is not the issue.”
“No? It seems to me that what you want is the only issue.”
“Okay, what I want is for Laurie to marry someone who respects her career, who stands by her, who takes care of her, who listens to her, and who loves her with every fiber of his being. I don’t think Brandon’s that guy.”
“Why do you feel that way?”
“Because he doesn’t respect her career. Brandon has taken a job working on the Hill, so now Laurie is being pressured to give up her job at Winchester University. First it was the job offer in Michigan. And now it’s the job in Winchester. Noah, wake up. Brandon is jacking your daughter around, and you’re facilitating it. Do you want her unhappiness on your hands? Or do you just not care?”
Noah’s impassive face changed radically. A spark flared in his gray eyes. “Don’t you dare impugn my integrity. And for the record, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for my daughter’s happiness.”
“Okay, then you should talk to her. Right away. Before it’s too late. And for once in your life, listen to what she says instead of trying to impose your will on her. Honestly, you’re no better than Brandon. Someone needs to get up into her face and tell her not to give up her life just to be safe.”
“Have you said this to her?”
“No. After what I’ve done, I have no right to speak with your daughter.”
“What have you done?”
“I’ve taken advantage of her.”
Noah’s stood up, his face so red, Andrew was concerned for his health. He was clearly losing control of his rage. But when Noah spoke, his voice was measured and hard. “I think you should leave. Right now. I don’t need your resignation. You’re fired.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Planning a wedding in a week had its good points and bad points. There was no time to be OCD about anything, which was good. On the bad side of things, Emma, Jessica, and Madison were not able to make it on Sunday. Still, Laurie forced herself to look on the bright side. Her friends were of the unanimous opinion that any man who left his bride standing at the altar was a dickhead and a scumbag who could never be redeemed. Her girlfriends were, by and large, an unforgiving group.
Of course, Roxy would be there, and she was very excited about the wedding, but her charity group had a big fund-raiser event in D.C. on Saturday. So instead of a pre-wedding party with friends, Laurie ended up going to dinner with Mom and Dad at the Red Fern Inn. Dining with both parents at the same time and place was unusual. But this was, after all, a special occasion. Even if it didn’t feel all that special.
“Sweetie,” Mom said as they sipped their cocktails, “I can’t believe you didn’t go to the salon today. What are we going to do with your hair?”
“Do we have to do anything with it? I mean, I will wash it tonight and put some hot rollers in it tomorrow.”
“But you opted for the baby’s breath and the crown braids instead of a veil, and the last time—”
“Let’s not talk about the last time, shall we?” Dad said in a blunt voice.
“I wasn’t talking about the last time, Noah. I was merely pointing out that—”
“Mom, please. Dad’s right. Courtney will come up with something. She’s resourceful.”
“But—”
“Zip it, Susan,” Dad said.
Mom zipped it but the tension at the table rose perceptibly. It was a sad fact that being with Mom and Dad together at the same time was always three times harder than being with either one of them alone.
They picked at each other constantly. And Dad, who was usually so self-contained, never managed to keep his temper around Mom. For a man who made a living seeing both sides of every argument, Dad had a huge blind spot when it came to Mom. And maybe that was because he loved her. And Mom was often so difficult to love.
As she watched her parents’ tense body language, she realized she could have used someone like Andrew when she was nine years old. Andrew had a talent for smoothing over the angry words people hurled at each other. Laurie had never been able to defuse Mom and Dad. And in a lot of ways, she’d been the collateral damage when their relationship exploded.
“So,” Dad said, playing with the olive in his martini, “I hear that Brandon has gone to work for Heather Lyndon as her chief of staff. Is he planning to commute from Shenandoah Falls to D.C.?”
“No. He’ll be staying in D.C. for a while and coming home on weekends. We need to flip the house and resell it.”
“But what about your job?” Dad asked.
Yeah, what about her job? Good question. “I’m thinking about resigning.”
“What?” Dad’s voice rose, and several other patrons turned to look at him.
“Keep your voice down, Noah, really,” Mom said.
“You can’t resign.”
“Why can’t she?” Mom asked.
Dad rolled his eyes. “Susan, I realize that you have never had any ambitions in life, but Laurie—”
“That’s not true, Noah, and you know it. I was an editor once. And when we moved to D.C., I did my best to raise our daughter. You were absent most of the time.”
“Yeah, well, when you moved back to New York, all you did was find ways to spend my money.”
“Guys, please, can we not argue?” Laurie asked in a small voice.
Her parents retreated to their corners of the table, where they sipped their cocktails in silence for several moments.
Finally Dad cleared his throat and asked, “Honey, I’m starting to think that I’ve missed something important. Someone recently told me that I need to listen to you better. So I’m listening now. Why on earth are you thinking about resigning?”
“Because it’s a sixty-mile commute to D.C., and to be honest, I hate my department chair.”
“You do?”
“He’s a misogynist of the worst kind. He’s as much as told me that if I want the department’s help to get research money, I’ll have to share the credit with him, even if he does none of the work.”
“I had no idea,” Dad said gently.
“That’s not fair. You should tell him to screw off,” Mom said.
It was nice to have them both on her side. And really, it would be terrific if Dad would spend more time listening to her. For a man who made a living listening to people, he sure had tuned her out for much of her life. So she offered up a small slice of her thinking.
“I’ve decided to go for the grant on my own. And I think I have a shot at getting the money. That would be better than telling him to screw off.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” Dad said. “Which begs the question. Why walk away now?”
She shrugged. She didn’t have a very good answer. And Dad was listening well enough to know it.
“Honey,” Dad said, “I guess what I’m asking is why Brandon gets to work for Heather and you have to give up your job?”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Noah, don’t go messing things up again. You’ve been manipulating everyone for weeks, and it’s only Laurie’s cool head that has salvaged this situation. Honestly, I’m dying to know how you managed to get on Pam Lyndon’s wrong side.”
“What?” Laurie sat up straighter in her chair.
“She’s furious with Dad for firing her nephew.”
Laurie glared at her father. “You fired Andrew?”
“He resigned first.” But Dad’s voice sounded strained. “To be honest, honey, I got mad at him when he suggested that he’d taken advantage of you. Did he do that?”
“What? No. He didn’t take advantage of me.” God, did Andrew really think that?
“Then why does he believe he did?”
“I have no clue. Andrew and I are good friends.”
“And he’s the reason you and Brandon have decided to reconcile.”
She nodded. “Yes. But, Dad, I can’t believe he resigned. He wanted a partnership so badly.”
“He’s ve
ry clever, you know. He figured out that the mediation practice is in trouble and there won’t be any partnerships handed out this year. So he probably figured he didn’t have much to lose.”
“The mediation practice is in trouble?”
“Honey, it’s a sad fact of life that litigators make more money than mediators. And Wilson Kavanaugh has gobbled up a bunch of litigators recently. They seem to think that the mediation practice is deadweight. I’m in negotiations with several smaller firms to see if I can find a landing spot. I expect to be handed my walking papers the first week of November.”
She looked down at her drink but didn’t say a word. Poor Andrew.
“Laurie, look at me, please,” Dad said.
She reluctantly looked up.
“Why have you made all the compromises in your relationship with Brandon?” he asked.
Tears suddenly filled her eyes. “Because I have to.”
“She’s got that right,” Mom said sourly.
“No, you don’t. For instance, I’m suddenly wondering why you didn’t take that professorship at the University of Michigan.”
“Come on, Dad. Do you think Brandon would ever have moved to Ann Arbor?”
“I don’t know. Ann Arbor is a very nice town. It’s bigger than Shenandoah Falls. The country’s largest university is right there. It’s probably on some list of great American university towns. Why wouldn’t Brandon move there in order to support your career?”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Noah. Men don’t do that. It’s a fact of life. Women have been compromising themselves for eons.”
“Okay, I suppose that’s true on a macro level. But in my experience, it’s not healthy when one party makes all the concessions and the other party doesn’t make any. Are you sure marrying Brandon is what you want? Or are you just taking the easy way out instead of going after what you really want?” His voice sounded oddly gruff.
Mom threw back her head and laughed. “You’re joking, right?”
“Why would I joke?”
“Oh, no reason, except that I distinctly recall your view about my editing job all those years ago. I didn’t make much money, of course, so in your view, my job was not terribly important. While your job, setting up Wilson Kavanaugh’s Washington office, was way more important. Honestly, Noah, I don’t think you even consulted me. I turned around, and it was a done deal.”
