Marni, who’d been listening quietly, raised her face to his. “You’ve done Ethan proud. He gave you the motivation, and you worked your way up from scratch to become very successful.”
Web was studying her tenderly. “And what about you? You’ve done much of what you have for him, too, haven’t you?”
“For him … and my parents.” She rushed on before he could argue. “I grieved so long after the accident, for both Ethan and you, and the sadness and guilt I felt were getting me nowhere. I decided that the only way I could redeem myself was to make my parents proud of me. Yes, I’ve tried to fill Ethan’s shoes. I’m sure I haven’t done it in the same way he would have, but I do think I’ve filled a certain void for my parents. After Ethan’s death, Dad began to lose interest in the business. My decision to enter it was like a shot in the arm for him. Of course shots wear off after a while, and he eased away from the corporation earlier than he might have, but by then I was trained and ready to take over.”
“You felt you were making up to your parents for having played a small part in Ethan’s death.”
Her whispered “Yes” was barely audible, but a shudder passed through Web, and he held her tightly to him.
“We’ve both suffered. We paid the fine for what we’d done, or thought we’d done, but the suffering isn’t over if your parents are going to stand between us.” They’d come full stride. “What are we going to do about them, Marni?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured, teeth gritted against the helplessness that assailed her. “I don’t know.”
“We’ll have to tell them. We’ll have to present ourselves and our best arguments to them—”
“Not ‘we.’ It’d never work that way, Web. They’d never listen. Worse, they’d kick you out of the house. It’d be better if I spoke with them first. I could break it to them gently.”
“God, it’s like we’ve committed some kind of crime.”
“In their minds we have. What I’ve done will be tantamount to treason in their minds.”
“They’ll just have to change their way of thinking.”
“That’s easier said than done.”
“What other choice will they have? They can’t very well kick their own grown-up daughter out of the house. And then there’s the matter of the corporation presidency. Your father may be chairman of the board, but no board worth its salt is going to evict its president simply because she falls in love with someone her father doesn’t like. You’ve done a good job, Marni. You’re invaluable to the corporation.”
“Not invaluable. Certainly not indispensable. But I’m not really worried about anything happening at work. Dad wouldn’t gothatfar. What I fear most is what will happen at home. Ethan’s death left a gaping hole. Every time the family got together, we were aware of his absence. If Mom and Dad push us away because of my relationship with you, the unit will be that much weaker. If they could only reconcile themselves to gaining a son, rather than losing a daughter …”
“Reconcile. A powerful word.”
Marni was deep in thought. “Mmmm…. What if I break it to them gently? Mother hasn’t made the connection between you and that other Web. Apparently neither has Dad, since he didn’t make a peep over the plans to use you as cover photographer forClass.What if I were to tell them that we were dating, that I was seeing the photographer and that we were pretty serious about each other?”
“They’d want to meet me. One look and they’d know.”
“We could stall them. After all, I’m busy, and so are you, which would make it hard to arrange a meeting. In the meantime I could tell them all about Brian Webster, show them examples of your work and snow them with lists of your credits. I could create a picture in their minds of everything you are and everything you mean to me.”
“And they won’t ask about my background?” He knew very well they would.
“I could fudge it, be as vague as I like. Then, when they’ve got this super image in their minds, when they’re as favorably inclined as possible, I could tell them the rest.”
He raised her chin with his forefinger. “A super image can shatter with a few short words. What if, in spite of the advance hype, they go off the deep end?”
His eyes were a mirror of hers. Marni saw there the same trepidation, the same worry that was making her insides knot. “Then I’ll have to make a choice,” she said at last.
The trepidation, the worry were transferred to his voice, which came out in a tremulous whisper. Once before Marni had had a choice to make, and she’d made it in favor of her family. Web felt that his very life was on the line. “What will you choose?” he asked in a raw whisper.
Neither her eyes, lost in his, nor her voice faltered. “You’re my future, Web. I’m grateful for everything they’ve given me, and I do love them, but you’re my future. The love I feel for you is so strong that there’s really no choice at all.”
Web closed his eyes. His sigh fanned her brow, and his arms tightened convulsively around her. “Oh, baby …” He said nothing more but held her, rocking her, savoring the moment, the joy, the intense relief he felt.
Inevitably, though, the ramifications of what she’d said loomed before him. “It’s going to be hard. You’ll be upset.”
“Yes. It’s sad that I have to risk alienating them by telling them that I’m—”
“—marrying the guy who killed their son.”
Her head shot up, eyes flashing in anger. “Youdidn’tkill Ethan. Don’t ever say that again!”
