“Web!”
Both heads in the room riveted toward its door, where Marni was standing in a state of utter confusion. Web came instantly to his feet.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her brows knitting as she looked from him to her mother and back.
“We were just talking.” He approached her quickly, ran his hands along her arms and spoke very softly. “How did it go?”
“I don’t know. I left before they took a vote. Then I needed a little time to myself, so I took the round-about way getting here.” Apprehension was written all over her face. “There’s been no word?”
Web hesitated, then shook his head.
Adele frowned. “A vote? What vote?”
“As to whether I should remain as president. I tendered my resignation, pending the board’s decision.”
Adele, too, was on her feet then. “You didn’t! What a foolish thing to do, Marni! You’ve been a fine president! You can’t be replaced!”
“Oh, I can. No one’s indispensable.”
“But we always intended that the presidency should remain in the family!”
“Maybe Tanya should give it a try,” Marni suggested dryly, only to be answered by an atypical and distinctly unladylike snort from her mother.
“Tanya! That’s quite amusing.” Her head shot up. “Jonathan! When didyouget here?”
Web had seen the man approach, but Marni, with her back to the door, had had no such warning. Turning abruptly, her heart in her throat, she faced the tired and stern face of her father.
Chapter 10
At one time Marni might have run to Jonathan Lange. Too much had passed between them in recent days, though, and she grew rigid as he approached. Web dropped his hands to his sides but stayed close, offering his silent support as they both waited to hear what her father had to say.
The older man ran a hand through his thinning gray hair, then glanced at his wife. “I could use a drink.”
“Duncan? Duncan!” Adele’s voice rang out, and the butler promptly appeared. “Mr. Lange will have his usual. I’ll have mine with water.” She turned to Marni and Web, her brows raised. When they both shook their heads, she nodded to Duncan. “That will be all.”
Jonathan walked past them, deeper into the solarium. He stopped before one glass expanse, thrust his hands in his pockets and, stiff-backed, stood with his feet apart as he gazed at the late March landscape.
Marni stared after him. She knew he had news, but whether it was good or bad she had no idea. In that instant she realized how very much she did want to stay on as president of Lange.
Adele looked from Marni to her husband, then back.
Web, standing close behind Marni, put his hands lightly at her waist. “Do you want to sit down?” he asked softly.
She shook her head, but her eyes didn’t leave her father’s rigid back. “Dad? What happened?”
Jonathan didn’t answer immediately. He raised a hand and scratched his neck, then returned the hand to his pocket. Duncan entered the solarium, offered Adele her drink from a small silver tray, then crossed the room to offer Jonathan his. Only when the butler had left did Jonathan turn. He held the drink in both hands, watching his thumbs as they brushed against the condensation beginning to form on the side of the glass.
“I didn’t know she’d done that, Marni,” he began solemnly. “I had no idea Tanya had called that reporter—”
“What reporter?” Adele interrupted fearfully. “What has Tanya done?”
There was sadness, almost defeat in the expression Jonathan turned on his wife. “Tanya tried to plant a story in the newspaper about the accident and Webster’s role in it.”
Adele clutched her glass to her chest. “Tanya didthat?”
Jonathan’s gaze met Marni’s. “I have no proof that it was Tanya, but no one else would have had cause except perhaps your mother and I. But I never would have condoned something like that. I’ll have a thing or two to say to your sister when I call her later.”
Marni couldn’t move. Her heart was pounding as she waited, waited. “It’s not important. What happened at the meeting? Was a vote taken?”
