He took a drink. The ice rattled as he lowered his glass. “Yes.”
“And…?”
Jonathan studied the ice, but it was Marni who felt its chill. “You’ll be staying on as president of Lange. There was an easy majority in your favor.”
Marni closed her eyes in a moment’s prayerful thanks. Web’s hands tightened on her waist when she swayed. It was his support, and the warmth of his body reaching out to her, that gave her the strength to open her eyes and address her father again.
“And you, Dad? How did you vote?”
Jonathan cleared his throat. “I exercised my right to abstain.”
It was better than a flat-out “no,” but it left major questions unanswered. “May I ask why?”
He tipped his head fractionally in a gesture of acquiescence. “I felt that I was too emotionally involved to make a rational decision.”
“Then you do question my ability as president?”
He cleared his throat again. As before, it brought him an extra few seconds to formulate his response. “No. I simply question my own ability to see the truth one way or the other.”
Such a simple statement, Marni mused, yet it was a powerful concession. Up to that point, Jonathan had refused to see anything but what he wanted to see. The fact that he could admit his view might be jaded was a major victory.
Web felt the release of tension in Marni’s body. He, too, had immediately understood the significance of Jonathan’s statement, and he shared her relief and that small sense of triumph, even hope. Lowering his head, he murmured, “Perhaps we should leave your parents alone now. I think both you and your father have been through enough today.”
She knew he was right. It was a matter of quitting while she was ahead. If she stayed and forced her father to say more, she might well push him into a corner. He was a proud man. For the present it was enough to leave with the hope that one day he might actually join her inhercorner.
Mutely she nodded. Under Web’s guiding hand, she left the solarium and walked back through the house to the front door. Only when she reached it did she realize that her mother had come along.
“Darling …” Adele began. Her hand clutched the doorknob, and she seemed unsure of herself. Marni had turned, surprised and slightly wary. “I … I’m pleased things worked out for you with the board.”
“So am I,” Marni answered quietly. “I never really wanted to leave Lange.”
Adele’s voice was a whisper. “I know that.” She gave an awkward smile, reached up as if to stroke Marni’s hair, but drew her hand back short of physical contact. “Perhaps … perhaps we can get together for lunch one day next week?”
Marni wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. She was pleased, and touched. “I’d like that, Mom. Will you call?”
Adele nodded, her eyes suspiciously moist. She did touch Marni then, wrapping an arm around her waist and pressing a cheek to hers in a quick hug. “You’d better leave now,” she whispered. “Drive safely.”
Marni, too, felt the emotion of the moment. She nodded and smiled through her own mist of tears, then let Web guide her out the door and down the front steps to their cars.
“I don’t believe these!” Marni exclaimed in delight. She was sitting cross-legged on Web’s bed, wearing nothing but the stack of photographs he’d so nonchalantly tossed into her lap moments before. “They’re incredible!”
He came to sit behind her, fitting his larger body to hers so that he could look over her shoulder at the pictures he’d taken three days before. “They’reyou.Exactly what I wanted for the premier cover ofClass.”
Astonished, Marni flipped from one shot to the next. “They’re all so good, Web! How are you ever going to decide which one to use? For that matter, how did you ever get so many perfect ones?”
He nipped at her bare shoulder, then soothed the spot with his chin. “I had a super model. That’s all there is to it. As for which one to use, I’ve got my personal preference, but your people will have some say in that.” He curled one long arm around hers and extracted a print from the pile. “I sent a duplicate of this one to your parents yesterday.”
She met his gaze at her shoulder. “You didn’t.”
“I did. It’s beautiful, don’t you think? Every parent should have a picture like this of his daughter.”
“But … isn’t that a little heavy-handed? I mean, Mom and I have just begun to talk things through.” Two weeks had passed since the board meeting, and she’d met with her mother as many times during that stretch.
“You said yourself that she’s softening up. And if anything will speed up the process, this will. Look at it, Marni. Look at your expression here. It’sso … you.The determined set of chin, the little bit of mischief at the mouth, the tilt of the eyebrows with just a hint of indignation, and the eyes, ah, the eyes …”
“Filled with love,” she whispered, but she wasn’t looking at the picture. Her own eyes were reflected in Web’s, and the love flowing between them was awesome.
Web caught his breath, then haphazardly scattered the pictures from Marni’s lap and turned her so she was straddling his legs. His fingers delved into her hair, and he held her face steady. “I love you, sunshine. Ohhh, do I love you.” When she smiled, he ran his tongue over the curve. Then he caught her lower lip between his own lips and sipped at it.
