People were starting to take their seats, and Lance pulled out Tammy’s chair for her.
“So when is your big date?” Richard asked taking a seat next to her.
She cast a quick glance at Lance before answering. “W-we haven’t really decided yet.”
“That’s a beautiful ring,” Melanie said with envy. She glanced at her own in comparison.
“Oh,” she’d forgotten. “Lance had it brought in today. It was at the jewelers getting sized.” Well, she didn’t really lie. It was at the jewelers until today. A blush warmed her cheeks.
“He must’ve saved a long time for that.” Melanie said. “It looks expensive.”
Richard flicked his gaze from the ring to Lance who was speaking to her brother Royce on the other side of him. Oh, how she wished she could have her brother next to her instead of Richard. She could see the look of surprise in Richard’s eyes. It was obvious the ring she wore was more than a lifetime worth of savings for a ‘farmer’ and Richard could easily see that.
“What did you say your fiancé did?” he asked quietly.
“He raises cattle and horses,” she reminded him trying to suppress a smile and doing a terrible job.
“That’s it?”
“Well, he also has a job in town.” She bit her lip this time.
His eyes narrowed and his voice lowered so only she could hear. “Two jobs? I’m not stupid Tammy. How does a farmer and a part-time job pay for a ring that cost six figures? His suit also cost more than mine. Bullshit, he’s a farmer.”
“I never said he was a farmer, my mother did. I said he raised cattle and horses,” she corrected.
“Are these cattle laden with gold?” he replied a little sarcastically darting his eyes to the tall, impressive man seated beside her. Lance was still in conversation with Royce.
“Why Richard, careful, you sound jealous.” She looked past him to Melanie and could see the hurt in her expression as she bowed her head.Wow, he really has you trained,thought Tammy.
He scoffed. “I have a successful job with a guaranteed future as full partner. I just don’t think spending that much on a trinket is worth it.”
“Maybe that’s why I have her and you don’t. I personally think she’s worth it.”
Richard’s eyes lifted over her head to Lance. A thrill went through her at the sound of Lance’s cool tone and deep voice. She honestly didn’t think he could hear them over the chatter in the room. How wrong she was. The smile she wore near split her face. Her brows rose at Richard as if to say ‘well, there’s your answer for that’.
Richard shrugged feigning indifference, but she knew better. He never let anything go. She had personal experiences with him to prove it.
The sound of silverware ringing the surface of expensive crystal interrupted the flow of conversation around the table. George Van Allen stood up and told the servers to fill their glasses for a toast. With the amount of staff there, it was done quickly.
He cleared his throat abruptly and glanced around the table with a smile. “I would like to take this opportunity to say how pleased I am to have all my family present for this occasion. I couldn’t ask for anything better—“
“Here! Here!” shouted Royce raising his glass.
George chuckled. “Not just my son, but my daughters as well. I’m even more pleased to welcome a wonderful daughter in law to my family tomorrow—Anne.” He bowed his head acknowledging her. People applauded. She answered with a shy ‘thank you’. “Now, most of you know that my oldest daughter is engaged to Richard—” More clapping interrupted his speech. “But I would also like to acknowledge Lance Hartley, my future son-in-law. Nothing makes me more proud to see that my baby girl has found happiness in a very successful, yet unfortunately retired, attorney. I’m sure many of you that have heard his name in the papers and the media would agree that New York lost a great District Attorney when he moved to the country.”
Well you could have heard a pin drop after that confession. Tammy looked down the table at her mother whose mouth was literally hanging open. She heard Richard swear under his breath. The other guests started murmuring in confusion. Obviously her mother had already worked the crowd that she was marrying a lowly farmer. Now here she sits with someone who obviously had made a name for himself. People still recognized it after five years.
Royce stood up breaking the silence and started clapping. Soon the rest followed suit, embarrassed about their assumptions. She wondered if her father did this purposely. One look at him told her he did. He winked and lifted his glass to take a large swallow. She grinned at him. He really did care! It was subtle but wow she would take it! Maybe he always really did, but she was young and immature at the time thinking that his silence was in support of her mother. He always stayed out of the arguments that she and her mother had. He probably had his reasons, but she could have kissed him over this. Lance reached under the table and took her hand to get her attention. She turned to him still in awe over her father’s behavior. He seemed to know what she was thinking.
“I wasn’t worried. You shouldn’t stress so much what people think.”
“It wasn’t about me.” She didn’t like people believing in lies about someone she cared for. Again that just reinforced why she left.
“I know it wasn’t. I don’t care what people think of me either, Tam. I’m a big boy. I can take criticism from the worst of them. I grew up in this crowd.”
What? How could he? He’d told her that the Lansdowne Ranch was a bust when her father took it over. He and his brothers would talk about how hard their father would make them work. She really wanted to ask him, but they were interrupted by numerous congratulations after the crowd recovered from its shameful belief in the gossip. Her mother looked like she was about to faint.
Over the next few hours, she just went through the motions that she was trained to do from an early age. Her mother even acted as though Lance was now a part of the family and she could have screamed. Why couldn’t she just accept her choices because she loved her?
