‘I’ve always been boring,’ Tess waved her mother and her current toy-boy on. ‘I’m sure you’ll find more exciting company amongst our guests.’
‘I do hope so, dear,’ she huffed and sailed off to command adoring attention elsewhere.
‘That was not your usual gracious self, Tess,’ Nick commented, arching a quizzical eyebrow at her.
She heaved a sigh to rid herself of tension. ‘Sorry! I find my mother endlessly embarrassing. I guess I am just as uptight and inhibited and straight as my father.’
‘Not so I’ve noticed.’
‘I felt she was reducing you to beefcake. Which is what she does to all men,’ Tess added in rueful explanation.
‘The Hollywood Dream runs on desirability,’ Nick said seriously. ‘You have to understand Livvy is obsessed with that and everything she does and says is probably aimed at bolstering her sense of desirability.’
‘Including the toy-boy?’
‘It has a currency.’ He slanted her a sardonic little smile. ‘It’s all about counting her worth, Tess, just as my mother tots up possessions to count hers. Neither of them is about to change these ingrained habits. We just have to accept them as they are. And occasionally, we can even enjoy who they are.’
Tess thought about it, deciding it was probably fair comment. Sad comment. So okay, before the party ended she would make peace with Livvy and keep the doors open. Maybe somewhere down the line of the future, her mother might want to be a mother. And a grandmother.
Much later in the evening her father drew her aside from the discussion Nick was having with a film producer whose work he admired. ‘Fine party, Tessa,’ he remarked.
‘I’m glad you’re enjoying it, Dad.’
He gave a dry chuckle. ‘A bit like the three-ring circus you reckoned a wedding would be, though for me it’s been quite amusing observing the prima donnas staking out their own centre stages.’ His shaggy white eyebrows lifted in query. ‘No distress for you in it?’
She shook her head. ‘They can’t touch what Nick and I have together.’
‘So it’s working out fine for you.’
‘As fine as it could be, Dad.’
Her father put his arm around her shoulders to give them a warm hug. ‘I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you. I married three beautiful women but you outshine all of them tonight. And you know why?’
‘Because you like my blue dress best?’ she teased, knowing blue was his favourite colour.
He laughed, hugging her closer. ‘Because you’ve got it all together, Tessa,’ he confided. ‘You’re not just beautiful. You shine with happiness. And let me tell you it does a father’s heart good to see that shining from his daughter.’ He dropped a kiss on the curls tumbling over the top of her head. ‘Now go on back to your husband. And you can tell him I’m proud of him, too.’
‘Because he’s made me happy?’
His brows lowered for a thoughtful moment. ‘Nick was a good kid. While I thought he was my son he gave me a great deal of pleasure. Whatever has gone on in his life between then and now…I think he’s become a good man.’ His face cleared into a smile. ‘He couldn’t have made you happy otherwise.’
A good man…
The phrase lingered in her mind.
It was true of Nick. No doubt about it. But she wondered and worried a little about his two unknown brothers. Were they good men? How would the meeting turn out for Nick? She had argued for it so strongly, but people were always the sum of their lives and the lives of the other two illegitimate sons of Enrique Ramirez could have been very bad.
What did they value?
What did they want?
The party ended. The guests departed. Nick finally did race Tess off to bed where they made love long into the night, idly discussing the party when they felt like talking. Naturally family members eventually featured in the conversation, which led to Tess bringing up her thoughts about their imminent trip to Brazil.
‘You know your brothers might be in it just for their inheritance, Nick.’
She was very aware that hopes could end up hurting badly. There might be more rejections in store for the man she loved.
‘It could be an end. It could be a beginning,’ he mused, rolling her onto her back and leaning over her to trace her lips with a gently teasing finger. ‘They can link their life journeys to ours or not, Tess, and part of that choice will be if we want to link to theirs, as well.’ There was no concern in his eyes. ‘We simply go. And what will be will be. All right?’
She nodded.
They had dealt with so much.
Of course they could deal with whatever else came up.
Together.
His kiss promised her that.
To have and to hold, from this day forth, for better or for worse…