Page 126 of More Than Pen Pals

“Can you put a timeline on falling in love? And can you control it?” I sure can’t—not with Leslie. I love her with all my being, and I can’t imagine there will ever be a time when I won’t.

“No. And no,” Shannon admits.

“I understand you don’t want your sister to get her heart broken again. And I never want to hurt her, though I can’t promise I never will. But Leslie is a wise and strong woman. She’ll make the decision she feels is best for her, whether that means loving me back or walking away from me. She gets to decide who she gives her heart to. I can’t make that choice for her, and neither can you.”

We hold each other’s gaze for several seconds until he nods. “I can’t argue with that.”

“What was Glenn like?” I hope knowing a little about him might help with understanding what Leslie is dealing with.

Shannon takes a long drink of his beer before replying. “I didn’t love the guy, but I also didn’t hate him. He didn’t have much of a personality. I always felt like theirs was more a relationship of convenience than anything. When she talked about him, it was like she was talking about a good friend, not someone she was dying to spend the rest of her life with.”

I wonder how she talks about me.

“In fact,” he continues, “she rarely had extreme emotions about him. Even when he dumped her, while she was angry about his reasons why, she wasn’t devastated. She was more upset with herself for not seeing the signs sooner.”

“You never questioned her about her feelings for him? Or him about his feelings for her?”

He smirks. “Like I’m doing with you now?”

I laugh. “Exactly.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Like you and your brother, since we didn’t go to the same college, we slowly stopped being a daily part of each other’s lives. And I’ve been so busy with work the last few years I didn’t pay as much attention to Leslie’s life as I should have. I feel partly to blame for the Glenn fiasco, because maybe if I’d talked to her about him, she could’ve avoided all that mess.”

While I’d love to blame him, too, I know I can’t. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“Maybe not, but I still wish I’d been there for her more than I was.”

sixty-one

“You ready to face the lioness in her den?” Randall asks me on the drive north to Evanston in his silver Porsche 944. Ash wasn’t kidding about his brother’s spending habits, though I can’t complain about the ride itself.

“Is your mom really that bad?” I don’t believe she is, or Ash wouldn’t have been okay with me meeting his mother without him.

He pauses before saying, “She’s a good old gal most of the time, but she does like to get her own way.”

“Don’t we all?”

“Good point, but Mom is more demanding than most people.”

I squeeze his arm. “Thanks for going with me. It’ll help to have someone on my side.”

“Ash seems to think Mom will be on your side, too.”

“I hope so.”

I stare out the window for the last few minutes of the ride.

A valet takes the car at the entrance to what Randall informed me is his mother’s favorite restaurant, and he escorts me inside. A young man takes our coats, and the hostess leads us through the dining room to the table without either of us saying a word. The employees obviously know the entire Hamilton family. We’re halfway across the room when Randall’s steps falter and he curses under his breath.

“What’s wrong?” I murmur.

“Dad’s here.”

My heart stops. “What? Why?”

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