Page 6 of A Lone Star Love Affair
“Tony, why do we have parents like this?”
“Look at my friends and their interfering dads—Jake and Gabe Benton, Nick Rafford. Dad’s no worse than theirs. When we were growing up, their interference was effective. Now, it’s not.”
“Thank heavens! I don’t want him running my life,” she said. “I’m meeting Dylan in thirty minutes, so I need to go, but I just had to talk to you.”
“Call whenever you want. You know I’m always here for you.”
“Thank goodness,” she said. “You always stand by me in a crisis and you’ve been there when I’m hurt.”
Tony smiled at her. When he could, he protected her from their parents’ interference, but it was impossible to always deflect their attention.
She finished her juice and jumped to her feet. “I better run. Thanks for listening. I feel so much better with your encouragement and support.”
“Sure. I’ll need yours sometime.”
She gave him a smile. “That will be the day. Whatever they throw at you, you manage to overcome. Tony, thank you so, so much.”
“Forget it. You’re there for me. You come talk whenever you want,” he said, draping his arm around her shoulders and giving her a light hug.
She smiled up at him, then her expression changed. “Tony, they’ll try to get you to sever ties with me.”
“Doesn’t matter. You know I’ll never do that.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
“Syd, I would think Dylan knows the graphic artists in the city. He probably knows the top one with Morris. Her name is Isabelle Smith.”
“I’ve met her at parties Dylan and I have attended. I don’t really know her except to say hi. We’ve talked a little. From what Dylan has said, she’s very good and he admires her work. They’re friends because of their mutual interest in art. Now she works for you. She’s gorgeous,” Sydney said, her eyes dancing. “Thinking of dating an employee?”
“I’m allowed. I’m just curious because they are both in the same field.”
Sydney laughed. “I’ll ask Dylan about her. Maybe sometime the four of us can go to dinner.”
“Syd—” he said in a threatening voice, and they both laughed.
“Watch out. You’ll get Dad on your case if you start seeing an artist. Actually, you won’t. I think you’ve stopped him cold as long as you don’t lose the fortune you’ve made.”
“It’s a damn big relief. You stop worrying so much. You and Dylan can weather Dad’s interference. If you’re really in love, it won’t matter what Dad does.”
“I hope not. He has a lot of influence.”
At her car Jake held the door. “Don’t pay too much attention to our parents. When Christmas comes, it may be a whole different story.”
“If it’s not, I can live with it. I can’t live with losing you.”
He smiled. “You’ll get along. And I’m always here for you. Take care, Syd.”
“Sure. Thanks for the check, but mostly thank you for being the brother you are.”
As he entered the mansion, his thoughts returned to earlier and Isabelle Smith. He wanted to see her again. He definitely would have an interview with her. Since he’d acquired Morris, three executives had resigned. He guessed from her frosty manner that she was going to resign, too. It was a plus-minus prospect. He wanted her to stay. On the other hand, if she didn’t, it might be less complicated to see her socially.
Now he was looking forward to Thursday evening’s reception more than before.
Two
Isabelle gripped the steering wheel tightly. Her insides knotted. Tony Ryder was a page out of her past. He obviously had not remembered her, and nothing about her had jogged his memory. A night she wished she could forget. The most passionate night of her life, and one that she had never been able to understand.
A singular time in which she had acted in a totally uncustomary fashion. Had it been Tony who had triggered her responses? The spring night? The looming end of the semester? She could never account for her actions to herself.
