Family Merger

by Leigh Greenwood

  He’d always known that, but he’d probably never acted like that because he’d never been forced to put the two up against each other. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

  She dropped her gaze, wouldn’t look at him. “It’s what you say.”

  “But it’s not what I do? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “I think you try, but your heart isn’t in it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When you’re away, you always call when it’s a good time for you. I usually have to wake up out of a sound sleep to talk to you. When you’re home, you’re in the office or on the phone.”

  “But we go lots of places together.”

  She lifted her head. “And you spend the whole time talking about business. You talked about this meeting all through the homecoming football game. You called Greg on the cell phone four times. Leigh’s mother asked me why you even bothered to come to the game.”

  “I have to make sure Greg writes down my ideas when they occur to me. If I don’t, I might forget them.”

  “I’m sure that’s good business, but it makes me feel like I’m in the way.”

  “You aren’t.”

  “It feels like that.”

  “Is that how you’d feel?” he asked, turning to Kathryn.

  “I walked out on a date just a few weeks ago who insisted upon talking on his cell phone during dinner.”

  “Sometimes you have no choice but to take care of business.”

  “He initiated the calls,” Kathryn said.

  Ron felt the heat of embarrassment in his face. He’d initiated the calls, too. “So you’re saying when I’m with family, or out with you, I should never allow business to intrude.”

  “I didn’t say that,” Cynthia answered though he’d addressed the question to Kathryn. “I just don’t want to feel I’m in the way.”

  “I refuse to go out with a man unless he leaves his cell phone or pager at home,” Kathryn said. “If he doesn’t have the time to concentrate on me, then I don’t have the time to concentrate on him.”

  “What if there’s an emergency?” Ron asked. “Something could happen at the shelter.”

  “I always tell Ruby where I’m going.”

  “There are still times when you couldn’t be reached. Having a phone just in case an emergency comes up would remove all worry.”

  “No Palm Pilots, either,” Kathryn said. “One date tried to outline a presentation he was giving the next day.”

  “I don’t care about any of that stuff,” Cynthia said, beginning to sound impatient. “I just want to feel even if you have to talk on the phone you’d rather be talking to me.”

  “Did you tell me I was paying too much attention to work and not enough to you?”

  “Lots of times. You’d stop for a little while, but soon you’d be doing it all over again. After a while I gave up.”

  For Ron, there never seemed to be any time constraints on doing things with his family. If he didn’t do it today, he could do it tomorrow. Or the day after that. That wasn’t true in business. Things had to be taken care of the moment they came up—opportunities had to be grasped, or they would disappear. Erin had understood that and encouraged him to pursue every opportunity that presented itself.

  After she died, he’d doubled his efforts because of the promises he’d made to her. Cynthia had been too small to tell him she didn’t feel the same way her mother had. And if he was honest with himself, he’d have said she was too small for him to think she had an opinion he ought to consider. It would never have occurred to him that she could really want him. He thought girls wanted their mothers. They only wanted their fathers when it was time to go to the debutante ball or host the big summer party at the beach. It was only boys who wanted their fathers to do things with, to ask questions, to talk with about making plans for the future, what they wanted out of life.

  Maybe he’d been wrong. Maybe some girls wanted that same kind of relationship with their fathers.

  The idea pleased him. He’d always felt like an adjunct to Cynthia’s life. From the moment she was born, he’d loved her dearly, but Erin had said children were a woman’s job. Nothing had come along to change that picture. Or if it had, he hadn’t paid attention to it. He’d always thought of himself as the provider, the parent who made Cynthia’s life possible, not a participant in it. For the first time he realized how much he had missed out on. Cynthia’s problem was his problem, too.

  “If I could do it all over again, what would you want me to do?” he asked Cynthia.

  “Think of me first.”

  That sounded so simple, but Ron wondered if he’d ever thought of anybody before his career, including himself. Since he was ten, he’d thought of nothing but the kind of life he wanted and what he had to do to get it. Thinking back, he couldn’t remember what he was like back then, what he wanted out of life before that fateful day when he realized not all children were like him. Had he been happy? Had he been content with his toys, the clothes he wore, his parents, his trailer? Did he have friends he enjoyed playing with? What had happened to that little boy? Was there anything of him left?

  Erin never talked about the years before they met. Maybe there was a little girl she had forgotten, a little girl who wasn’t driven by dreams of a life different from the one she had, a little girl who wanted more from people and less from things.

  Maybe that’s where both he and Erin had changed. Their parents failed to give them that sense of security, of safety, of being loved and valued that all children wanted and needed. In its place, they’d reached for something else. But Cynthia had never felt insecure, unsafe, or ignored the way they had. She couldn’t understand their needs because she’d never experienced them. He and Erin had been successful in giving their daughter what they themselves had missed. But that very success had formed a barrier between them, a barrier he must now learn how to dismantle.

  “I do think of you first,” Ron said, “but obviously not in the way you need me to think about you. You have to lead me until I learn enough to know how to do it by myself. I want to, baby, I really do, but I don’t know where to begin. Do you believe me? Will you help me?”

  Without warning, Cynthia jumped up from her chair and flung herself into his arms, her words made indecipherable by her sobs. After practically running from a room when he entered, his daughter’s sudden change of attitude shocked Ron. But the biggest shock of all was the strangeness he felt holding his daughter in his arms. Had it been so long he’d forgotten what it felt like? Had it been so long he’d forgotten he missed it?

  He no longer needed to be convinced of what Cynthia said. He felt it in his bones, his muscles, his heart. This child was what he’d worked for all those years, but he’d lost sight of her. He’d felt alone after Erin died with no one to share his dream. He’d turned to his career, concentrating on it so much he’d lost sight of everything else. He meant to change that starting right now. He didn’t know what he had to do or how long it would take, but he would succeed.

  Chapter Nine

  “It was a brilliant idea to invite Mr. Egan to be part of this weekend,” Mrs. O’Grady said to Kathryn as they got ready to leave. “I don’t think anyone else could have made Shamus admit he’d made a mistake.”

  “I can’t take credit for this weekend,” Kathryn said for what had to be the twentieth time. “It was Mr. Egan’s idea. He made all the arrangements.”

  “Then it was brilliant of you to talk him into coming up with the idea,” Mrs. O’Grady said, apparently determined a man couldn’t be responsible for the success of the weekend. “I wouldn’t have thought such a famous man would have taken the time for people like us. Shamus says he has a really important meeting going on in Geneva right now.”

  Ron had been on the phone several times over the weekend. He hadn’t said anything to Kathryn, but she could tell from his expression things weren’t going well. She’d half expected him to leave for Geneva at any moment, but he had held to his
commitment to remain for the entire weekend.

  “All I know is his firm has been handling negotiations for a merger.”

  “He must love his daughter very much to stay with her instead of getting back to Geneva. Shamus says it looks like things are falling apart.”

  “I wouldn’t know anything about that. I’ve got all I can do to keep track of these girls,” she added, hoping she didn’t sound rude. It had been made very clear during the weekend that everyone thought there was something going on between her and Ron. She had realized too late it had been a mistake to share the same suite with Ron and his daughter, even though she’d made it abundantly clear from the beginning she was acting as a chaperon for Leigh. It didn’t do any good to say they’d met because of his daughter. The other fathers weren’t single. Too, none of them were as handsome, as rich or as famous as Ron. That made him an even more interesting subject of gossip.

  “I think he’s interested in you,” Mrs. O’Grady said.

  “He’s a very busy man who travels all over the world. I don’t think he’d be interested in a woman who’s basically a homebody.”

  “Who’s saddled herself with a bunch of runaway unwed mothers.”

  “That, too. His daughter is the only reason we know each other.”

  “That might have been true at first,” Mrs. O’Grady said with a conspiratorial wink, “but he’s very well aware of you now. He’s a nice man. I wouldn’t turn my back on him if I were you.”

  Shamus and Kerry came out of the bungalow carrying the last of the luggage. Ron had managed to negotiate a shaky peace between father and son. As far as Kathryn knew, they hadn’t come to any decisions, but they were talking. That was progress.

  “I wish Mr. Egan was riding back with us,” Mrs. O’Grady said. “He’s the only person who can keep Shamus and Kerry from shouting at each other. Maybe I could ride with you and he could take my place.”

  “You can ask him if you like, but it’s time your husband and son learned to talk to each other without a peacemaker. If they’re more interested in fighting than in making decision that will affect the rest of their lives, we might as well learn that now and save everybody a lot of time and effort.”

  Kathryn wouldn’t have done anything to dissuade Ron from exchanging places with Mrs. O’Grady, but she had been looking forward to riding back with Ron. She’d hardly had a chance to talk to him all weekend. When he wasn’t closeted with Cynthia, he was talking to one of the families, mediating arguments, calming troubled waters, and coming up with alternative solutions to their problems.

  “They’re the two most important people in my life,” Mrs. O’Grady said. “I couldn’t live without either one of them.”

  “Tell them,” Kathryn said. “Lay down the law. Tell them you won’t put up with this nonsense any longer. If they can’t start to act like sensible adults, you’ll leave.”

  “I couldn’t do that!”

  “Sure you can. Go visit your sister. Your mother. Or treat yourself to a nice vacation at a really expensive spa. You’ll feel much better afterward.”

  “But what would they do without me?”

  “Let them find out. It might make a difference.”

  Mrs. O’Grady promised to give the idea some thought.

  “Is this everything?” Shamus asked Kerry as he struggled to arrange the luggage in the trunk of his Mercedes.

  “Everything except Mom’s overnight bag. She wants that up front with her.”

  “You ready to go?” Shamus asked his wife.

  “I was just thanking Miss Roper for the lovely weekend,” she said to her husband.

  “I hope we’ll see you again soon,” Kathryn said.

  “You will,” Mrs. O’Grady and Kerry replied in unison.

  Shamus looked disgruntled. “There’s a lot more to talk about,” he said.

  “That’s true for everyone,” Kathryn said.

  “I’m surprised Egan stayed,” Shamus said. “It’s going to cost him the merger.”

  “He hasn’t said anything to me about that.”

  “He wouldn’t, not with you hating men in business.”

  “I don’t hate men in business,” Kathryn said, shocked anyone would make such an accusation.

  “Seems pretty widely accepted,” Shamus said.

  “Don’t listen to him,” Mrs. O’Grady said. “He doesn’t understand why a woman would ever want to question a man.” She winked. “I’ve been a right trial to him over the years.”

  Kathryn waved goodbye to the O’Gradys then saw off the other families. Betsy and Julia seemed more unhappy than when they arrived. Their parents were willing to talk, but she didn’t think they understood Julia and Betsy any better than when they arrived.

  She waited while Ron said goodbye to Cynthia. She’d offered to ride with Leigh so Cynthia could be with her father, but both wanted to stick to the original arrangement. Kathryn suspected Cynthia wanted to go over everything in detail with her friend.

  Ron and Cynthia were the success of the weekend. They had a lot to work out before they could rebuild their trust, but they were talking.

  “Where’s your luggage?” Ron asked as he walked toward his car, waving to his daughter as Leigh’s car disappeared around the curve of the stone wall.

  “In the car. I’m packed and ready to go.”

  “I should have helped you with the luggage and seen everybody off.”

  “It was more important that you spend the time with Cynthia. You’ve already given a lot of time to the other families.”

  They got in the car and Ron started the ignition and backed out of the parking place. “I don’t know how much good I did. I was hoping for more.”

  “If you hadn’t done anything except jump-start your relationship with Cynthia, this would have been a successful weekend.”

  Ron smiled. “We’re not there yet, but the roughest part is over.”

  They were silent as they drove through the woods to the road down the mountain. The weekend had been tiring and strenuous, but Kathryn had enjoyed it. She felt invigorated. Maybe it was the fact she and girls had gotten out of their routine. Whatever it was, she wouldn’t have minded doing it all over again.

  “I had hoped bringing everybody together would show them what they were missing,” Ron said.

  “I think it worked for Kerry and Lisette, but I’m not so sure about Betsy and Julia.”

  “I’ll have to think of something else.”

  “You don’t have to do this. Your only responsibility is your daughter.”

  “You got me interested,” Ron said. “I figured if you thought it was important enough to devote your life to, I could give it a weekend now and then. Maybe even more somewhere down the road.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Nothing yet. Just that I never thought about boys and girls in situations like this. Their families, either. I don’t imagine there’s a lot being done to help them. This weekend’s started me thinking about it.”

  “I don’t know how you had time with all that was going on here and in Geneva.”

  She wasn’t sure she should have mentioned Geneva. She thought Ron ought not put his business before his family. She thought that healing his relationship with Cynthia was unquestionably more important than any business meeting. But she couldn’t help wondering if her telling him he ought to stay with Cynthia until everything was worked out could be partially responsible for his merger going bad.

  “I’m used to working on more than one thing at a time,” he said. “Business deals never come one at a time. It’s usually feast or famine.”

  “If this was a feast, you don’t appear to have been enjoying it.”

  Ron gave her a quick glance before turning his gaze back to the road. “Shamus has been talking, hasn’t he?”

  “When he was leaving, he said the merger was in trouble.”

  They had reached the end of the private drive through the woods. Ron waited until he’d pulled out on the twisting mountain r
oad before he replied.

  “There’s a tricky political situation involved. The politicians are afraid to move until they know how things are going to settle out.”

  “Would things have gone better if you’d been able to stay in Geneva?”

  He sent her a sharp look. “Do you want the truth?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Some people don’t want to hear answers that don’t fit their notions of how things ought to be.”

  “Do you think I’m like that?”

  “I don’t know. You seem so set against nearly everything I do.”

  “Then I’ve given you the wrong impression. I’m not against business. I realize men must have careers if they’re to support their families. What I am against is men ignoring their family responsibilities for their careers.”

  “And you think I’ve done that.”

  “You know I do, but that’s not what I asked.”

  “I have a reputation for handling negotiations personally. The political situation is the real stumbling block, but I may lose the whole deal because I’m not there to keep the people coming back to the table until that’s resolved. Is that what you wanted to know?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you should also know I don’t regret my decision. My career will always be important to me, but my daughter is more important. I hadn’t realized how close I was to losing her. I’m going to work very hard to make sure we grow close again. I’m also going to try to be a damned good grandfather, but I’m not going to give up my work. It’s not just a way to make money. It’s not just a barometer of my success or social acceptance. It’s my work, my career, something I do better than almost anyone else. I can’t give it up any more than you can give up your shelter. It’s part of who I am.”

  Kathryn hadn’t realized she’d grown so tense. She’d certainly gotten more than she’d asked for.

  “Will you have dinner with me when we get back to town?” Ron asked. “I’ve got a few hours before my flight leaves.”