Lori looked anxious but Leonard ignored the comment. “Hello, Kate.”
Linc sighed with relief. At least Leonard wasn’t yelling.
She gave a curt nod. “Lenny.”
Linc suspected Kate was the only woman in the world who could address Bellamy as “Lenny.” He carried the coffee into the living room and handed Leonard and Kate each a mug before returning for the other two. Both declined cream or sugar.
Earlier he’d brought two kitchen chairs into the small living room so there’d be four places to sit. Linc and Lori sat down on the chairs, leaving Kate and Leonard no choice but to take the sofa. They sat as far away from each other as possible.
“Would anyone like a cookie?” Lori asked, hopping to her feet a moment later and picking up the plate.
Kate shook her head.
“None for me.” Leonard held up his hand, palm out.
Lori sat down as though disappointed. She turned to Linc, her eyes pleading with him to say or do something to ease the tension in the room.
“I’d like to propose a toast,” Linc said.
The two older people regarded him skeptically.
“To marriage.” Linc didn’t wait for anyone to chime in, but raised the mug to his lips.
They each took a small sip. Linc noticed that Kate clung tightly to the mug handle and focused all her attention on her coffee. Leonard, on the other hand, kept staring at his wife as if he couldn’t stop himself.
“I didn’t know if you were aware of the fact that I went to see Leonard this week,” Linc said to his mother-in-law.
“No,” Kate told him. “Lori didn’t say anything about it.”
“I would have, Mom, but anytime I mentioned Dad you said you didn’t want to hear his name again.”
“I didn’t and I don’t,” she snapped.
Rather than allow the two women to get sidetracked, Linc continued. “We had a nice, long chat. Isn’t that right, Leonard?”
“We, uh, did,” Bellamy said.
“What I found interesting was the story of your courtship.” Linc paused and waited for some reaction. “Kate had talked about a few things, but Leonard filled in the blanks.”
“That was a long time ago,” Kate said, then added pointedly, “When I was young and foolish and didn’t know any better.”
“We were both young and foolish.” Leonard took another sip of coffee and set the mug aside.
For just an instant, Linc feared the other man was about to walk out. Fortunately, though, Leonard sat back, crossing his arms over his chest.
“That conversation made me understand why Leonard and I started off on the wrong foot.” Linc reached between the two chairs to link hands with Lori. “Leonard worked hard to prove himself to your family, didn’t he, Kate?”
“He did,” she agreed begrudgingly.
“How many years did it take?”
“A few… I’ve forgotten now.”
Linc would bet that Kate knew, right down to the day.
“Five,” Bellamy supplied. “Five long years.”
“Lori and I didn’t wait,” Linc said. “We each saw what we wanted and went for it. That was a mistake, and one I’ve regretted ever since.”
“You regret marrying me?” Lori asked, wide-eyed with shock.
Linc squeezed her hand. “Not for one second.”
“Give yourself time,” her mother interjected. “The regrets will come.”
“Kate,” Leonard said in a sharp voice. “Can’t you see how much in love these two are? Don’t disillusion them.”
“What I regret, Lori,” Linc said to clarify his statement, “is that I didn’t go to your parents and give them an opportunity to meet me first.”
“I didn’t want you to meet them,” Lori insisted.
“I know,” Linc said, “but I shouldn’t have listened. I should’ve followed my instincts.”
“You didn’t want him to meet us?” Kate asked, staring at her daughter, her expression aghast.
“No, I didn’t,” Lori said again. “I was afraid you’d tell me what bad judgment I’d shown with Geoff and that you couldn’t trust me to find a good man and…and I didn’t want you to try to talk me out of marrying Linc.”
“In other words, you didn’t care what we thought,” Leonard said. His arms remained crossed.
“I did but…” Lori didn’t finish.
“None of that’s important now,” Linc continued. “Lori and I are married, and while Leonard and I still have some way to go in building a relationship, I believe we’ve come to terms.”
“Have we, now?” Bellamy arched his brows.
“I believe we have,” Linc returned calmly. “We just got off to a rocky start.”
“You mean you’re willing to forgive and forget everything my husband—my soon-to-be-ex-husband—did to sabotage you and your business?” Kate asked aggressively.
Linc met his father-in-law’s look head-on. “I’m willing to forget it because when I stopped to analyze Leonard’s reasoning I could see his point.”
Leonard uncrossed his arms and leaned forward.
“This was a man who loved his daughter enough to put an upstart like me to the test. Hopefully I passed.”
“Frankly, I don’t see why he felt it was necessary to test you at all,” Kate said. “All he had to do was read the investigator’s report to know you’re a good man. But he wouldn’t believe that. Oh, no, he was prepared to risk our relationship with our daughter just to prove he was right. He was absolutely convinced you’d turn out to be underhanded.”