January 2025 #2
What saved the party for Sam was the inclusion of Dane and Aja.
He actually stopped scowling once they arrived.
He walked Aja over to the bartender holding her hand.
Dane was mobbed for two reasons. One, he was stunning in his vintage Armani suit, and two, he was the architect that people wanted.
And I never worried about Dane like I did Aaron.
Because even crowded, Dane only answered what he wanted to and never had trouble telling anyone that no, he had no interest in discussing whatever the topic was.
He could bring normal conversation to a screeching halt and would just stand there and wait, in absolute painful, awkward silence for whoever to say something else.
It was excruciating, and finally the offending person would clear their throat, tuck tail, and run.
And Dane never said oh thank God they’re gone to whoever stayed.
He wasn’t horrible like that. Instead he remained silent, sipping whatever he had in his hand, until someone changed the subject.
Aja would normally take pity on others, walk up, slide her arm through his, apologize, and then lead him away so she could talk to him a moment.
She would remind him to be tolerant before she kissed him.
Because I knew him well, I was certain that he loved the kiss and took her guidance with a grain of salt.
The best time to approach Dane was when Sam was standing with him.
Dane was easy to approach then because Sam would interrupt and return the conversation to kids, sports, or fishing.
And even though Dane did not, ever, fish, that was good for my brother to have my husband as a buffer.
When Sam draped an arm around Dane’s shoulders, something about that, maybe because Dane looked so comfortable with the closeness, eased others as well. Funny the things you noticed.
A very beautiful woman was talking to my husband, touching his arm, laughing at whatever he said, and I was going to walk over because I could plainly see that she was flirting, but since that seemed stupid, I stayed where I was with Dane.
But I watched as Aja glided over, slipped her hand through his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder.
Instantly, he put his hand over hers, turned and smiled at her as she lifted her head to look up at him.
They made a lovely picture together, and the love swirling between them was easy to see.
Of course, to people who didn’t know, it could be mistaken for the romantic kind.
Then they started talking, and in moments, both of them were laughing.
Dane loved to hear his wife laugh, and would always look for her in the crowd.
Sam would then tug Aja along after him, and they would both join Dane, standing on either side of him.
That, right then, was when Dane was best. Bookended, anchored, whatever you wanted to say.
He could truly be himself, and Sam didn’t look bad either.
The best part was after the party the four of us went for Mexican food. Sam was really happy about that.
Michael’s party was much the same, except Sam didn’t have Dane or Aja there.
His family was, his parents, which was good.
Regina was holding court, as she always did, and Sam and his father were sitting together in companionable silence.
As I didn’t know anyone and Hannah wasn’t there, busy with Aaron’s corporate Christmas party, which she always helped host, and all the boys were working—I was alone.
Sitting with Sam on the couch would seem like I was not mingling, so I stood out of the way.
I eventually found myself at the window where a striking woman was looking out across Michael’s backyard.
“It’s lovely, isn’t it?” I asked her.
She turned to look at me. “It is.”
I offered her my hand. “I’m Jory Harcourt-Kage.”
Her smile was warm. She was younger than I thought, perhaps mid-fifties. “I’m Gwen Donnelly from Aruba Marketing and—Harcourt?”
I chuckled.
She smiled wide. “I’m sorry,” she said, putting her other hand over her mouth. “I just—I had really wanted to speak to Dane Harcourt about our company headquarters near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but he wasn’t available to meet with me.”
I nodded. “He’s always busy.”
“Are you related?”
“He’s my brother.”
“Oh how marvelous,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “Might you put in a good word for me?”
“Of course,” I agreed. “Tell me, what is it that your company does?”
“We’re a marketing firm that works solely in support of female-owned businesses.”
I nodded. “And how do you know Michael?”
She shook her head, letting go of my hand then. “I don’t. I know Sandra. Her ex and my husband are very old friends. With the divorce, that’s been hard. Sandy and I don’t see each other as often as we’d like.”
“Normally people divide friends in a divorce, don’t they?”
She nodded. “They certainly do.”
“That’s gotta stink.”
“It certainly does, and this probably will not help at all, but, Jory, I really would love to speak to your brother.”
“And by not help at all,” I said, chuckling, “you’re supposed to be meeting Michael tonight to talk to him about your building.”
“That’s what Sandra hinted around, but I’ll be truthful and tell you I’m not all that sold on doing so,” she replied, gritting her teeth.
“And why not?”
“The buildings I’ve seen don’t say vision to me, more useful.”
“Useful is good.”
“Useful is fine. I don’t want fine. I want inspiring. I want special.”
She wasn’t going to go with my brother-in-law even if I said no.
That was abundantly clear. There was also a chance she wouldn’t like Dane once she met him.
That rarely happened, but every now and then, others found him pompous.
Whenever he reported those events to me, I always said, no…
not you. And I cackled. “Well then, let’s give Dane a call. ”
She gasped and took hold of my arm tight. “Really?”
“Yes, of course. When are you available?”
“Whenever he’s available is fine with me. I’m at his disposal.”
Grinning, I called my brother. I started with the fact that she was helping women and went from there. It was a quick decision. Of course he had time.
When she whooped out her happiness, grabbing and hugging me, people around us laughed. We went and ordered drinks together after that.
Later, Sandra came and found me, and when she asked me to step outside with her, in the cold, I was surprised. Following behind, I closed the door, and when she rounded on me, I had to take a step back.
“Jory, why are you trying to derail Michael?”
Weird to be accused of something like that, but I could see that it might look like that from her perspective. “I would never do that.”
“I think you did,” she snapped, taking a step forward. “I specifically invited Gwen here to speak to Michael.”
“And I’m sorry about that,” I told her, taking a step back. “But you have to keep in mind that when I introduced myself, once she heard the name Harcourt, she was excited.”
“Oh yes,” she said, deflating a bit. “I didn’t consider that.”
“I’m sorry, but I hyphenate my name. It’s too precious to me not to.”
She nodded. “I get that. I hyphenate too. I’ve been Sandra Dunning too long to not be, so I’m now Dunning-Kage.”
“Then you understand precisely what happened.”
“I do,” she said, sounding utterly defeated. “I apologize. I’m just—I helped my ex so much with his career, and I haven’t been able to do a thing for Michael.”
“Just give it time,” I prodded her.
“Thank you.”
Once we were back inside, Thea came charging up to her mother and took her hand.
“Honey, what’s wrong?”
Thea glanced at me, then back to her mother. “Hannah just arrived.”
I had no idea how that was anything not to be happy about. “Where is she?”
“She’s in the front room with my friend from school.”
“Does she know Werner?”
“Apparently so,” she told her mother.
“Well, let’s go see her,” Sandra announced, kissing her daughter’s hand before leading her forward.
I followed because I was going the same way, as I wanted to see my girl.
I couldn’t hear what Sandra was whispering to Thea, but she stopped when we reached her.
There was Hannah in a long-sleeve, high-neck—not a turtleneck because it didn’t fold over—that reached right under her chin, minidress in black.
She was also in heavy black tights and black four-inch heels.
The all-one-color looked really good and very classy.
The young man talking to her looked happy to see her, and was holding her hand.
When she saw me, she gave his hand a squeeze and then strode over. It didn’t escape my notice that the young man trailed right after.
“Hi, Aunt Sandy, how are you?” she greeted her fondly, leaning in to kiss her cheek before stepping in close to me.
“I’m fine, Hannah, thank you for coming. I thought your father said you were busy.”
“I was, but the event ended early, so I was able to come,” she said, turning to me. “You look very nice.”
“I was worried that a maroon tweed suit might not be good.”
“Not at all,” she assured me. “The vest in the wheat color, the white dress shirt, and the tie matching the suit looks great. The oxblood wingtips look great too.”
I grinned at her. “I love it when you approve of my sartorial choices.”
She chuckled. “Well, you did far better than Dad. I mean, that Tom Ford suit is awesome, but this is a Christmas party. He could have mixed things up.”
I scoffed.
“Yeah, fine. Look who I’m talking about.”
“And who is this?” I asked, looking at the young man behind her. He was handsome in the way where you thought money.
“Hello, sir,” he greeted me, offering me his hand. “Good to meet you. I’m Werner Albrecht the Third.”
“Good to meet you as well, Werner,” I said, shaking his hand. “How do you know Hannah?”