Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Clinking silverware and the swirling winds of the blizzard outside the windows were the only sounds in the dining room at Henry Weston’s birthday dinner.
Victoria forced down one more swallow of her barely touched pappardelle.
Robert, sitting kitty-corner to her position at the foot of the table, gave her a tiny, sympathetic smile.
“The pappardelle and bruschetta are really great, Vicki.” Hank’s compliment drew her gaze down the table to where he sat at their father’s right, opposite Treese. “You always make the best I’ve ever had.” His smile, though bigger, was just as inhibited as Robert’s.
“Except for mom’s.” Treese leaned past Spring and Torin to see Victoria. “But yours is second.”
“I know mine can’t compare with hers. You’re right.” Victoria’s attention returned to her father.
He’d eaten most of the veal, mushroom pappardelle, and bruschetta, on his plate. But judging from his demeanor, he’d only done so to have a task, a means to avoid looking at Victoria or speaking to anyone.
He was never chatty, but in recent years, his mood had lightened at his birthday dinners.
He would regale his children with stories of his triumphs as a youth, a student, and a surgeon.
Then he would ask about his children’s work and education, remarking with approval on anything they were doing well and encouraging them to reach greater heights.
Tonight, he glowered at his plate without a word.
Victoria should be grateful he was silent rather than voicing his obvious displeasure. But her stomach was creating more knots by the minute as the tension emanating from him increased.
Should she apologize for getting arrested? No, not in front of everyone. That would only bring up the very topic that was best to avoid.
“I thought I was going to slide right off the road.” Hank’s laugh and chuckles from the others drew Victoria’s attention to the story he must have been telling for a bit already. “But I remembered Westons don’t miss Dad’s birthday dinner, so no blizzard was about to stop me.”
Robert laughed. “That’s the spirit.”
Hank grinned. “And it worked, too. I think that snow was afraid of me.” He glanced at their father. “Or maybe just afraid of Dad.” Hank tacked on the addition to his joke with a jovial tone, but it was a risky remark. Especially this evening.
Their father lifted his head and looked at his favorite child.
Hank’s smile grew shaky. “Just kidding.”
Victoria jumped in before their father could misdirect his wrath onto Hank.
“Dad, would you like your cake now?” She’d baked his favorite German chocolate cake that Mom had always made for him and prepared it with candles in the kitchen.
Victoria removed the cloth napkin from her lap and started to rise.
“No.” The steel in his tone made her immediately sit as her heart seized.
All eyes went to their father.
“What I would like,” he dabbed his mouth with his napkin before setting it beside his plate, “is to know what on earth possessed you to harass an esteemed member of the Green Hills Country Club at his home with that reprobate I told you never to see again.” He lifted his gaze with the final words, piercing her across the length of the table with a degree of barely bridled fury she hadn’t seen in years.
Certainly not directed at her, not even when he’d reprimanded her for being questioned by the police.
“I—” Panic spiked through her. But she knew how to calm her father, how to meet his expectations and please him. She knew how to calm his stormy waters. Lord, please help me.
Her father respected strength and intelligent acquiescence.
She met his gaze and fought for a steady tone.
“I’m so sorry you heard of the meeting characterized in such an inaccurate light.
I can assure you there was no harassment, only a discussion.
I was trying to help a young girl who was the victim of that particular man. ”
Dad’s eyes narrowed. “Define what you are implying by ‘victim.’”
She glanced at her siblings, all of whom stared at her. They already knew of the situation, but not the identity of the guilty party. Except for Robert.
He gave her a small nod, a gesture of encouragement her heart grabbed for strength.
She returned her focus to her father. “She’s a teenager with whom Lawrence Massey had an affair. She’s now pregnant with his child.”
“Whoa.”
“Oh, my goodness.”
Hank’s and Spring’s reactions overlapped one another.
“If your story is true, you have no business becoming directly involved with this girl.” Dad’s features relaxed slightly, shifting into his usual calm expression as the pent-up anger receded.
Thank you, Lord.
Perhaps Victoria would get a chance to explain so he would understand. “With all due respect, her own mother evicted her from the only home she has when she’s about to have her child.”
“Precisely what I suspected. We don’t involve ourselves with the class of people you are dealing with.”
Victoria stared at him. She shouldn’t be surprised. He’d always placed inappropriate value on wealth, so-called class, and social standing. But to hear him admit his bias so bluntly, especially when learning the identity of the culprit, hit her with disappointment and shock.
“I sincerely hope,” he leveled her with a warning look, “you are not about to tell me you allowed her to stay in your home.”
She took in a breath through her nose. Calm strength. “Yes. She’s temporarily staying with me, so she’ll have a roof over her head when her baby arrives.”
His gaze darkened as his mouth tightened. “I’m surprised at you, Victoria. You will have this girl removed from your house immediately. Do you realize the damage this is doing to your reputation? To this family’s reputation?”
“Now hold on.” Torin aimed his confident interruption at her father.
“We’re talking about statutory rape, sir.
If it’s true and could be proven. The girl is a victim, not the criminal.
” Thank the Lord for a police sergeant, soon-to-be family member, who wasn’t afraid of their dad.
But she knew Torin tried to stay out of family dynamics as much as possible while Spring was trying to repair her relationship with their dad.
“I’m aware of that.” Dad’s fingers flexed beside his plate, a clear sign anger was simmering and building inside.
It would explode if Victoria couldn’t calm him down.
But she couldn’t agree to cast Sydney and her baby out on the street, or even into different housing. She’d promised Sydney she could stay.
“I can’t believe you would say this girl isn’t worth helping because of her ‘class.’” Spring bobbed quotes in the air with her fingers as she stared at their father.
“The man who did this to her is in your class. He’s your friend, a member of your own country club, probably from a supposed good family.
” Her voice elevated with each word. “And he’s married! ”
Victoria sent her a look, trying to warn her to stay out of this. It would ruin her attempts to smooth things over with their father.
Irritation clustered in harsh lines on Dad’s brow.
“He is not a friend, merely an acquaintance. He obviously misrepresented himself and does not belong at the Green Hills Country Club. I’ll see to it that he’s thrown out.
But that does not change the damage Victoria is doing by becoming involved.
I give hundreds of thousands of dollars to charity every year for this sort of thing.
” He swung his gaze to Victoria. “Give to a charity to help her, but you will stop your involvement with her immediately, is that clear?”
Her heart pounded in her ears. She couldn’t agree to that. It wouldn’t be right. But if she didn’t, if she crossed Dad in front of everyone, the results could be catastrophic.
“I can’t believe you would want to stay under your father’s thumb for the rest of your life.”
Cillian’s words echoed in her mind. Was he right? That she acquiesced to her father when she shouldn’t? If Cillian were here now, he would be ripping into her dad for his unfeeling harshness and cruelty.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.” Her bold response seemed to come from someone else. “It wouldn’t be right.”
“Unacceptable!” Dad abruptly stood, his chair squealing on the floor as it slid back.
Her heart lurched into her throat, somehow continuing to thump there as she stopped breathing.
“No wonder you’ve gotten yourself arrested for murder, your face and name plastered all over the news.
” He waved a hand in the air as if gesturing to the media outlets.
“I knew that Doherty boy would ruin you. I don’t know who you are anymore.
” He pointed a finger at her. “You have dragged the Weston name through the mud. You are destroying the reputation I’ve worked my entire life to build for all of you. ”
Every accusation pierced her ribs, finding a bullseye in her heart. Her limbs trembled. She could only stare at him, that finger, the glare of disappointment and wrath.
“That’s enough, Dad.”
She numbly saw someone rise on her left.
Robert?
“Being accused of murder was not her fault. And now she’s trying to do the right thing to help someone in need. You have no right to blame her for either of those or pretend she is purposefully tainting your name.”
Robert should stop. He should sit down. He had a peaceful relationship with their dad. She couldn’t be the reason for ruining that.
The grim possibility helped her find her voice. “Robert, please sit. It’s all right.”
“No, it’s not.” Hank’s voice was louder than normal, tightened with emotion. He swung his head toward their father. “I can’t believe you.”
“Hank, stop.” She had to do something. Hank was in enough hot water with their dad as it was right now.