her a few examining glances as he settled into the chair—shoulder-length dark hair, dark eyes, and legs that went on for miles, modestly displayed by the knee-length shorts she wore. She graced him with a smile, then returned her attention to George’s story of how he and Anne had met and fallen in love.
Evelyn set her plate on the coffee table. “Wait. Let me get this straight. Anne, you didn’t know that George was filling in for his boss? And George, you didn’t know that Anne had once been engaged to your boss?”
“Precisely. But there was one person, who happens to be in this very room, who knew the truth about everyone—and chose not to reveal it to us.” George’s clipped accent poked at Forbes’s conscience.
He smiled at his cousin’s husband. “Just as you were bound by the contract you signed, George, I was bound by attorney-client privilege.” He really hoped they wouldn’t decide to air family laundry in front of a total stranger.
Anne humphed, but left it alone and continued the story. Forbes ate his sandwich in peace. Though used to being blamed by his younger siblings—and Anne—of trying to control their lives, they all eventually realized it was for their own good. After all, things had turned out more than all right for Anne and George.
Major and Meredith rejoined them, sitting a respectable distance from each other on the love seat across from Forbes.
“You know so much about all of us now”—Anne shifted her still-full plate on her lap—“why don’t you tell us a little about yourself, Evelyn?”
Forbes’s eyes snapped to Evelyn’s legs as she shifted position. He quickly glanced away, berating himself for such a juvenile reaction.
“Well, I’m originally from Boston, but we lived all over as my father built his business. I went to Columbia for my undergraduate work, then to Harvard Law.” She tilted her head and slew her coppery brown gaze at Forbes.
He nodded in acknowledgment at the prestigious pedigree.
“Since then, I’ve been working for my father’s company.”
“And what do you do?” Forbes set his empty plate on the table and relaxed into the buttery leather chair.
“I’m the retail development director. Whenever Mackenzie and Son partners with a local company to develop an area, as we have with Boudreaux-Guidry Enterprises, I come in to handle all the details—from the broad legal questions to finalizing the acquisition of the real estate to the day-to-day tasks, such as working with contractors, surveyors, materials wholesalers, and all those sort that the investors don’t need to be bothered with.”
Frowning, Forbes leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees. “Mackenzie and Son? You’re not a named partner in the firm?”
Though Evelyn laughed, a slight tenseness showed around her eyes. “It’s not like a law firm where it’s named after the partners. When my father incorporated the company, my brother and I were just kids. He assumed that my brother would enter the family business and I would pursue something else—like marriage and a family, or teaching, like my mother did before she got married. I guess he just didn’t realize that things would be a lot different for women in the new millennium.”
Forbes opened his mouth to remind her that her father could easily file an amendment to his business license to change the name—but a wide-eyed look of warning from Meredith stopped him. He resumed his former, relaxed posture in the chair. He’d taken up for Meredith with their parents a few months ago when she’d admitted to him that she felt like their parents didn’t respect her position as an executive director in charge of two of B-G’s largest departments—facilities and events—but her unspoken reminder that it wasn’t his business to get involved in how Evelyn’s father ran his company was correct.
“Evelyn, how do you feel about old movies?” Meredith asked. Major took that as a cue to clear everyone’s empty
Evelyn set her plate on the coffee table. “Wait. Let me get this straight. Anne, you didn’t know that George was filling in for his boss? And George, you didn’t know that Anne had once been engaged to your boss?”
“Precisely. But there was one person, who happens to be in this very room, who knew the truth about everyone—and chose not to reveal it to us.” George’s clipped accent poked at Forbes’s conscience.
He smiled at his cousin’s husband. “Just as you were bound by the contract you signed, George, I was bound by attorney-client privilege.” He really hoped they wouldn’t decide to air family laundry in front of a total stranger.
Anne humphed, but left it alone and continued the story. Forbes ate his sandwich in peace. Though used to being blamed by his younger siblings—and Anne—of trying to control their lives, they all eventually realized it was for their own good. After all, things had turned out more than all right for Anne and George.
Major and Meredith rejoined them, sitting a respectable distance from each other on the love seat across from Forbes.
“You know so much about all of us now”—Anne shifted her still-full plate on her lap—“why don’t you tell us a little about yourself, Evelyn?”
Forbes’s eyes snapped to Evelyn’s legs as she shifted position. He quickly glanced away, berating himself for such a juvenile reaction.
“Well, I’m originally from Boston, but we lived all over as my father built his business. I went to Columbia for my undergraduate work, then to Harvard Law.” She tilted her head and slew her coppery brown gaze at Forbes.
He nodded in acknowledgment at the prestigious pedigree.
“Since then, I’ve been working for my father’s company.”
“And what do you do?” Forbes set his empty plate on the table and relaxed into the buttery leather chair.
“I’m the retail development director. Whenever Mackenzie and Son partners with a local company to develop an area, as we have with Boudreaux-Guidry Enterprises, I come in to handle all the details—from the broad legal questions to finalizing the acquisition of the real estate to the day-to-day tasks, such as working with contractors, surveyors, materials wholesalers, and all those sort that the investors don’t need to be bothered with.”
Frowning, Forbes leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees. “Mackenzie and Son? You’re not a named partner in the firm?”
Though Evelyn laughed, a slight tenseness showed around her eyes. “It’s not like a law firm where it’s named after the partners. When my father incorporated the company, my brother and I were just kids. He assumed that my brother would enter the family business and I would pursue something else—like marriage and a family, or teaching, like my mother did before she got married. I guess he just didn’t realize that things would be a lot different for women in the new millennium.”
Forbes opened his mouth to remind her that her father could easily file an amendment to his business license to change the name—but a wide-eyed look of warning from Meredith stopped him. He resumed his former, relaxed posture in the chair. He’d taken up for Meredith with their parents a few months ago when she’d admitted to him that she felt like their parents didn’t respect her position as an executive director in charge of two of B-G’s largest departments—facilities and events—but her unspoken reminder that it wasn’t his business to get involved in how Evelyn’s father ran his company was correct.
“Evelyn, how do you feel about old movies?” Meredith asked. Major took that as a cue to clear everyone’s empty
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