into hers, as if she'd find the answe r there. It was probably the impending wedding making them all act so uncharacteristically mushy. Yeah, that was it. Forcing a smile, she looked up at both of them, unwilling to let any moment with the men in her family—well, these two men, anyway—turn remotely maudlin. "You know Mom is up there right now having a good laugh over how ridiculously hopeless we are without her."
Her father instantly retreated back into his senatorial demeanor. Which was exactly what she'd aimed for. This man she understood. More important, this man she could handle. What hit her for the first time was the possibility that he escaped there himself for the very same reason. With his wife gone, perhaps that was the only world he understood, too.
The very idea humanized him almost too much in her eyes. So a somewhat confused Tess was intensely grateful when he started talking in his filibuster voice once more.
"In the interim," he said, his customary gruffness firmly back in place, "it wouldn't hurt you to consider giving some of your time to a charitable foundation. Use the media attention you garnered with your fame to do some good."
Thereby bringing positive media attention to the Hamilton name, for a change, she silently finished for him.
"I'll have Hilary send you a list of the foundations we work with."
Hilary was her father's assistant, his right hand, his keeper, and pretty much the only thing that kept him up and running. Fortunately he knew this and made damn sure she was paid well enough to stick around, no matter how difficult he was to deal with.
"That sounds like a good idea," Tess replied, surprised to discover she kind of meant that, too. Well, she was just full of surprises today. She'd been involved with several charities while on tour, but those were typically invitational benefit things that she'd just shown up for to help out. She didn't have a dedicated cause, per se. Had never thought about it, really. Maybe she should. She swore in that moment she could feel her mother's celestial gaze of approval beaming directly down on her head. "Have her note on there which organizations you're most involved with."
Her father gave her the closest thing she ever got to approval—a curt nod—then tossed in the blessed relief of shifting his attention to Wade. Double bonus.
"I ran into Mariella Robson at a fund-raiser last week," he began.
Ever the defense attorney, the only sign that Wade had just been put in a supremely uncomfortable situation was the way his hand tightened ever so slightly on his glass. Tess settled back, hiding her smile behind the rim of her own. Maybe she should look into joining the current poker craze as a way to enhance her bottom line. Years of playing tennis had taught her to ferret out her opponents' "tells" quickly, then capitalize on what they telegraphed to her. She could probably reverse her financial situation completely with one good weekend in Vegas.
As her father grilled her older brother on why it was that he'd let one of the most successful, beautiful, and most important, available, women in San Francisco get away, she took another sip of her martini and wished like hell she didn't feel so discombobulated. She needed to keep her head entirely in the game for the next couple of weeks. Far more than another title and trophy were at stake.
"So, will you be staying at your little place in the village?"
Lost in her thoughts, Tess glanced up to find them both looking expectantly at her. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
Wade responded. "Dad and I are staying at the Connaught in Hyde Park. We assumed you'd stay in Wimbledon, so we didn't book you in."
Tess's mouth opened, then shut again. She'd just assumed they'd booked her room along with theirs. Had sort of been counting on it, in fact. Caught off guard, it took her a second to rally her thoughts. "I, uh, actually, with Bobby getting married and all the wedding stuff, I thought it would be better to
Her father instantly retreated back into his senatorial demeanor. Which was exactly what she'd aimed for. This man she understood. More important, this man she could handle. What hit her for the first time was the possibility that he escaped there himself for the very same reason. With his wife gone, perhaps that was the only world he understood, too.
The very idea humanized him almost too much in her eyes. So a somewhat confused Tess was intensely grateful when he started talking in his filibuster voice once more.
"In the interim," he said, his customary gruffness firmly back in place, "it wouldn't hurt you to consider giving some of your time to a charitable foundation. Use the media attention you garnered with your fame to do some good."
Thereby bringing positive media attention to the Hamilton name, for a change, she silently finished for him.
"I'll have Hilary send you a list of the foundations we work with."
Hilary was her father's assistant, his right hand, his keeper, and pretty much the only thing that kept him up and running. Fortunately he knew this and made damn sure she was paid well enough to stick around, no matter how difficult he was to deal with.
"That sounds like a good idea," Tess replied, surprised to discover she kind of meant that, too. Well, she was just full of surprises today. She'd been involved with several charities while on tour, but those were typically invitational benefit things that she'd just shown up for to help out. She didn't have a dedicated cause, per se. Had never thought about it, really. Maybe she should. She swore in that moment she could feel her mother's celestial gaze of approval beaming directly down on her head. "Have her note on there which organizations you're most involved with."
Her father gave her the closest thing she ever got to approval—a curt nod—then tossed in the blessed relief of shifting his attention to Wade. Double bonus.
"I ran into Mariella Robson at a fund-raiser last week," he began.
Ever the defense attorney, the only sign that Wade had just been put in a supremely uncomfortable situation was the way his hand tightened ever so slightly on his glass. Tess settled back, hiding her smile behind the rim of her own. Maybe she should look into joining the current poker craze as a way to enhance her bottom line. Years of playing tennis had taught her to ferret out her opponents' "tells" quickly, then capitalize on what they telegraphed to her. She could probably reverse her financial situation completely with one good weekend in Vegas.
As her father grilled her older brother on why it was that he'd let one of the most successful, beautiful, and most important, available, women in San Francisco get away, she took another sip of her martini and wished like hell she didn't feel so discombobulated. She needed to keep her head entirely in the game for the next couple of weeks. Far more than another title and trophy were at stake.
"So, will you be staying at your little place in the village?"
Lost in her thoughts, Tess glanced up to find them both looking expectantly at her. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
Wade responded. "Dad and I are staying at the Connaught in Hyde Park. We assumed you'd stay in Wimbledon, so we didn't book you in."
Tess's mouth opened, then shut again. She'd just assumed they'd booked her room along with theirs. Had sort of been counting on it, in fact. Caught off guard, it took her a second to rally her thoughts. "I, uh, actually, with Bobby getting married and all the wedding stuff, I thought it would be better to
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