Grant followed Tony across the room. “Think about Sydney, Tony. You may be helping your sister to lose a lot.”
“Sure. I’ll think about her.” Tony left the room in long strides, already making a call by the time he reached the back door, thoughts of family forgotten as he talked to one of his vice presidents about the coming trip.
After he finished his call and drove away, images of Isabelle returned. What was she doing now? He was tempted to contact her, but he expected another business call soon. When he talked to Isabelle, he didn’t want interruptions. He called his pilot to arrange to fly to San Diego next Friday. He would surprise Isabelle Friday evening. Next weekend couldn’t come too soon.
Twenty minutes later he entered the country club where his family had had a membership since the club’s founding. Crossing the thick red carpet in the darkened bar, he joined his closest friends, men he had known from childhood, Jake Benton and Nick Rafford, who greeted him. “Where’s your brother?” he asked Jake.
“Gabe should be here any minute. We might as well get our table,” Jake said as the two shook hands briefly.
Tony turned to Nick. “Thanks for coming. I know this takes you away from Michael and Emily, as well as Grace.”
“Actually, Emily fell asleep early, and Michael will soon. With the kids asleep, my wife will probably be happy for some solitude.”
It still surprised Tony that Nick and Jake were married. They had been as committed to bachelorhood as he was. Both men seemed wildly in love and happy with their wives. Nick amazed him the most because he now had two small children. He thought well of Grace, but he saw no plans for any kind of serious commitment in his own life.
As soon as they were seated at a large, linen-covered table, Nick reached into his blazer pocket. “I know you’re a confirmed bachelor, Tony, and you’re a newlywed, Jake, but you’re both going to see Michael’s and Emily’s latest pictures.”
As pictures were passed around of his toddler girl and son, who was almost two, Gabe Benton walked up to join them, sitting across from his older brother with the family resemblance showing in the firm jaws, straight noses, thick brown hair and startling blue eyes. Gabe stood out from the others because he was the only one wearing Western hand-tooled boots with his slacks and dress shirt. All of them paused when a waiter arrived to take their drink orders. As soon as they each had a glass of wine, Tony raised his. The others gave him their attention. “You look like the cat that ate the mouse,” Nick remarked to Tony.
“I’ve already made arrangements with the maître d’,” Tony stated. “This dinner goes on my account. We’re celebrating because now we have all ended our controlling fathers’ manipula tions. Nick, you have because you gave your dad the grandchildren he wanted. Jake, you have because you married and settled, and Gabe, you have the good fortune to have escaped, thanks to your older brother.”
“Amen to that,” Jake said as he exchanged a look with Gabe, who grinned.
“So what’s happened with you?” Nick asked Tony. “You just said all of us.”
“That’s right. I’m including myself. Dad has admitted he has to stop interfering with me,” Tony said.
There was mild applause and low cheers. “I’m set to make more money than he has—in short, I don’t need his money, so I can do as I please and he has no leverage to use on me. Tonight he admitted it.”
“Congratulations!” Gabe and Jake said together, as Nick reached out to high-five Tony.
“Way to go, Tony!” Nick said, raising his goblet. “Here’s to freedom from interfering fathers.”
“We’ll all drink to that one,” Jake remarked dryly. “Mine threatening to disinherit me if I didn’t marry—that is the biggest interference of all.”
Nick lowered his drink. “I think Tony’s dinner should be on us.” He paused while Gabe and Jake agreed. “We want to treat you because you’ve earned it. That’s tremendous. Something the three of us have wanted since we were about nine years old.”
“Younger than that,” Tony remarked and the discussion momentarily ended while the white-coated waiter took their dinner orders.
“I figured we’d celebrate your acquisition of Morris. That’s probably what turned the tables with your dad,” Gabe said.
“He realizes he no longer has any hold. He can suggest, but not threaten. Unfortunately, now he’s focused on my sister.”
“Don’t tell me that,” Gabe said. “Our dad has always concentrated on Jake. I hope he doesn’t switch to me. So far, he hasn’t.”
“I don’t think he will,” Jake stated. “No habit established. Your investments are going so well, Dad has to be impressed.”
“I’ve never said a word to him about them,” Gabe replied.
“I have,” Jake said. “I’ve told him you’re handling my personal investments and some friends’ investments.”
“That probably shocked him.”
“Besides, you’re the baby and they’ve always spoiled you,” Jake said with good nature, and Gabe’s smile widened.
“Don’t think I haven’t enjoyed it, brother,” he said, and the others laughed.
“Will Morris pan out like you expected?” Jake asked Tony.
“Far better,” Tony replied, thinking about Isabelle and wanting to cut the dinner short and call her. Tossed green salads were placed in front of them.
While they ate, Nick lowered his glass of water. “This is a monumental day. A time we’ve dreamed about and I began to never expect to have happen. I insist you let this dinner be on us,” Nick continued. “You’ve accomplished the miracle with your dad and you recently hosted us at a tropical retreat because of the bet you won as the last holdout for marriage.” Nick glanced at Gabe. “You would never even enter the bet, so your bachelorhood doesn’t count.”
“I know that. I didn’t want any part of the bet.”
“My tag-along brother won’t think about marriage,” Jake remarked.
“I have no regrets about my lack of participating in the bet,” Gabe said.
“Besides, Gabe, you would have had a distinct advantage since you are younger than the rest of us.”
“We insist, Tony, on buying dinner,” Jake added. “Since we were little kids, all of us have dreamed and schemed to rein in our control freak fathers and we’ve finally succeeded.”
“Thanks. It’s a great feeling to finally get free and to best him. Don’t ever put Michael in competition with you, Nick,” Tony said, thinking about Nick’s son.
“Don’t worry,” Nick said. “I don’t think any of us will ever do that to our sons.”
“Or daughters,” Tony added with his own sister in mind.
All agreed. After dinner they left the dining room to go to a club lounge, where they sat and talked until ten. Finally, it was time to head home. Nick was parked the nearest to Tony and before they parted he turned to clasp Tony on the shoulder. “Congrats, again. I never thought we’d see this day come for all of us. When we were kids we never thought it would happen.”
“I enjoyed myself tonight. Maybe a little guilty for doing so, but damn, it was satisfying to hear my father admit he couldn’t try to run my life any longer.”
“I know it was. With Jake and with me, it