He was convinced the only hope they had was to fight this as a united front.
“One question.” Kenneth moved to the edge of the sofa he was sitting on, raising his hand as if he was a student in a classroom instead of the former CEO of Fortunado Real Estate.
“Only one?” Connor asked, unable to keep the amused expression off his face.
“One’s enough,” Kenneth responded sternly. “Charlotte Robinson seems to have done a disappearing act—”
“I know that,” Connor answered, anticipating his father’s question. “Which is why I’m planning on finding her.”
Kenneth waved a hand at his son’s declaration, for all intents and purposes dismissing it.
“And therein lies my question,” Kenneth replied. “There are countless people trying to track this woman down, from the local police to the FBI to even our illustrious matriarch herself, Kate Fortune, who you might remember, despite being in her nineties, is one exceptionally formidable woman. With the boundless resources that are at Kate’s disposal, if she can’t find Charlotte, what in hell makes you think that you’re going to be able to do anything different?” his father wanted to know.
“I’m not an egotist, Dad,” Connor replied mildly. “I don’t think that I’m the only one who can find Charlotte. It’s just that,” he continued despite the cynical look on his father’s face, “sometimes I wind up getting results by thinking outside the box. Besides, the more people putting their heads together and working on locating Charlotte Robinson, the greater the chances are of actually bringing her to justice.”
Kenneth blew out a breath. “I suppose I can’t argue with that.”
“Give him time,” Valene said to Connor with a wink. “He’ll find a way.”
She went on in a louder voice, clapping her hands together to get everyone’s attention. “Okay, now that we’ve all been told about Connor’s new career and all agreed that Connor should try to find that awful woman before she does anything else, possibly even more reprehensible, to the family, let’s get back to our favorite topic.”
Connor looked at his sister quizzically. “And that would be—?”
“An engagement party,” she answered him gleefully, her eyes dancing as a broad smile slipped over her lips, curving them.
Connor closed his eyes. Engagements and weddings. His least favorite topics of conversation in the world. “I think that’s my cue to exit, stage right.”
But before he could take a single step to make that happen, Maddie linked her arm through his.
“Not today, brother dear. Mother told me that you’re spending the night at the old homestead,” she said, gesturing around the area, which couldn’t by any stretch of the imagination be referred to as “the old homestead,” at least not if accuracy was a factor.
“Looks to me like you’re trapped,” Zach told his brother-in-law, traces of amused compassion in his voice.
“Trapped? No, no offense, Zach, but that’s one thing I’m never going to be.” Connor shook his head as he glanced at his sisters and thought about his missing siblings, all of whom were undoubtedly with their “significant other” at the moment. “You know, I really can’t get over how domesticated everyone’s gotten over this past year and a half.”
“Yeah, yeah, your time’ll come,” Valene predicted, letting Connor know that she wasn’t buying into this act of his.
However, Connor remained steadfast because he honestly believed that his status was never going to change. “Sorry, not going to happen. Not to me.”
“Just because you’re the last man standing, brother dear, doesn’t mean you’re going to stay that way,” Maddie told him.
“You’re right,” Connor answered his sister. “I am the last man standing. And I intend to keep on standing for a very long, long time.”
“What do you have against being happy?” Zach asked Connor as he slipped his arm around Maddie’s shoulders and drew her closer to him.
“But that’s just my point,” Connor told the other man. “I am happy. I like being free and not accountable to anyone except for myself. And you people on occasion,” he added as an afterthought, looking around at the others in the living room.
Barbara Fortunado merely smiled at her son as she reached over and patted his cheek affectionately. “Your time will come, dear,” was all she said before she turned her attention to her daughters.
A moment later, she became fully immersed in finalizing plans for the wedding—which at this point was only a month away.
Connor turned to look at his father, who from what he could determine was also standing on the outskirts of this conversation, the way he was.
Yes, he thought, romance was all well and good, but when that faded and the day-to-day business of living had to be addressed, that was where it all fell apart. He liked keeping things fresh, not facing the same old stale fare day in, day out. In his opinion, marriages were about routines and he liked to mix things up.
“You understand, right, Dad?” Connor asked the man sitting across from him.
“Do I understand how you feel right at this moment? Yes, I do,” Kenneth admitted freely.
Connor was glad to hear that he had his father’s support. “Well, at least you can see that—”
“I also understand,” Kenneth went on as if his son hadn’t said anything, “that all that’ll change the moment the right woman comes into your life.”
“Lots of women have come into my life, Dad,” Connor pointed out. That was part of the joy of being unattached. “And I’m still free.”
“I said the right woman,” Kenneth emphasized. “And it’s not something anyone can convince you of until it actually happens to you,” his father said knowingly. “Until then,” he counseled, “just enjoy thinking that you’re happy.”
Connor merely offered his father a smile. He knew he couldn’t change his father’s mind any more than his father could change his. But he was happy, Connor thought with conviction. He knew that. And he intended to remain that way no matter what anyone else might think to the contrary.
But because the upcoming wedding seemed to make his sister so happy, he remained in the room and pretended to listen to all the plans that were being made for the anticipated nuptials.
He even nodded and smiled in the right places while his thoughts were elsewhere.
* * *
“Do you need anything, Connor?” Barbara Fortunado asked her son much later that evening.
Talks regarding the wedding plans had gone on much longer than anyone had thought they would and time had just gotten away from them. To his credit, she thought, Connor had feigned interest and even contributed a word or two, which made his sisters happy. It was nice seeing her children getting along.
She paused now to look in on her son, who was spending the night in what had once been his bedroom.
“No, I’m good, Mom,” Connor told her. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he looked around the room. It had been a long time since he’d been here. “Although I have to admit that it feels a little strange to be back here after all this time,” he confessed.
Barbara nodded. Like all good mothers, she realized that her children had to make their own way in the world and she was proud of each and every one of them. But there were times when their very success at forging