Always Be True (15 page)

He carefully banked the fires and braced himself for an evening of small talk with strangers, starting with the couple who had just joined Natalie's parents. They wore the same air of understated wealth. What made them stand out from any number of people in the surrounding area who met that same description was the way the woman stood staring at him. Natalie tensed up the second she saw them.

Once again he spoke just loud enough for her to hear. “You okay? Is there something I should know?”

She turned to face him, her smile definitely a bit brittle around the edges. “That couple is Mr. and Mrs. Humboldt, my ex-fiancé's parents. I was really hoping we wouldn't run into them right off the bat or, better yet, at all.”

He raised his hand to brush a tendril of hair back from her face. “We'll be fine. I'm guessing they're not the type to relish making a public scene.”

“Public spectacles are definitely not part of their usual repertoire, but that doesn't mean they won't get in a few digs along the way.”

Tino might have developed a façade of sophistication, but he'd also learned how to fight dirty when the occasion called for it. “Let them bring it on. After ten years in the army, I can handle any flack they might send my way. I promise to be polite—”

She cut him off. “I'm not worried about that, Tino.”

“Well, maybe you should be. I was going to add that I promise to be polite unless they say something to upset you. Then all bets are off.”

He halfway expected her to object, but she didn't. Instead, her chin took on a stubborn tilt as she laced her fingers through his and they started their final approach. “That road goes both ways, Soldier Boy. I won't let them slice and dice you, either.”

Their plan in place, they closed ranks and stepped into the line of fire.

Randall performed the necessary introductions. “Tino Gianelli, these are our friends Barry and Gloria Humboldt. Tino is a friend of Natalie's.”

Mr. Humboldt was the first to speak. “Natalie, dear, you look charming as always.”

After a dismissive glance in Tino's direction, Mrs. Humboldt's greeting came across a little more barbed. “Benton will be disappointed to learn that you felt the need to bring another date to the dinner, which leaves him the odd man out. Not to mention that Mr. Gianelli doesn't know any of your friends.”

It wasn't Natalie's fault that their son didn't know when to cut his losses and move on. Tino immediately put his arm around her shoulders. “I was only too glad to come with Natalie, and I've been looking forward to the chance to meet more of her friends. She mentioned that she and Benton were childhood friends.”

The woman bristled. “They are more than that. They were engaged to be married. I assure you her returning his ring came as a total shock to us all. They were such a perfect couple.”

Natalie clearly hadn't thought so, but he'd already said more than he should have. Luckily, her mother stepped in to move the conversation to a safer topic. “Natalie, would you rather talk to the president of the symphony board before or after dinner?”

“Now would be great if he's available.”

Tracy looked around the room. “There he is over in the corner. Shall we go see if he has a free moment?”

“Yes, let's.” Natalie offered the Humboldts the barest hint of a smile. “If you'll excuse us, we have foundation business to attend to now.”

As they followed Natalie's mother through the crowd, Tino kept his arm around Natalie's shoulders, making it clear to one and all that she was with him, and that he was more than a last-minute escort or simply a substitute for her ex-fiancé. Natalie nudged him with her elbow.

“For the record, round one went to you.”

“I'm not so sure about that, and we still have dinner to get through.”

“I know. That's one reason I wanted to talk to the man from the symphony sooner rather than later. If things get too awkward over the shrimp cocktails and salads, we'll be free to make our escape.”

He feigned distress. “What? With no dancing? But I promised your mother.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, it's your funeral. You can even dance with Mrs. Humboldt if that would make you happy.”

He shuddered at the thought. “No way. I'm restricting myself to dancing with the Kennigan women tonight.”

“Good plan. Now let's go see what this guy has to say for himself.”

Twenty minutes later he had a clearer picture of what Natalie dealt with on a daily basis. By the time Mr. Walters finished talking, Tino would've whipped out his own checkbook and funded the small community orchestra himself if he'd had the money. After a few more questions, Natalie had finally handed the man her card and told him to contact her office assistant to set up a meeting to discuss the matter further.

“If nothing else, I might be able to suggest a few other avenues you can pursue for additional funding, Mr. Walters. I know quite a bit about the charitable foundations in our area and can provide you with the names of others that might consider helping you for the long term.”

The man's gratitude was obvious. “Thank you for your time, Ms. Kennigan. I fear we put you on the spot here, and you've been most gracious.”

She offered him her hand. “While it's true that I prefer to handle such requests at my office, I do understand that these are unusual circumstances. I look forward to talking to you again.”

“That's great. I'll call your assistant first thing Monday morning to set something up.” He then shook Tino's hand. “Thank you for your patience, Mr. Gianelli. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

Walter looked considerably happier now than he had at the beginning of the conversation. They watched him walk away before turning back in the direction of their own table. “You're going to give them the money, aren't you?”

“If I can. I'll have to do some number crunching before I can give him a final answer. The upside of what I do is that I get to help people. The downside is that there are always far more good causes than there is money to hand out.”

Rather than let her dwell on that, he changed the subject. “I don't know about you, but lunch was a long, long time ago. I'm looking forward to dinner.”

“Me, too.”

But then her smile faded. “Or at least I was.”

Tino followed her line of sight to figure out what had made her unhappy. It didn't take him long to figure out what—or rather, who—had taken the wind out of her sails. There were exactly two empty seats at the table, leaving them no choice about where to sit. The only question was which of them was going to get stuck sitting next to Mrs. Humboldt and which one was going to end up beside a man who could only be Natalie's ex-fiancé.

“Would it be tacky to stop and flip a quarter? The winner gets first choice of seats.”

“Probably.” Her expression was more than a bit rueful. “Besides, I'm not sure there'd be a winner either way. My suggestion? Eat fast.”

He laughed and followed her the rest of the way to the table.

As they approached the table, Natalie was torn between the urge to force Benton to move over next to his parents or to simply walk away from the whole situation. That would be cowardly, but what were her parents thinking to allow this seating arrangement? In what universe did it make sense to force her to sit between her ex-fiancé and her current boyfriend? Or worse yet, sitting between Tino and Benton's mother, who clearly resented her for hurting her precious boy's feelings? It wasn't Natalie's fault that no one had ever denied Benton anything he wanted.

When she met her mom's gaze, her mother offered her an apologetic shrug. Good to know the awkward arrangement hadn't been her doing, which meant either Benton or his mother had altered the seating arrangements at some point. Just great.

In the end, she let Tino decide which seat he wanted. Benton was already rising to pull out the chair beside his when Tino stepped between them to offer her the seat next to Mrs. Humboldt.

She thanked him for his courtesy even as she noted the flash of anger across Benton's face as he dropped back into his own chair. By the time Tino was seated, the conversation around the table had resumed. A few more introductions were in order, but she'd leave that up to her mother as the hostess of this particular table.

A waiter appeared at their side with two bottles of wine. “May I pour you a glass of the red or the white?”

Natalie studied the bottles. “Tino, isn't that the same white wine we had at dinner the other night? You know, the one that we both liked so much?”

“Yes, it is.” He barely glanced at the label before meeting her gaze head-on. The twinkle in the depths of his dark eyes served as a reminder that the wine they'd shared hadn't been the only thing they'd both enjoyed that night—or even the best. They'd finished the bottle on the rug in front of the fire, with Tino licking up the last few drops that he'd drizzled on her skin right before he…Okay, now wasn't the time for a stroll down that particular memory lane. Even so, she suspected she was blushing by the time he turned his attention back to the waiter.

“I haven't tried that particular red, so I'll have that. I'm always up for testing a new…vintage.”

She hoped she was the only one who'd noticed his slight hesitation. Was he trying to make her blush even more? Just to let him know she didn't appreciate it, she gave his ankle a sharp kick. Tino winced while she smiled at the waiter. “We'll both have the red.”

As soon as their glasses were filled, another waiter arrived with shrimp cocktails for everyone. With luck, the continuing rounds of food would prevent much in the way of conversation.

“So how long have you known our Natalie?”

So much for peace and quiet. Benton's question had been spoken far louder than necessary, especially considering Tino was sitting right next to him. His question drew the attention of not only her parents but his own as well. He'd never been one for subtlety, but this was heavy-handed even for him.

“Long enough.” Tino reached for his wineglass as he spoke. Was he going to leave it at that? Maybe it was just her, but those two words seemed to convey a lot more information about their relationship than she was ready to share.

But after sipping the wine, he continued. “Sorry about that. My throat is a bit dry. As I was saying, I've known her long enough to know how special she is.”

As he spoke, he reached over to give her hand a soft squeeze, which only made her want to punch both men. They would all get through this evening without bloodshed if only Benton would discontinue the inquisition, but no such luck. “I would think that if you'd actually known her any length of time, our paths would have crossed before now. Our circle of friends isn't all that big. How did you two meet?”

Natalie butted in to the conversation. “He volunteered to help out at the community center. We met when he saved me from a marauding bucket of green paint.”

Tino smiled at that, but Benton clearly didn't know what to make of her explanation. “So you live in that area of town.”

Tino stared at Benton as if he were an interesting bug. “Why would you assume that?”

“Because the day I visited the center, all of the people working that day looked as if they lived in the neighborhood.”

No doubt meaning that they were poor and beneath his notice. Did he have to be such a snob? They certainly didn't deserve Benton's disdain. She was about to set him straight on that score, when Tino beat her to it.

“Actually, I don't live anywhere near the center, but everyone I've met there has been terrific. Friendly and welcoming.”

Natalie suspected the look Tino had just given Benton said very clearly that the same wasn't true of their present company. He sipped his wine again and continued talking. “My mother read they were looking for volunteers who had a specific skill set and thought I might be interested in helping out.”

Looking bored by the conversation, Benton asked, “And which skill set would that be?”

“My firsthand knowledge of the building trades.”

Benton went on point. “Oh, so is that how you make your living? As a carpenter or something similar?”

She held back the urge to sigh. Clearly, Benton thought everyone at the table would think less of Tino if he made his living with his hands. When had he become such a jerk? More important, how could she have ever been stupid enough to date him much less wear his ring?

Once again, Tino responded with far more civility than Benton deserved. “No, although my father was a general contractor. I worked for him summers until I finished high school.”

Mrs. Humboldt joined the conversation. “And after that?”

Tino didn't bother to glance in the woman's direction, instead keeping his gaze pinned on Benton. “I've spent the past ten years in the army. Most of that time, I was in the military police.”

That information apparently caught the attention of the gentleman on the other side of Benton, because he joined the conversation. “Where were you stationed?”

Tino leaned forward to better see the man. “Early on, I spent time in both Europe and Japan. Then I served several tours in the Middle East, split pretty evenly between Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Iraq.”

By now, everyone at the table had given up all pretense of carrying on their own conversations to listen to Tino and the stranger, who was speaking again. “We haven't been introduced. I'm Stan Grant and this is my wife, Becky. I was a marine myself back in the day, and both of our sons have followed in my footsteps.”

Tino's whole demeanor brightened. “My younger brother is a marine. Our father spent twenty years in the army, and my older brother was Special Forces until recently.”

“It doesn't get said often enough, but thank you for your family's service to our country.” Stan stuck his hand out to shake Tino's, forcing Benton to sit back out of the way. “I bet your parents are damn proud of you and your brothers.”

Tino's smile dimmed. “We lost Dad awhile back, but he did have an unfortunate reputation for bragging about us rather loudly whenever he got the chance. Mom has always been proud of us, too, but she's not complaining about having two of us out of the military and back home.”

Stan's wife joined the conversation. “As both a military wife and a military mother, I can empathize. One of our sons is back in the States for now, but the other is still in the Middle East.”

Her husband gave her hand a pat, maybe by way of comfort. Then he asked, “What are you going to do now that you're out?”

Tino reached for his wine again. “I'm still considering my options, sir. My brother stepped in to take over running the family business after our father died, and I've been helping out some with that. I started working on a college degree while I was in the army, and I'm thinking about going back to school to finish it up.”

Interesting that he hadn't mentioned that to her, another reminder that the two of them hadn't talked much about the future at all. Before the discussion could continue, the main course of the dinner was served. At least Benton didn't make any effort to engage Tino in any more conversation. Smart man. If he'd continued in the same vein, trying to make Tino feel uncomfortable in their company, he was only going to succeed in making himself look even more petty.

And with Benton, appearances were everything.

By the time dessert was served, the orchestra had started to play. Tino leaned down to whisper near her ear. “Do you want the first dance, or should I make good on my promise to your mother? I hate to leave you alone with you know who.”

“I'll be fine. Go ahead and ask her. She's been giving you hopeful looks ever since the orchestra started warming up.”

Tino gave her a quick kiss before heading around to the other side of the table to talk to her parents. Natalie watched as her mother accepted the hand that Tino held out to her and then followed him out onto the dance floor. Her father shot Natalie a quick grin and then turned to watch the pair.

The song had a fast beat, but Tino and her mother quickly found their rhythm. Wow, she'd never realized that her mom was that good, but then she'd seen her dance only with her father.

Her dad had angled his chair to watch his wife, but then he looked in Natalie's direction. “You know, I'm not sure whether to be grateful to Tino for showing your mother a good time out there or to hate him for showing me up like that.”

She knew her dad well enough to know that he wouldn't really begrudge his wife having a bit of fun, but she decided to give him a little grief anyway. “I could always give you a set of dance lessons for your birthday next month.”

He looked horrified by the prospect. “Very funny, little girl.”

But he winked at her before turning his attention back to the dance floor. Meanwhile, Benton slid over into Tino's seat. She'd been expecting him to do something of the kind since his parents had gotten up to dance, leaving the two of them alone. She also wasn't surprised to see him refill his wineglass. When he'd emptied the bottle in front of him, he reached over to avail himself of the one she and Tino had been sharing.

“So how have you been, Natalie?”

She turned her gaze back to the dance floor as she answered. “I've been good. Busy as usual.”

Benton moved on to another subject. “And your grandfather? Is he well?”

The man might be asking all the right questions to show he was concerned about her, but they sounded as if he was reading them off cue cards. “He's grouchy as ever. I'll tell him that you were asking about him.”

Not that her grandfather would care.

She turned the conversation back to Benton's favorite topic—himself. “And how about you? Is work at the law office keeping you busy?”

He perked right up. “Yes, it is. Recently, I've been doing some work for one of the energy companies. Not contract work, but interceding with local officials on their behalf.”

“Sounds interesting.” Not really, but she could see how he'd love being a lobbyist for big-money companies.

Benton leaned in closer, enough so that his alcohol-laden breath brushed across her skin. “I'd love to tell you more about it over lunch next week. I think this could be my first real step toward getting involved in politics. With the right support, I could test the waters in next year's elections.”

And she could guess exactly what kind of support he was hoping for. She hated to tell him, but there was no chance he'd ever get any money from her grandfather's foundation to fund a political campaign. This wasn't the time or the place to start an argument, so she continued to watch the dancers, hoping he'd take the hint that she wasn't interested.

At least he was smart enough not to push her on that subject, but he continued to press her on spending time together. “Come on, Natalie, it's just lunch. We could catch up on things. You can even tell me more about what's going on with the community center project. Pick a time and place, and I'll be there. My treat and everything.”

She finally glanced in his direction. “Under the circumstances, I don't think that would be a good idea, Benton.”

The thin veneer of his charm slipped a bit as his gaze momentarily shifted from her to her mother and Tino out on the dance floor. “What circumstances are those?”

Did she really have to lay it all out there for him? She didn't want to rub his face in it, but eventually he and his mother were going to have to accept the fact that she wasn't going to come to heel no matter how hard they tried to convince themselves otherwise.

“I'm obviously seeing someone else now, Benton.”

He stopped short of rolling his eyes, but his expression was clearly dismissive. Clearly, he thought Tino was nothing but a momentary blip on their radar. “Come on, Nat, we've known each other our whole lives. I see no reason we can't go back to being friends even if we aren't lovers for the moment.”

And that was exactly why she had no intention of seeing him outside of these occasional, unavoidable social obligations. “I hope you're not looking to rekindle something more than simple friendship with me. I've already made it clear that's not going to happen.”

His grip on his wineglass tightened to the point she feared the crystal would shatter. “Of course it won't, not if you won't even give me a chance to make things right between us. You owe me that much.”

She didn't owe him a darn thing, and she'd grown tired of having to remind him of that fact. But before she could come up with a response, Tino returned to the table with her mother. Benton immediately rose to his feet.

He held out his hand to her. “We can continue this discussion out on the dance floor.”

“No, we can't. I promised this one to Tino.”

She brushed past him to walk around to the other side of the table to where Tino stood talking to her parents. His smile faded when he saw her headed for him. After glancing across the table to where Benton sat watching their every move, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and drew her in close.