Lady Be Good (Wynette, Texas #2)(49)

The maid had set out five bone china plates holding salads that combined Bibb lettuce, avocado slices, and wedges of ripe pear with a crumbling of Gorgonzola. Shelby took Peter from Kenny and tried to set him in his high chair, but he started to fuss, so Kenny took him back, then scraped off the Gorgonzola to give the baby a piece of pear. As he began to eat his salad, Kenny seemed oblivious to the mushy bits of fruit that were dripping on his slacks.

Shelby questioned Emma about any contacts, no matter how remote, she might have had with the royals, then Torie cut in with a story about a European trip she and Shelby had taken several years ago. The two of them began trading stories and, for a little while, they seemed to forget they’d become enemies.

The salads were replaced with an entrée of herb-crusted lamb and roasted potatoes. Kenny and his father began discussing some new computer softwear being developed by TCS, and Emma noticed that Warren acted as though Kenny couldn’t understand the technology, even though Kenny didn’t appear to have any trouble.

When Warren introduced Dexter O’Conner’s name to the discussion, Torie immediately reacted. “Could we talk about something else, please?”

Shelby leaned across Emma to wipe Peter’s chin. “I don’t know why you dislike Dex so much, Torie. Nobody else does.”

“I do,” Kenny said.

Torie shot him a grateful look.

Warren tossed down the dinner roll he’d just buttered. He might be insecure when it came to his son, but not with his daughter, and Emma saw the strength of will that had made him such a successful businessman. “It doesn’t matter whether she dislikes him or not. The first two times she got married for herself, and this time she’s going to do it for the family. Unlike her last two husbands, Dex doesn’t happen to be a scumbag. He’s one of the brightest new minds in the business, and TCS is going to take advantage of it.”

“I’m not marrying Dexter O’Conner just so you can get your hands on the next microchip wonderboy.”

“Then you’d better be ready to support that emu farm yourself, Princess, because I’m not doing it much longer.”

The evenness in his tone told Emma he wasn’t bluffing, and she suspected Torie realized it, too. Although Warren obviously loved his daughter, he had apparently decided enough was enough. Emma’s and Torie’s circumstances were too much alike for her not to sympathize. But she also wondered if Warren might not be doing his daughter a favor by making her stand on her own feet.

Torie apparently decided to retreat. She took a sip of wine and turned to Emma. “So, are you and Kenny going to Austin tomorrow?”

Emma carefully avoided looking at Kenny. “I’m not certain.”

Torie regarded her curiously. “Something wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“Both of you have been acting funny all night. Too polite, like one of you is really pissed off at the other, except I’m not sure which one.”

“Me,” Kenny said.

Torie’s fork paused in midair. “What’d she do?”

“I won’t embarrass her by talking about it.” He pushed his dinner plate out of Peter’s reach.

“Well, that’s no fun. Tell us what happened, Lady Emma.”

“A misunderstanding on my part, that’s all.”

“Must have been a big misunderstanding,” Shelby said. “Kenny doesn’t hardly ever get mad.”

“Oh, really?” Emma stabbed at her lamb, and her sense of being ill-used overcame her British reserve. “He’s been angry with me since the moment we met.”

Kenny glared at her. “I have not!”

“You certainly have.” Everyone was staring, but injustice bubbled inside her to the point where she didn’t care. “You’ve complained about everything. You don’t like carrying my luggage or the way I hold my brolly or the fact that I walk fast. You say I’m too conservative, and you tell me I’m too bossy. You refuse to accept my apology for a very natural misunderstanding. You don’t even like the way I dance!”

“You lead!”

“And who made the rule that only men can do that?”

The others were watching intently, except for Peter, who blew a pear-flecked spit bubble. Mortified by her outburst, she set down her fork and tried to regain her dignity. “I simply misinterpreted Shelby’s visit this afternoon. As a result, I became upset with Kenny, and now he’s upset with me.”

Everyone continued to regard her with interest except Kenny, whose brow had furrowed. “When she says she got upset, what she really means is that she slapped me.”

“Oh, my God!” Torie’s mouth dropped.

“You didn’t!” Shelby’s eyes widened.

Kenny glowered at Emma. “The slap wasn’t the important part, and you know it.”

“Tell us why you did it,” Torie said. “I’m sorry, Kenny, but I’ll bet she had a good reason.”

“Thanks a lot for the vote of confidence.” Kenny shot her a disgusted look.

“Well . . .” Emma’s inherent sense of breeding fought against her need to defend herself. Then she remembered that none of these people seemed to have any compunction about airing their dirty linen in front of her. When in America, do as the Americans. “What Shelby told me led me to believe that . . .” She could feel herself faltering, and she sat a bit straighter in her seat so she could deliver the truth bang-on. “I mistakenly assumed Peter was Kenny’s child and that Kenny had abandoned him.”