That was true.
Jessica knew I had done well in business, but Clara and I had raised her deliberately away from the idea that a balance sheet determined a person’s value.
She knew I had investments.
She knew I had retired comfortably.
She had never cared about the precise structure of my holdings, and until Kevin arrived in her life, neither had I.
Kevin looked almost offended by that.
“You never told her?” he asked me.
“I never thought I needed to.”
His face reddened.
“Well, how was I supposed to know?”
Martha, standing several tables away, closed her eyes for a second.
That question told everyone in the room more about Kevin than any answer I could have given.
I picked up my water glass.
“You weren’t supposed to know,” I said.
“You were supposed to decide how to treat me without knowing.”
Jessica looked down.
Kevin’s jaw tightened.
“I was joking.”
“You told him not to embarrass you,” Jessica said.
Her voice was quiet, but it carried.
Kevin spun toward her.
“What?”
“I heard part of it earlier.
Near the coat check.”
For the first time that afternoon, Kevin looked frightened by something other than his career.
“Jess, that was different.”
“How?”
“I was under pressure.”
“So you humiliated my father?”
“I made a joke.”
“You called him a loser in front of our families.”
Kevin looked toward David, apparently deciding that the marriage could wait but the CEO could not.
“David, I’m sorry.
Obviously, if I’d known—”
David’s expression changed.
Not much.
Just enough.
“If you had known what?”
Kevin stopped.
The trap was obvious now, but he had already stepped into it.
David continued.
“If you had known Mr.
Hayes owned the company, you would have treated him with respect?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You were about to.”
Kevin ran one hand through his hair.
“This is insane.
It’s my wedding.”
Jessica flinched.
His wedding.
Not our wedding.
His.
David glanced at me.
“You asked me earlier whether I still wanted to discuss Kevin’s future with the company while I was here.”
That caught Kevin immediately.
His posture changed.
