Page 25 of The Addendum

“Yet I feel the dislike you have for me. Why is that? Did I inadvertently insult you somehow?”

Her grip on my arm tightened, becoming so hard I felt the bite of her nails through the cotton of my shirt.

“I assure you, Mr. VanRyan, when you insult people, it isn’t inadvertently.”

I stiffened. “I don’t understand.”

She pulled back, the blatant hatred no longer hidden. “I’m sure you don’t. You never have. Go enjoy your time with your family,” she spat out, still wearing a false smile. She spoke her next words louder. “Thank you for the dance. I have a headache. Excuse me.”

She hurried away, leaving me more confused than ever.

* * *

I refused to allow her to ruin a beautiful day for my daughter. I smiled as I returned to the table, rolling up my sleeves.

“Duty done. I’ve danced enough.”

“Sent the last one running,” Aiden observed with a smirk.

“The lady isn’t overly fond of me,” I admitted, staring at my hands, wondering what fascinated her about them. They were just hands. I had long fingers, and the only jewelry I wore was the platinum wedding band, which I never took off. I had a scar on one hand from where I fell out of a tree when I was young. It went straight across the top, starting at the wrist and disappearing by the last knuckle of the index finger. But it was hardly fascinating and too simple to be considered grotesque.

Maddox leaned over. “What are you looking at?”

“What do you think about my hands?”

“I rarely think about them, Richard,” he said dryly. “I think you need to get that opinion from Katy.”

I shook my head, meeting his eyes. “Ashley stares at them. I feel her anger when she does. But she admits we’ve never met before. What on earth is she looking at?”

He shrugged. “No idea. They’re just hands.”

“My point exactly.”

“Maybe one day you’ll find out.”

I glanced across the room. Luc and Ashley were hugging Heather and Reed. I watched casually as they left, a slight frown on Ashley’s face. She was obviously sticking to the headache story.

Mentally, I shook my head. I would think about it tomorrow. I wasn’t sure I would ever see her again unless it was a get-together Luc attended and he was still dating her. She had to be lying about our never having met. How on earth could a total stranger hate me?

* * *

Later that night, we sat on the deck at the Hub, the sun setting, the burnished radiance lighting the sky, the patio lights on, casting their glow around us. The two tables were full. All the BAM men and their wives were there, relaxing after the busy, happy day. Heather and Reed were on their way to Brazil, Heather’s dream of seeing a rain forest and being able to capture the beauty of the colors herself having been fulfilled by Reed. It was the best wedding gift he could have given her. We sent them to Toronto in a limo, having booked them a honeymoon suite for the night so they were closer to the airport for their early morning departure.

Now it was our time to simply kick back. Maddox and Dee sipped whiskey. Bentley, Aiden, and I preferred scotch. Van and Halton joined us, but Reid stuck to beer. Cami, Fiona, and Emmy preferred white wine. Katy, Becca, and Liv opted for red. Sandy and Jordan had retired for the evening. And the younger generation were all at home. We had platters of munchies left from the wedding spread out, and as was our tradition, many of us lit up a cigar.

“Great wedding,” Van mused. “Our kids looked pretty damn happy.”

“They did.”

“It was so them,” Katy said.

“Do you think any of them will ever have a traditional, normal wedding?” Bentley asked, blowing out a cloud of smoke into the air.

“No,” we all replied.

“Penny’s was close,” Katy said.

Everyone laughed. “If you consider royalty at your wedding normal,” Maddox pointed out.