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I tried to stifle a giggle but I’m not entirely sure I succeeded as I offered my hand. Watching my father stammer around as Mr. Shields grasped my hand and slowly drew it up to his lips. I felt my stomach drop and my breath cease with excitement when his kiss landed softly and lingeringly on my skin.
I was certain that when he pulled away and looked into my eyes, I was red as an overripe plum tomato, but my mind was swirling so fast, I couldn’t begin to care about anything other than his touch.
“Please,” he replied with a thick northern accent, “Call me Anthony. Mr. Shields was my father.”
Again, I giggled but knew that it was apparent this time.
“I’m Sahara,” I replied, “it’s a pleasure to meet you too.”
“And this,” my father interjected, nearly pushing himself between us, “Is my lovely wife, Kat.”
“It is very nice to meet you, as well,” Anthony replied, kissing my mother’s hand as well but without nearly as much enthusiasm as he had chosen to shower over me.
Still, my mother beamed and although she pulled her hand back rather quickly, I was sure my father was displeased with the way Anthony handled himself.
My father ushered us to the dinner table and as we were sitting down, my father spoke up, “So, Anthony…I remember your father talking about you when you were just a boy. You’ll have to forgive me, it's strange to see you in your Daddy’s seat.”
“I assure you, it’s kind of strange to be here,” Anthony admitted, “But life goes on, I suppose.” He insisted, which I knew didn’t sit right with my parents.
“Your father was a great businessman,” my father insisted.
“Indeed, he was and I’m trying my best to take up the mantel.”
“That’s good to hear,” my father replied, almost in a challenging, authoritative manner.
I watched Anthony’s expression shift slightly as though he understood my father’s implication.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know exactly how my father did business but I’m not one for beating around the bush, so to speak, so is there something you would like to discuss with me before we get started?”
My father seemed genuinely insulted by Anthony’s remark and his condescending expression made my stomach churn.
While my father wasn’t physically abusive, his anger made him belligerent, which usually escalated quickly into loud shouting matches.
He knew that he wasn’t going to be able to yell at this man, but he was sure as hell going to let it all out as soon as he left.
“Listen, Anthony, I know that,” he answered with a strained calmness, “So, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Your father and I had something of an understanding and I hope that the two of us can continue that understanding.”
I turned quickly toward Anthony, to see what he would say.
“Well, Ray, I’m not my father and with going over your file, we have a lot to discuss.”
“Don’t you understand the concept of loyalty? They have that up in the north, don’t ya? If you don’t want to think of it that way, you can say I’m grandfathered in. That works too.”
“In all fairness,” Anthony retorted with an intriguing, genuine calmness about him, “I came down here to make a deal with you and renew your contract with my father’s company. I didn’t make a ten-hour trip to be threatened.”
“And I didn’t let you in my house to boss me around,” my father hissed.
“That’s not what I’m doing. I’m being honest, and you know it. There are some stipulations in your current contract that I want to talk about. If I was just going to rubber stamp it, I wouldn’t have come down here.”
“This ain’t yo
ur father’s company anymore, boy. It’s yours and you’re fixin’ to run it into the ground if you don’t wise up!”
“Sure, I’m bound to make some mistakes,” Anthony answered with a sly grin, “But thankfully, I have the capital to smooth over a few rough patches.”
My heart was racing. I didn’t know this man, but I certainly admired him. He was saying things I only wished I could say to my father.
My father was a man who seemed to think he knew everything, when his view was actually abundantly single minded, and Anthony Shields was successfully putting him in his place.
