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along Liam’s veins. For this reason, when she turned to him and spoke again, he wasn’t as kind as he could have been — to be honest, he wasn’t kind at all.
    “Your home is truly beautiful,” Whitney said.
    “It’s just a cold, drafty house,” Liam told her without even breaking a smile. Still, he had to admire her for not giving up.
    “Why don’t you tell the children some stories of when their father was young?” she said, challenge in her eyes.
    Liam wanted to tell her to mind her own freaking business, except he never used the word freaking . He wanted to rise from the table and walk away. He wanted to do anything other than talk about the brother he’d lost too soon. But instead, when Ally spoke, he found himself answering.
    “Did you play with my Daddy, like I play with Brayden?” Ally asked.
    “Yes, we played sometimes when we were very young,” Liam said. And just like that, the child was beaming at him — hell, her eyes, the same color of blue as his brother’s, were shining with joy. And then the strangest thing of all happened. Liam found himself wanting to keep that light in the child’s eyes.
    “I do hope the food suits you,” Frederick broke in.
    His father seemed far more uncomfortable than he’d ever seen him. The man Liam had known for having a back of steel wanted to do anything and everything to please these strangers. Strangers with no sense of style or class.
    “It’s wonderful, but I hope you didn’t go to any extra trouble for us,” Whitney told Frederick as she reached out a hand and patted his.
    “I am just so pleased to have you all here,” Frederick said, gripping her fingers for a short moment. Then, while they all went back to eating, the man looked at each of the people at the table individually. “Please feel free to ask any questions you want of me.”
    “Why didn’t you want to know us before now?” Brayden said instantly.
    Liam had to wonder how long the boy had been holding that in.
    “Your father and I had a falling out — a disagreement. I’m not happy to say that I was very angry for a long time.”
    Frederick lowered his eyes and didn’t see his grandson’s reaction. But he continued. “Because I held on to that anger, I lost out on the best years of my son’s life, and I also didn’t get to know I had two beautiful grandchildren. It’s something I will regret to my dying day. But if you allow me to get to know you, it will make everything better.”
    “My father never spoke once of you,” Brayden said testily. “He said his family was all gone.”
    Liam had to fight not to step in and stop this.
    “Well, can you forgive an old man for mistakes he’s made in the past?” Frederick asked.
    “That depends,” Brayden said. “What do you plan to do for us now?”
    Whitney threw the boy a look that guaranteed that he’d be getting talked to later. Liam felt grateful the look wasn’t directed at him.
    “Ah, Brayden, you’re a treat, and very wise. I think we’ll get along just fine,” Frederick said, much to Liam’s surprise.
    They finished the rest of their meal in relative silence, and Liam could see the look of relief on Whitney’s face when it came to an end.
    “Thank you so much for a wonderful dinner,” she said, “but Ally is barely able to stay awake. I’ll go ahead and get her tucked into bed.” Whitney rose from her chair.
    Liam stared at her, as did the staff. No one ever left the table before his father — it was simply common manners. Anyone should know that. But the woman was obviously unaware that she’d done anything wrong. Good grief.
    She gathered Ally into her arms and walked from the room without anyone saying anything further. Liam let his eyes trail after her as she left, and he liked watching her departure — nice view from the rear! — almost as much as he’d liked her arrival.
    “I’m gonna catch some z ’s too. Thanks for dinner,” Brayden said, and quickly followed his aunt and sister.
    “Some