Page 116 of The Last Goodbye

He’s obviously still reading those romance books from Jovi.

Cannon

Hey, I bet I know a hell of a lot more than you do about what women want.

Cutler

You’ve made it your life’s work.

A ruckus at the front door had me looking up from where Briar and I were drinking coffee in the kitchen.

I need to go. I’ll check back later.

We’d come downstairs for the world’s most awkward breakfast. Tabitha bossed Jan around, giving her orders to pass on to her coworkers. William read the newspaper and barely said two words, and apparently Denton and Jessica were sleeping in, but I had a feeling they were just hiding out in their room until they had to be downstairs.

We hadn’t realized that was an option.

We’d hung back in the kitchen after William and Tabitha left the table.

“Tabitha would like everyone to head to the parlor,” Jan said as she stepped into the kitchen to let us know.

Briar and I carried our mugs to the sink and set them down before moving to the parlor. The house was buzzing with people this morning, busy setting up tables out in the backyard for the party this evening, as well as a group of people carrying in endless floral arrangements.

“You look beautiful,” I said, leaning close to her ear. She wore a white-and-blue sundress, and her hair was pulled back in a long ponytail.

Last night had been an emotional evening, and I was happy that she seemed to be feeling good today.

“Thank you.” She smiled as we arrived in the parlor at the same time Denton and Jessica did. A woman and a man were speaking to Tabitha and William, and I didn’t recognize either of them, so I assumed they worked for the magazine. Pedestal lights had been set up around the room, and the man had one camera hanging around his neck and another in his hand.

“Hi there,” the woman said when we entered. “I’m Flora Mason, and I’ll be conducting the interview today, and this is Roger Wilson, who’ll be taking the photos. But we wanted to take the photos of the four of you first, and then I’ll move on to interviewing Mr. Winchester.”

We all introduced ourselves, and Jessica and I moved to sit on the other side of the room to get out of the way while they all got situated on the velvet sofa across from us. Tabitha was arguing about the seating arrangement, since Briar and Denton were originally seated on either side of William, with Tabitha on the other side of Briar, and she didn’t like that. She wanted to be seated next to her husband. But then Flora placed Briar beside her father and moved Denton to the end, and Tabitha didn’t like that, either.

“She’s a lot, right?” Jessica said under her breath, peeking up at me.

“Ha. You could say that.”

“That was nice of you to say something last night. I wanted to—” She exhaled. “I just, um, picking a fight with that woman is not something I felt up for.”

I nodded. “I don’t give a shit what she thinks. The way she speaks to Briar is unacceptable, and it won’t happen on my watch.”

“That’s good.” She smiled and added, “And it appears the photographer won the battle with the seating arrangement.”

Tabitha sat on one side of William, while Briar was seated on the other side; Denton was seated on the end next to his sister. They smiled and posed for several shots over the next forty minutes, and then they were done.

Denton was quickly on his feet, clearly eager to get out of there.

“We’re going to go get brunch, if you guys want to meet us in town,” he said, looking between me and Briar.

“Actually, I’d like Briar to stay for just a few minutes, if that’s okay,” Flora asked.

Denton and Jessica asked that we text them when we were done so we could meet up. After that, they couldn’t get out of there quickly enough.

“Why? This is William’s interview.” Tabitha frowned.

“Well, he’s being honored as an exemplary man for his contributions in both the business world and in his personal life. Writing about him as a father is also a huge part of this article, as we’re a family magazine.”

“Yet you let Denton leave?” Tabitha snipped.