Page 55 of Mail Order Splash

“No one cares about the lesser son when Kellan Hawthorne is around,” I snapped. “Just the way it is.”

“We’ll talk about that later. I have a plane to catch as soon as you get her inside.”

“We can stay here and wait until your car takes you,” Kleine interjected. “I don’t mind.”

“It would be helpful; I need to be in Japan on time.” Kellan closed his briefcase. “I’ll take these with me to work on a new approach.”

“Will you be back for the wedding?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t miss it. You do have my blessing, Dalton. I would be blind to not see it.” He put his hand on my shoulder without another word and left.

See what? What is he trying to say now?

“Would you like anything to eat or drink? Come with me, I might as well introduce you around. The staff will be curious.”

“You go. I have calls to make and I wanna make sure Tony hasn’t reached out.” Josh took a seat at the table.

“Dalton, I’m not going to stop doing rescues or being a doctor.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to. The whole reason we’re doing this is to keep it alive.” I pushed the buttons on the private elevator to go to my floor. “Now, when I introduce you as my fiancée, try to not flinch.”

“I didn’t flinch. You flinched.” She shouldered me. “Oh, my gosh, I have so many questions. Are we ready to face people without answers?”

“Be yourself. You being you is my favorite part.” I shouldered her back.

“Mr. Hawthorne, let me be the first to congratulate you.”

“Thank you, Delores. This is Kleine, my fiancée.” I smiled down at her because she didn’t flinch. “Get everyone in the meeting room, please.”

“Yes, sir.”

“The man I met in the water that day seemed so carefree. This is so different.” She followed me to my office. “I asked you then and I will ask it again. Who are you?”

“I’m Triton. I was that day and I still am, except I have a few more responsibilities than I let on.” I pointed to the couch. “Do you have questions or concerns we can chat about before dinner? Maybe about the wedding?”

“I don’t care about the wedding. It’s never been a girlie thing for me. What I do wonder about is, well, everything else.” She heaved a sigh. “Where do I live, we live? Do we live together? Where do you live might be first because I know you are living on your yacht because you don’t have a place here.”

“Those are all good questions. I live primarily in New York, though in our new ventures in the Hawthorne foundation, including new duties within the company, I will be in Miami, mostly.”

“Mostly? And when you are not here, how long will you be in New York?”

“Depends. Sometimes I fly there for a week or two and sometimes I take the yacht and stay there for a few months.” I held up my hand to stop her. “You may do as you wish. You can stay here or go with me. I don’t expect you to change your lifestyle for me. If anything, I will adapt to yours.”

“That doesn’t sound realistic. What about other places? Do you travel more than that? I mean, Kellan is on his way to Japan as we speak. Where is his wife?”

“Kellan travels more than most of us, although that will change slightly with me needing to travel once or twice a year, but only for a week and you, again, can choose.”

“This is a lot.”

“No, it’s not, really. What is a lot is the family when we are together. There are many personalities. Don’t let my grumpy brother skew your image of us.”

“I’ll take your word for it. I love Murphy. She’s too much and your aunt is sweet, but scary.”

“We all feel that way and she knows it.” I had to chuckle. “She has managed to marry everyone off but Murphy and my sister.”

“Interesting. You’ll have to tell me about it someday.”

Delores came in to let me know everyone was assembled. “Come on, let’s get this part done.”

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