Page 50 of Lilly

Pearce

"Hello, Dean," I say when he answers. "This is Pearce Kensington."

"Pearce." He sounds surprised and a little alarmed. "Is something wrong? Did something happen to Reed?"

"No. He's fine. He left a half hour ago."

He sighs in relief. "You had me scared for a moment there. You've never called me so I immediately thought something was wrong."

"I'm sorry to have alarmed you. I was calling because I'll be in L.A. on Wednesday and wondered if you'd like to meet for lunch. Rachel and Lilly are going to an event so I'm dropping them off and thought it might be a good time for us to get together."

"Unfortunately, I have a meeting during lunch that day."

"Would you have time in the afternoon? I could stop by your office."

"Just a moment. I'm checking my schedule. I'm not used to all these meetings." He laughs a little. "It seems like all the executive team does is sit in meetings all day."

"Yes, I suppose that's quite a change from your touring schedule."

"It is indeed. I'm not quite used to it yet. Okay, it looks like I have three-thirty to four open. It's not much time but would that work?"

"It's fine. I'll see you then."

"Oh, Pearce, before you go, how was the Fourth of July? I'm sorry I couldn't make it. Something came up."

"It was good. My grandchildren were here for the day." I chuckle. "I think they might've worn out your son. He had a hard time waking up this morning."

"I'm sure he didn't mind. Thank you for having him. It's good for him to be around a big family like yours. He's never had much for family, other than his mom and her brother, and me when I was around. But he always wished he had more than that. Anyway, I hope he wasn't too much trouble."

"Not at all. He's a nice young man."

I'm not just saying that for his father's sake. Reed really is a nice young man. This past weekend, he pitched in and helped as if he were part of the family. He even cooked breakfast this morning.

He seemed happy when he was here, and although I know part of that is because of Lilly, I think Dean is right in that Reed liked being around the family. The children adore him because he always plays games with them or races them in the pool. And I think Reed sees Garret as the big brother he never had. They talk sports and toss the football around. Then there's Rachel, who tends to mother Reed because that's just what she does, not just with him but with everyone. But I think he likes someone treating him that way, given that his own mother neglected him growing up.

Reed's had a rough life so I shouldn't give him such a hard time but I can't help myself. It's my fatherly instinct kicking in. When I caught him on Lilly's bed with her, I wanted to strangle him. In my mind, she's not old enough to be doing those things, even though I know she does them at college.

The other issue I have with Reed is that I think he's pushing Lilly to get more serious, to think about marriage and the future, and I don't want her making those kinds of decisions right now. She's still a teenager. She's way too young to be mapping out her life.

"So I'll see you on Wednesday at three-thirty?" Dean asks.

"Yes. See you then."

The next day as I'm doing some work in my office, my phone rings. It's Katherine. She never calls me so I'm curious what this is about.

"Hello, Katherine," I say in a curt tone. "What do you need?"

"What I need is for you to tell our daughter that she is meeting me on Wednesday as planned."

"She doesn't want to see you. She's told you this, many times. Perhaps it's time you finally listened to her."

"She doesn't get a choice in the matter. I'm her mother, and if I want to see her, I will see her. You need to have a talk with her, Pearce."

"Lilly is old enough to make her own decisions, including her decisions regarding you. And I support her decision not to see you. She shouldn't have to put up with your abuse."

"Giving her advice or sharing my opinion is NOT abuse. Lilly is being completely disrespectful and I will not tolerate it. I am flying all the way to California to see her and I expect her to be at my hotel at five."

"She's not going to be there. She will be with Rachel all day and then the three of us will be going out for dinner."

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