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If not for that obvious character flaw, Liam recognized that, like Avril, he wasn’t left wanting for good genes. He could see how a younger Victoria, not yet as wise and aware, could be charmed by him. Yet, a decade later, he could just as plainly see why she’d broken it off. The complaints didn’t end, the sighing and the whining and the abrasive pleading. If he was Victoria’s age, he was in or near his mid-thirties. But here he was, pestering his wealthy grandfather to change his mind, sounding like an eleven-year-old who didn’t want to suffer through dressing up and attending the funeral of a distant relative he barely remembered.

As if anyone could suffer in a private jet. Liam didn’t know anything about them, but he imagined that the 7500—the jet Rory and Casey would be using—was probably nicer and larger than the 6500 variant.

Compared to his grousing grandson, Rory Knight was well into his seventies, yet clearly hadn’t let age slow him down. He was the shortest of the four people meeting in the hallway, back slightly stooped but otherwise thin and relatively fit. He wasn’t dressed to the nines, wearing a minimalist outfit of pleated pants and a blazer over a white tee. Balding, his hair had turned entirely white, both the wisps on his head and the stubble on his face. He looked pretty fed up with his grandson, beginning to snap at him to be quiet, only to still his tongue. Finally, one of them had noticed Liam and Avril.

Green eyes twinkling, the man smiled at Avril, hastening his step. Avril did the same. Liam brought up the rear, wondering how this meeting would go, especially as Casey finally noticed him and his sister. Much like his first meeting with Trent Alden, he barely received a glance. All of Casey’s ire jammed itself in a funnel toward his sister.

But he stopped complaining. At least for a few seconds.

“Avril, you didn’t say you’d be swinging by,” Rory Knight said. Unlike his grandchildren, his voice had a slight inflection, a small tinge of an Irish accent in it. “How long have you been here?”

“Not too long, Grandpa,” Avril said, all smiles as she accepted a hug from the shorter man. “I’m just wowing my guest, who, until a little while ago, didn’t have a clue about our family.”

Just throw me out into the deep end, thanks,Liam thought.

“Really?” Rory asked, looking toward Liam. “No idea?”

“No idea,” he admitted. “She got to see me flounder about in the dark for three months.”

“Three glorious, glorious months,” Avril agreed. “This is Liam Carr, by the way; he’s Anna’s boyfriend. Liam, meet the king codger himself, Rory Knight, and”—she glanced dismissively at her brother—“the village jester, Casey.”

Casey sneered at his sister, a loaded response on his tongue, but Rory spoke before he could.

“Ah, so you’re the one that has the Royces and Aldens in such a tizzy,” he said, extending his hand for a firm handshake. “Good on you. Annabelle’s sweet as a button. Wear that privilege proudly.”

“She’s great,” Liam agreed, glancing at Avril. “They both are, in theirverydistinct ways.”

Rory chuckled and nodded. At almost the same time, Avril’s gaze fell from his face. Momentarily, an unusual panic flashed over her expression. Moving slightly, she bumped into him, which turned his right side slightly away from the two male members of the Knight family.

“No sense for baseball, but plenty of sense when it comes to women,” Avril remarked, smirking. “Makes him a good match for Anna, I guess.”

“I’ve heard you're attending college pretty far away?” Rory said. “Long drives to and from each weekend?”

Liam nodded. “I’m currently at Perrymont.”

“Currently?” Rory raised an eyebrow.

“For as long as my grades stay good enough for my scholarship,” he lied, knowing he didn’t wantanotheraccidental reveal of his transfer plans to come up. At the rate he was going, he wouldn’t have anyone left to surprise in the fall.

“If you study anything like Anna does, that won’t be a problem,” Rory said, chuckling. “Is that what she’s doing now?”

“Almost certainly,” Avril said. “She won’t be satisfied until she sees the words in her textbooks on the back of her eyelids when she closes her eyes. So, I got to spill the secret to Liam on my lonesome. She was pushing me to finally reveal things, so I relented.”

“I can only imagine,” Rory said. “I assume you just finished showing off your secret, given the direction you’re coming from?”

“Yep, he got the full tour of the suite. Even got to imagine what it was like to sit in the best seat in the house.”

“No need for imagining. If you ever want to come to a game, Liam, the box is open. I’m sure Avril will bring you and Anna along for at least a game or two.”

Avril immediately nodded.

Liam blinked, but he supposed such generosity shouldn’t surprise him. “Thank you, that’s very kind.”

“But it’ll have to be after your all’s trip, yes?” Rory noted. “That’s just next week, isn’t it?”

“Leaving Sunday night,” Avril confirmed.

Finally, refusing to be silent even a moment longer, Casey hurled his voice into the ring. “Yeah, about that, Avril. I know you could just rent a jet and—”

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