Attraction (4 page)

“Thank you, Mrs. Calderon. Mr. Calderon.” Tanner shook their hands with hardy
warmth. “I didn’t mean to suddenly spring myself on you so unexpectedly, but I’m afraid your
daughter was very insistent, and Heron said you wouldn’t mind. I hope I won’t be messing up
the dinner plans too much.”
“No, no, son. We’ll have plenty of food, and champagne and wine.” Lawrence slapped
Tanner’s back. “Ah, here is the champagne.”
As the waitress passed around the champagne, Riley quickly looked over Heron’s guest,
and she quickly decided that she liked him as she watched him listening intently as her father
regaled him with the book he was writing on Woodrow Wilson. There was a certainly a
resemblance between the two brothers, but Tanner’s face was much softer, the lines gentler, and
quite irresistible with a dimple on each side of his face. He had blue eyes, which were lively and
interested, and his brown hair was straight which tended to fall over his forehead, giving him an
innocent, youthful air. His whole demeanor was much more welcoming, much warmer then that
of his older brother, who seemed to view others with a certain coolness and censorship and
worldly detachment.
Roberta came to Riley’s side and whispered, “Isn’t he something else?”
“I think that was the first thing that was established about your fiancée the first time we
met him.”
“No, I mean Tanner. I mean, Heron is drop dead gorgeous, don’t get me wrong. But his
brother, isn’t he just adorable? And look at those dimples. His dimples were the first things I
noticed when I first met him. Then his eyes, and then he had the greatest smile I’ve ever seen.”
They watched with approval as Tanner took two dirty champagne flutes, set them on the
tray that the waitress was holding, and took fresh champagne, gallantly handing one to Caroline.
“I can’t believe he’s Heron’s brother,” Riley said without thinking.
Roberta looked at her. “What do you mean by that?”
Riley cursed herself. “Well, they’re very different from one another. Tanner seems more
outgoing, and his brother is more reserved.” Then she mused, more to herself, “Not very unlike
you and I.”
“Do you like him?”
“I do, the instant I met him.”
“Maybe he’ll want to go out with you. He’s single, isn’t seeing anyone, right now.”
“What? I’m years older than he is, and don’t go fobbing off your hanger-on sister to your
future in-law, at least not until you’re married.”
“He’s twenty five, only four years younger than you. And I think you’ll have fun with
him. He’s quite funny, and keeps you entertained with all these stories.”
“Let’s concentrate on one wedding at a time, shall we?”
From the other side of the room, Tanner was watching Riley walk away, He gave a low
whistle and said to Heron, “Man, look at her.”
“Who?” Heron asked.
“Your future sister-in-law.”
“Are you talking about Roberta’s sister?”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you ask her out, then, if you find her that fascinating.” There was an edge to
Heron’s voice.
“I don’t think so. A woman like her doesn’t go out with a guy like me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, look at her. I’m way out of her league.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Look at the way she’s dressed. That outfit screams of style and taste, her shoes with her
painted toenails shouts out sex, and those strangely colored eyes and hair tells a man that he
could be in a for a wild ride.”
“You’re no slouch yourself. Remember, you’re considered one of the most eligible
bachelors in the state.” Tanner winced, as Heron knew he would, at the most hated title that he
currently held in the media. Heron felt exactly as his brother did, having had to suffer through
the same public exposure for most of their adult lives.
“Money and position mean nothing to a woman like her. A man has to have a lot more
going than that to hold the attention of a woman like your fiancée’s sister.”
They watched as the two sisters conversed.
“Don’t think so highly of her, Tanner,” Heron said, a bite to his voice. “She runs a bar
that moonlights as a sex club.”
Tanner whistled again. “Now that’s wild. I’ll have to check it out, sometime.” He walked
away in search of more appetizers.
As Heron continued to watch the two sisters, his eyes narrowed with displeasure when he
saw his fiancée nod and listen intently to whatever Riley was saying, obviously finding it
valuable and helpful. He didn’t like the fact that Roberta’s sister had so much influence over her.
Once they were married, he had every intention of blunting that power. It wouldn’t be easy.
Roberta looked up to her older sister, almost immeasurably. He hadn’t realized this until he had
dinner with Roberta’s family that first time, and saw how much she adored Riley. After that
Sunday, he then begun to notice how often Roberta would bring up Riley, and something that she
had said Roberta had found fascinating or interesting, or advised her on an issue, or something
funny she had said. And Heron began to be irritated now whenever Roberta said her sister’s
name, and, at times, could barely refrain himself from telling her that he wasn’t interested in
what her sister had to say.
Heron could understand the love and devotion of between siblings. He himself very much
loved and admired his younger brother, and felt just as protective of him as Riley felt of her
sister. But he did not feel the need to interfere in Tanner’s life or dictate it.
The waitress walked out of the kitchen and whispered something in Caroline’s ear.
Caroline announced, “Everyone, everyone, dinner is about to be served, so if we can sit
down.”
Everyone sat down and the waitress and Marge served the shrimp bisque soup. As the
dinner progressed, the conversation was pleasant and light. Tanner proved himself to be an
engaging and humorous story teller, entertaining the others with stories of his college days and
the antics that he and his fraternity brothers had committed.
“So, Tanner, now that you’re out of college, what do you plan to do?” Caroline asked.
Tanner gave a rueful smile. “I’m going into the family business. I’ll be working for my
father, starting next a week from Monday.” He gestured to Heron with his head. “That will allow
me to ingratiate myself into my father’s good graces for the rest of my life, since my brother,
here, gave up the favored position of the prodigal son when he decided to open up his own law
practice, forgoing his rightful seat in the family empire.”
“Having his sons work in the business is important to your father, then?” Lawrence
asked.
Tanner answered, “It would be his first choice. But, don’t worry, he didn’t disinherit
Heron. He’s just no longer the favorite son. That means he’ll listen to me before he will listen to
him. You see, Mr. and Mrs. Calderon, my brother, here, has always been the golden boy, the
blessed son anointed before birth by God. And all my life, I’ve lived in his shadow. All we heard
about was him, Heron did this, Heron did that. That was because everything he did, he did better
than anybody else. He was the star athlete in school, the star pupil in his class. The bastard got
A’s in every one of his studies without even trying.”
Everyone laughed as Tanner grinned at his brother. “And my father always introduced
him as, ‘Here’s my boy, Heron.’ ‘Have you met my boy, Heron?’ And every time Heron spoke,
my father acted as if his words were written in stone. I know there’s a stone tablet somewhere
lying around that says, ‘Where’s my socks, Dad?’ Until recently, all my life, I was relegated to,
‘And this is just Tanner,’ That’s all. Nothing special. Just Tanner. But all that changed when
Heron told my Dad that he wasn’t going to enter the family business. You should have seen him,
my Dad.” Tanner shook his head while the others laughed. “He was so shocked that that
expression stayed on his face for a whole week. If I had a camera at that moment, I would have
snapped it. It was definitely a Kodak moment.”
Caroline asked Heron, “So, are you banished from your parents’ house?”
Tanner said, “Oh, no, Mrs. Calderon. Heron is still allowed in the family premise, even at
the dinner table. It’s just, Heron no longer gets the choice cut of meat from the fatted cow.”
Everyone laughed again.
Riley saw Heron put an arm around the back of Roberta’s chair. She noticed that he
looked much more relaxed and at ease than he had the first time he had come over. It seemed to
her that in his younger brother’s presence, he felt he could be himself, didn’t feel the need to
distance himself from others behind a cool façade. Perhaps it was because Tanner was so good
humored, without pretense, ready to enjoy himself with whose ever presence he was in.
“Just to let you know, though, I have been able to regain some of my good graces with
my father ever since I told him that I was going to marry his beautiful and very capable public
relations officer,” Heron said.
Caroline looked a little surprised and said hesitantly, “So, your parents don’t mind that
your future wife is not someone who is …” She let her words drift off, and flushed a little,
thinking she was being inappropriate.
“Who has gobs of money and is connected to the Kennedys?” Tanner finished for her,
unabashedly. “God, no! We’re all thankful that Heron has made a wise choice in his wife. We
were all afraid that he was going to settle on some scheming social climber or an insipid hot
house flower or some raging gatekeeper of a social circle of blue-bloods.”
Heron good naturedly defended himself. “There was never any threat of any of those
choices.”
“No? Then let me remind you of some of the women you brought home,” Tanner
countered.”
“I don’t think anyone at this table would be interested in hearing you fabricate the history
of my social life.”
“Oh, yes we would,” Roberta said emphatically, laughing. “I want to hear all about your
other ladies, Heron. And tell me every gory detail, Tanner. Although Heron is the perfect picture
of a proper suitor to me, I can’t believe he’s not been a bad boy in his youth. I can’t believe
someone with his looks, his charisma, and his money has led such a pristine sex life.”
Heron clarified, as someone with an analytical mind would insist on doing, “Ah, but my
brother wasn’t talking about my sex life. He was talking about my social life?”
“What’s the difference?” Riley drawled.
Tanner explained, “With Heron, there is a world of difference. But, he’s right. I was
talking about Heron’s social life, and not his sex life.”
Roberta said, “Then I want to hear about his sex life.”
Tanner shook his head. “Oh, no. I’m not going into his sex life, because if I do, then he
has the right to reveal things about my sex life, and so that will have to remain within our
brotherly pact. Anyway, there have been some frightful women that Heron had courted around
town. Do you remember, Heron, that Italian countess you were escorting to all these functions in
San Francisco?”
“No.” Heron firmed his lips to prevent them from smiling.
“Yes, you do. She was that great big Italian woman, gorgeous as hell, but built like an
Amazon, whose mama had thrown her in Heron’s path. But what a body she had…” Tanner
broke off when he saw his brother glowering at him, and cleared his throat. “They had come to
the United States in search of a rich husband for the daughter, because they were in debt for
hundreds of millions of liras, and were desperately trying to maintain the family castle on the
island of Crete. She kept calling Heron Heroin. That kind of tells you what she was more
familiar with than ornithology. And she would take this creepy-looking Egyptian cat that had no
hair everywhere she went, scaring the tar out of everyone, because it looked like it had been
turned inside out. I think her name was Charlotte Katrina or something.”
Heron corrected, “Her name was Carlotta…”
“The cat or the woman?” Roberta asked, causing laughter again, and earning her a tweak
on the nose by Heron.
“The Italian woman. She was very sweet, really, and a Lesbian, which she was hiding
from her mama and caused her a lot of stress.”
“Then there was the rubber heiress from the east coast,” Tanner continued. Across from
the table, Heron rolled his eyes, but looked ready to enjoy himself. “Beautiful, mind you, but
had the brain of a pin cushion. She thought there were eight continents, with the Arctic as the
eighth one. And never lifted a damned finger to do anything for herself, and so always had this
entourage everywhere she went. One hired hand was there strictly to dial the phone. Another one
ordered for her, not only when they were in restaurants, but also in boutiques, beauty salons,
coffee shops, and so on. And whenever she was at my parents’ house, she would pick up
everything and assess its value, sometimes asking our mother if she could have it. The last two
times you brought her over to the house, Mother was ready to strangle her, Heron.” Tanner
pointed a finger at him. “Now, I know you were thinking about marrying her. Don’t tell me no,
because Mother told me that the heiress had asked her if she minded that her son’s wedding was
in New York.”
“That’s a tissue of lies,” Heron claimed.
“Oh, yeah. Well, Dad’s secretary told me that you asked her at the time who the best
jeweler was in San Francisco. And then there was the heiress of dog food, and who had a deathly
phobia of canines. My parents have two labs at the house. One time, Heron brought her over for
dinner and she was so frightened that she started to hyperventilate and went into a panic attack.
My brother was forced to take her to the emergency room, because she had started to turn blue. –
And, then, remember that English lady you met when you were in London? Lady Ashley Halsey,
her name was, and she had been a second cousin to Princess Diana. She had this cutest lisp…”
“I think that’s enough,” Heron cut in firmly, while the others were still laughing. He bent
and kissed Roberta on the cheek. “If you’re really interested in hearing the rest of my love life,
I’ll tell it to you after we’re married.”
She looked up at him, a little uncertain. “Is it really true that your parents don’t mind you
marrying me.”
“No, darling. They adore you, as anyone who meets you do.”
Tanner said, “Are you kidding, Roberta? They have high hopes that once you two are
hitched, that you’re going to vastly improve that dour mien of his. My mother always kids that