best to make that happen."
"But don't you see, that's exactly what he's always doing, putting everybody ahead of me. Just once I want to come first."
Kathryn supposed it came from being young, of having no perspective, of being frightened, but it was obvious Cynthia couldn't understand that nearly everything Ron had done since he appeared out of the night that first evening had proved she was very much in the forefront of what mattered to him. Ron would have to handle the rapprochement with his daughter himself, but it would be up to Kathryn to help Cynthia see that though her father might be employing old skills and using old ways, he was using them to achieve new ends. He was attempting to win his daughter back.
"I don't think you understand exactly what your father is doing and why, but that can wait," Kathryn said. "The important thing right now is to go in there and listen to him, to give him the benefit of the doubt, to trust him."
"Maybe I should lick his hand like an old dog."
Kathryn's optimism flagged. "It's time to see if you've inherited your father's skills of negotiation. If so, this ought to be an interesting evening."
Chapter Eight
Ron knew what he said during the next half hour would probably be the most important words of his life. But for a man who made his living by choosing the right words and knowing when to use them, he was at a loss for where to begin. It was only the first night, but so far his idea of a weekend retreat hadn't worked out very well. The O'Gradys and Saunders were barely civil to each other while Lisette and Kerry wouldn't listen to either set of their parents. Betsy and Julia didn't appear to have made any more progress with their families than he had with Cynthia.
He set the empty cola can on the bar and walked over to a window that looked out over the courtyard below. He swirled the ice in his glass. He'd stood here and watched Kathryn and Cynthia talk, wondering what they were saying, wondering what he should say. Now Cynthia was coming to talk with him. The suite, so big and impersonal, seemed to say nothing warm and comforting could happen here.
He felt himself tense when he heard the door handle turn. He looked up as his daughter entered. She looked as if she were facing a grim task, one she'd love to avoid but knew she had to endure before she could be free again. Ron felt his hopes sink.
Ron barely kept himself from breathing a sigh of relief when Kathryn followed Cynthia into the room. He hadn't asked her to come - the whole point of the weekend was to throw the families together without outside influences - but he was glad she had. They didn't agree on lots of things, but she wanted him to be successful with Cynthia. And she liked him. He wondered if Cynthia did.
Ron wasn't sure he wanted Cynthia to see him as her confidante, but he did want her to feel she could come to him when she was in trouble. At the very least, he didn't want to be closed out of her life just when she needed him most. He was relieved when Cynthia chose to sit directly across from him. Kathryn chose a seat across the room, much as she had the first night back in Charlotte. Could it truly have been only two weeks ago? It seemed like years.
"Did you and Leigh had a good time?" Ron asked. How did you start a conversation when anything you said could be taken the wrong way? "Thanks for all your help with the parents."
"We didn't do anything but talk," Cynthia said.
"That's exactly what I wanted you to do. Everybody was nervous when they got here. They won't be able to make any progress if they feel tense and defensive."
"Do you feel tense and defensive?"
He hadn't expected such a question from his daughter. He glanced at Kathryn, but she shook her head. No help from that quarter. "Yes," he replied. "Now that you mention it, I do."
"Why?"
He'd planned to do the interrogating, but Cynthia had struck first. "Because you and I don't seem to be making any progress. It seems like every time we talk, things are worse. Tonight you didn't even want to talk to me. Why?"
Cynthia squirmed in her chair, but she didn't back down. "You haven't told me