Michelle beamed when she said Theo’s name, and Isabel felt a brief pang of envy. She knew that true love existed, but she believed it was rare. Her sister had found it with Dylan, and it was evident that all the women at the table were madly in love with their husbands. She wondered if she would ever feel that way someday.
“What about Michael and Sidney and Zachary? Who do you think will be the next one to get married?” Laurant asked.
“I’m guessing Sidney,” Kate said. “But not for a couple more years. She’s so busy filming documentaries, she hasn’t had time to think about marriage.”
“And she hasn’t met the love of her life yet,” Michelle added.
“I don’t think Michael will ever get married,” Jordan commented.
“What about Amanda Foley? She’d marry Michael in a heartbeat, and they have a lot in common,”
Kate remarked.
“How so?” Isabel asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
“They’re both attorneys, and they both graduated at the top of their class.”
“Is she in the military?”
Jordan answered. “No, she works for a firm here in Boston.”
“What’s she like?” Isabel asked.
Jordan had to think about her answer for a minute. “She’s sophisticated and polished and a bit standoffish, but then we Buchanans tend to overwhelm people when they first meet us.”
“Do you like her?” Isabel asked.
“I really don’t know her,” she hedged. “And I’ve only been around her a couple of times.”
“But?” Kate prompted.
“But . . . no, I don’t like her. I haven’t seen her with him in a long time. I don’t think he loves her.”
“If she’s as uptight as Michael, it would be a good match,” Laurant interjected.
Jordan nodded. “He is uptight, isn’t he? He didn’t used to be that way.”
“Getting shot in the back three times will definitely change a person for a while,” Michelle said.
Kate turned to Isabel. “He’s lucky to be alive. He was in Afghanistan when it happened.”
“We tried to get more information, but no one is talking,” Jordan said. “Our father knows the details, but he’s the only one, and Michael acts like it never happened.”
“It did change him,” Kate said.
Jordan agreed, then added, “I miss the old Michael.”
Laurant reached for the bowl. “Hey, who ate all the potato chips?”
Everyone pointed at her and started laughing.
The men could hear their laughter all the way in the sunroom where they were camped out. It was quiet now because ESPN was showing highlights of last year’s football games, and the footage was riveting. Noah and Nick were sprawled in easy chairs with their feet up on ottomans, and Theo was half-asleep at one end of the sofa. Alec was sound asleep at the other end. Dylan walked over and nudged him awake when he started snoring.
Michael had just checked on Isabel once again and now stood in the doorway, drinking a Pepsi while he watched highlights of the Notre Dame–Michigan game.
At a commercial break Dylan pulled his phone from his pocket and punched in the number to hear the voice messages on his home landline in Silver Springs. It took several minutes to get through them all, and when he was finished, he turned to Noah. “Can you pull up YouTube on the television?”
“Sure. What do you want to see?” Noah asked as he reached for the remote on the table next to him.
“Isabel singing a song she wrote. It’s causing quite a sensation. According to most of the messages on my phone it’s gone viral and has really taken off.”
It took only a couple of minutes for Noah to find it. No one said a word while they watched Isabel hypnotize her audience with her voice. She captivated all of them. Michael could barely catch a breath. It seemed that every cell in his body reacted to her, and he didn’t have any idea what he could do about it. He thought he should turn around and walk away, but he didn’t.
As soon as the song ended, Nick whispered, “Wow.”
Noah nodded agreement. “Wow” summed it up.
“She’s incredible.” Theo made the comment.
Michael couldn’t keep his irritation from showing. “Look at how the crowd is grabbing and pulling at her.”
“Play it again,” Alec requested.
And so they all watched and listened to Isabel once more. The reaction was the same.
“She really is amazing,” Alec said. “I remember her singing at your wedding, Dylan, but her voice is much stronger now, more mature.”
Dylan dropped down into a chair. “The numbers are skyrocketing.”
“You mean the number who have watched the video?”
“It’s over two million now,” Dylan answered. “This isn’t going to go away. I hope she’s ready for what’s coming.”
“What are you saying?” Nick asked.
“They’re already trying to get to her.”
“Who’s trying to get to her?” Michael demanded.
“People who want something from her.”
“To hell with that,” Michael snapped.
“Meaning?” Theo asked.
“Isabel isn’t ready for all that,” Michael said.
Everyone looked at him. “How would you know what she’s ready for?” Nick questioned.
“She just killed a man,” Michael reminded. “She needs time to get through that.” He took a breath and then said, “Ah hell. The shooting isn’t on YouTube, is it?”
“Everything’s on YouTube,” Alec remarked.
Noah did a quick search, and sure enough, someone had posted the video of Isabel. Fortunately, her name wasn’t there. They all watched the video without making any comments. When it ended, no one needed to see it again.
“That video should have been taken down by now. I’ll make sure it is,” Nick said. He picked up his cell phone, found the contact he was looking for, and started texting.
Noah turned to Dylan. “Did you teach her how to shoot?”
Dylan nodded. “She liked going with me to the shooting range. It was the only time it was just the two of us and she could talk things out.” Shrugging, he added, “I’ve become her big brother, I guess, and Kate tends to lecture her instead of listening. When Isabel went off to college, we were all she had. Their mother had just died. Kiera, the oldest, wasn’t available. Getting through a grueling residency had to be her focus.”
“Isabel didn’t take a gun to college with her, did she?” Nick asked.
“Of course not,” Dylan said. “But every time she came home on break she wanted to go to the shooting range, and since I’ve got to keep my skills up as chief of police, I took her. That’s when I would find out what was going on in her life,” he added. “Funny thing is, she hates guns, but she knows how to take them apart, clean them, put them back together, and shoot. Man, can she shoot,” he praised. “I also taught her how to defend herself, and I encouraged her to take a couple of self-defense classes. I kind of pushed her. I mean, come on,” he continued. “Look at her. Men are gonna hit on her. She needed to know how to protect herself.”
“All girls should know how to protect themselves,” Nick said. “I dread the day Samantha wants to date.”
“When will that be? When she’s forty?” Noah asked.
“That’s right,” Nick agreed.
“That gives you thirty-five years to worry about it,” Noah remarked.