That is the thankless position of the father in the family
Characters: The Cornfoot family
Authors: kate_lamb and leigh_lamb
Date set: 2036 (Madeline is 27, Jonathan and Annaleigh are 24, & Josh is 23)
Rating: Anyone
Summary: A family dinner at Sans Souci does not go well.
Cassie squeezed her husband’s hand as she looked around the table, each of her children present and accounted for. On the rare occasions she manged to herd the four of them home at the same time, she nearly glowed with happiness. It was getting harder and harder to gather the whole family together. They were all grown, their lives pulling them in different directions.
Maddy had finally moved into her own flat and was following in the steps of her Aunt Mira, finishing up her post-graduate in Charms research. Joshua was busy with Quidditch and traveling. Jonathan’s career as a photographer had taken off. He still modeled on occasion, but most of his time was spent behind the camera now. Only Annaleigh was still rudderless, living off the allowance she received and taking the occasional modeling job when her twin prodded her into it. Cassie worried about her sometimes.
Stephen smiled fondly at his wife, happy at the look on her face. He knew how much she enjoyed having all their children back at home, even though times like this were further and further apart these days.
“Dinner looks fantastic, love,” he murmured, leaning over to give her a quick kiss.
“Delish,” Maddy agreed, though whereas the others had a slab of beef on their plates, hers had salmon. Maddy didn’t eat meat, and her mother had finally stopped trying to convince her otherwise.
Tucking into her steak, Annaleigh kept quiet. There was a subject she needed to broach, but she was hoping that letting her daddy fill his stomach first would make him a little less violently opposed to her plan. She hadn’t even told Jonathan what she was up to yet. Time would tell if the news would be enough to spur even him to words.
His twin was acting suspicious. She had been quiet for a number of days now, something that Annaleigh never was. As he took a bite of his steak- medium rare, just the way he liked it- Jonathan snuck a glance at his sister.
“So, what’d I miss while I was gone?” Josh piped up. He’d only returned from an international friendly match in Tokyo the night before.
Cassie smiled at her youngest. “Well, Aunt Mira’s been helping Maddy with her thesis, and I believe Aunt Alex has set up an internship for her at her company.”
It was on the tip of Maddy’s tongue to point out that she was perfectly capable of sharing her own news, but Mum and Daddy were happy and none of the typical squabbling had broken out between her an her sister yet. She decided to let it go.
“And I’m thinking of getting a job,” Annaleigh chimed in. Her ‘little’ brother had given her an opening, even if it was a bit earlier in the evening than she’d planned.
“Oh?” Stephen asked, face breaking out in a smile. Merlin only knew it was about bloody time his youngest daughter found something to do with her time. “What do you think you want to do, sweetheart?”
The incessant stirring of her vegetables was the only indication of nerves as Annaleigh looked her father in the eye, stating matter-of-factly, “I’m going to ask Aunt Reilly if I can work for her.”
Maddy’s eyes went wide as she looked between her sister and her father. “You don’t have enough casual sex already? You need to get paid for it?”
“It’s an escort service, Madeline, not a brothel,” Annaleigh shot back.
“Are you out of your fucking mind, Annaleigh?” Josh yelled across the table, eyes wide in shock at the very idea of his sister being paid to escort men. A glance at his brother showed Jonathan’s mouth slightly agape in shock, his eyes just as wide as Josh’s.
At the end of the table, Stephen’s own bug eyes were huge, and the piece of meat he’d been chewing on became lodged in his throat as he swallowed.
Mouth set in a grim line, Cassie’s wand whipped out. First came a spell to keep her elder daughter from making comments that would only add fuel to the fire, followed by one to wash out her youngest’s dirty mouth. That accomplished, she turned steely eyes on Annaleigh. “What would possess you to choose that particular career path, daughter?”
She wasn’t sure how to answer that question, exactly. “I don’t know. It seemed like an easy way to make some money while I figure things out. They get paid a lot just to stand on the arm of some guy with more money than social skills.”
Josh was gagging, Jonathan was completely silent- still in shock at his sister’s pronouncement- and Stephen had many, many things he wanted to say. He couldn’t, though, with the wad of half-chewed meat stuck in his throat. He coughed, trying to dislodge it, but it was stuck tight.
“Oh, Stephen!” Cassie exclaimed as she realized her husband was turning blue. Another quick spell had the gnarled piece of beef flying across the room and the whole table waited for what might come from his mouth next.
Eyes watering, Stephen coughed again, grateful for the air that flooded his lungs. When he looked up at his youngest daughter, his blue eyes were stony with a hint of anger simmering beneath the surface.
“Absolutely not,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “I forbid it, do you understand?” And if she didn’t understand? Well, despite the outcome, he would be sending an owl to Reilly just as soon as dinner was over. If she had any compassion for their old friendship, she would not be admitting Annaleigh into her employment.
She’d known her daddy wasn’t going to be pleased with the idea, but Annaleigh didn’t flinch. As much as she hated to be in a fight with him - again - she honestly didn’t see what the big deal was. It wasn’t as if she was selling her body.
Clearing her throat, she kept her eyes trained on her father’s. Her siblings would only distract her if she looked at them. “I’m sorry you don’t approve, Daddy, but I’m an adult. You can’t forbid me to do this. What’s the harm in being paid to spend an evening with someone? I’m not doing anything more than I would if I were to go on a blind date.”
“I can’t forbid you to do this?” Merlin, did his daughter have to try and give him a heart attack every time she decided she wanted to do something? Rising from his seat at the head of the table, his blue eyes were flinty as he stared his youngest daughter down.
“Hide and watch me,” he growled before stalking out of the dining room.
Annaleigh was out of her seat like a shot and hot on his heels, her mother following with a sigh a moment later. “Daddy? What are you going to do?” she demanded, though the cold anger in his eyes made her voice waver just the tiniest bit.
Back at the table, Maddy frantically motioned for one of her brothers to take the silencing spell off of her.
Silently, Jonathan pulled out his wand and lifted their mother’s spell off Maddy.
“It’s like she sets out to find the one thing that will upset him,” the eldest of the Cornfoot children grumbled once she was able to speak again.
Meanwhile, in Stephen’s study, he turned and whirled about on his daughter. “Annaleigh, go back into the dining room with your siblings. Now.” His tone brooked no argument.
“You told me to watch,” she fired back, already regretting the words as her stubborn streak took over her mouth.
“And now I’m telling you to go back to the dining room!” he shot back, barely containing his anger at his impetuous daughter.
She opened her mouth to retort, but her mother’s hand clapped firmly on Annaleigh’s shoulder and the look that Mrs. Cornfoot was wearing clearly promised Hell if another word came from her daughter’s lips. Turning on her heel, Annaleigh skulked back down the hall, muttering about overbearing parents.
Cassie went to her husband and wrapped her arms around his waist, running her hands over his back soothingly. “Are you alright?”
“Not really, my daughter wants to toe the line between legitimate businesswoman and hooker,” Stephen growled as he yanked out a sheet of parchment and began to scribble a furious note to Reilly. “What the bloody hell is she thinking?”
“I’m not sure even Annaleigh knows what she’s thinking. Reilly wouldn’t hire her, would she?” She couldn’t imagine the older woman would take on Stephen’s daughter, but Reilly had always been something of an enigma.
Stephen shook his head. “No, she wouldn’t. This is just a precaution.” As he finished the letter, he dusted a bit of sand over the ink to help it dry, then folded it up neatly, sealing it with the signet he kept in his desk. A quick whistle summoned his owl, and his missive to Reilly was out the window.
Cassie watched the bird fly away until it was out of sight, then turned to her husband. She knew he was still fuming, but she also knew he hated it when there was a rift between him and one of the children. “Are you going to be able to come back to dinner, or shall I send everyone home? We’ll have to sort this out with Annaleigh eventually, and you know she’s going to be furious with you for going to Reilly.”
Leaning forward, Stephen covered his face with his hands, elbows propped up on the desk. He could feel the beginnings of a migraine creeping in, and it made his head throb just to think about the whole thing. “Let her be furious,” he said, his voice muffled by his hands. “I’m fairly certain I have colleagues who contract with Reilly, and I’d rather they not pay for my daughter like she’s a trophy to be had by the highest bidder.”
“I know, love,” Cassie murmured, slipping behind him to massage his temples. “I don’t relish the idea of running into her at a Ministry function on the arm of some sleazy upper-level manager.” As much as she loved her daughter, on occasion she could be a real pain in the arse. “I should get back to the table. Are you coming?”
With a sigh, Stephen reached up to take one of her hands and brought it to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to the back of it. “Yeah, I’m coming.”
Looping her arms around his neck, Cassie kissed Stephen’s cheek tenderly. “Everything will work out, love. It always does in the end.” She stepped to the side and reached out her hand for his. They might as well get the explosions over with.
In the dining room, Annaleigh’s leg bounced with a mixture of nervous and angry energy. She didn’t like making Daddy upset. It wasn’t as if that was her goal, but she was an adult now, fully capable of making her own decisions. He had no right to be so heavy-handed with her life. “I’m not doing anything wrong,” she grumbled under her breath.
Jonathan shot her a look out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't happy with his twin, not by a long shot. It wasn’t that he necessarily disapproved of her working for their aunt- though in all honesty, he hated the idea. But she hadn’t said a word about this to him, and that bothered him more than words could express.
She could feel Jonathan’s eyes on her and knew her twin was displeased she hadn’t told him about her idea before announcing it to the whole family. He’d only have tried to talk her out of it, though, and she’d made up her mind. It was easy money she could make while she decided what she wanted to do with her life.
Glancing over at her brother, her best friend, Annaleigh said softly, “You’d have told me not to do it.”
“Still will,” he muttered.
“I could use one person on my side, Jon.”
“Your brother knows it’s a bad idea, Annaleigh. You seem to be the only one who doesn’t see that,” Cassie said flatly as she and Stephen rejoined their children.
Jonathan didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say, but whenever he thought of it, he would tell his twin when they got home. Annaleigh had concocted some pretty hairbrained schemes in the past, but this took the cake.
With a sigh, Stephen settled into his chair and glanced around the table quickly, his gaze stern. After a long, hard silence, he picked up his knife and fork and resumed eating.
Annaleigh frowned. He wasn’t even going to say what he’d done. Obviously he’d gone to his office for a reason. “You’re not going to speak to me now, Daddy?”
“I have nothing to say right now, Annaleigh,” Stephen said, taking a bite of his vegetables.
“What did you do in your office?” she pressed, though it made her heart ache that he was so angry with her. She was angry too, but that didn’t make it easier.
“I had to take care of something,” was his short reply.
Jonathan was giving her a look that said to leave it alone, but Annaleigh was nothing if not pigheaded. “If it affects me, I think I have a right to know. Obviously you didn’t rush off to order an emergency set of dress robes.”
Stephen slammed his fork down and glared at his youngest daughter. “No, Annaleigh Miranda, I sent an owl to your Aunt Reilly which informed her of this ridiculous notion of yours, and told her that if she valued our friendship at all, she would not take you into her employment.”
There was a moment of complete silence as Annaleigh processed this information. He’d completely bypassed her. No discussion. No ‘letting her make her own mistakes’. He’d just cut her feet out from under her.
“That’s...” she started, rising from her chair as her voice rose in volume. “You can’t... You had no right interfering! How dare you go around me as if what I want doesn’t even matter?!”
“Watch you mouth, Annaleigh,” Cassie warned.
“I had no right?” Stephen asked incredulously, rising from his own seat once more. “What I want is a daughter who doesn’t aspire to walk the line between escort and hooker! I’ve known Reilly Chambers (DUNSTAN) for nearly forty years, and I do believe I have a better idea of what goes into her business than you do.”
Annaleigh recoiled as if she’d been struck. Eyes watering, she stepped back and pushed in her chair. “That’s fine, then, Mr. Cornfoot. You no longer have a daughter who wants to work in that line of business.” She managed to Disapparate before the sobs started, but it was a close thing.
Stephen felt as though he’d been doused with ice cold water. His heart nearly stopped, and he knew the look in Annaleigh’s eyes would haunt him for many nights to come.
“It’ll be fine,” Cassie said, not really directing her comment to anyone in particular. The silence at the table, even Maddy was holding her tongue, and the sharp absence of their younger daughter was too much to absorb. She had to believe it would be okay, that her family would get through this just as they had everything else. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
Jonathan swallowed and pushed back from his seat. “I’m sorry,” he said, glancing up at his mum. Annaleigh needed him, probably more than she ever had. Another second passed, and he Disapparated with a ‘crack.’
It would be an understatement to say Maddy was mad at her sister, but she knew this was not the time to vent about Annaleigh’s latest shenanigans. Looking between her parents, she did her best to comfort them. “Jonathan will calm her down. He can always get through to her. She didn’t mean it, Daddy. I’m sure she didn’t.”
“It’s Annaleigh. We have no idea what she meant,” Josh commented darkly.
“Well, she couldn’t have meant that,” Maddy retorted, giving him a significant look. It was inconceivable that Annaleigh was actually considering excluding Daddy from her life. “Daddy’s her father and she loves him. She’s just being a pain right now.”
“Right now?” her brother retorted, raising an eyebrow.
“That’s enough,” Stephen said, glancing up at his two remaining children. “Let’s drop the subject. Now.”
Maddy quickly focused on her dinner.
Sharing a worried look with Stephen, Cassie reached out and took his hand. I love you, she mouthed.
After a long minute, Stephen glanced up at his wife and brought her hand to his lips, pressing his lips to her soft skin. As upset and hurt as he was, it wasn’t right of him to take out his own mistakes on those he loved. Annaleigh had always been a tempestuous little firebrand, but she’d never done or said anything to elicit the reaction it had tonight.
His lips were still pressed to her hand when his gaze met hers, and his eyes said so much more than he could say in that moment. His anger at himself, his frustration with his daughter, his love for Cassie... it was all there for her to read.
Turning away to give her parents a moment of privacy, Maddy was comforted by the obvious affection they showed, even during difficult moments. That was what she wanted someday, when she finally met a man worthy of the example her father set.
Cassie gave Stephen’s hand a final squeeze before refocusing on the children still at the table. “So tell us about your trip, Joshy.”
Authors: kate_lamb and leigh_lamb
Date set: 2036 (Madeline is 27, Jonathan and Annaleigh are 24, & Josh is 23)
Rating: Anyone
Summary: A family dinner at Sans Souci does not go well.
Cassie squeezed her husband’s hand as she looked around the table, each of her children present and accounted for. On the rare occasions she manged to herd the four of them home at the same time, she nearly glowed with happiness. It was getting harder and harder to gather the whole family together. They were all grown, their lives pulling them in different directions.
Maddy had finally moved into her own flat and was following in the steps of her Aunt Mira, finishing up her post-graduate in Charms research. Joshua was busy with Quidditch and traveling. Jonathan’s career as a photographer had taken off. He still modeled on occasion, but most of his time was spent behind the camera now. Only Annaleigh was still rudderless, living off the allowance she received and taking the occasional modeling job when her twin prodded her into it. Cassie worried about her sometimes.
Stephen smiled fondly at his wife, happy at the look on her face. He knew how much she enjoyed having all their children back at home, even though times like this were further and further apart these days.
“Dinner looks fantastic, love,” he murmured, leaning over to give her a quick kiss.
“Delish,” Maddy agreed, though whereas the others had a slab of beef on their plates, hers had salmon. Maddy didn’t eat meat, and her mother had finally stopped trying to convince her otherwise.
Tucking into her steak, Annaleigh kept quiet. There was a subject she needed to broach, but she was hoping that letting her daddy fill his stomach first would make him a little less violently opposed to her plan. She hadn’t even told Jonathan what she was up to yet. Time would tell if the news would be enough to spur even him to words.
His twin was acting suspicious. She had been quiet for a number of days now, something that Annaleigh never was. As he took a bite of his steak- medium rare, just the way he liked it- Jonathan snuck a glance at his sister.
“So, what’d I miss while I was gone?” Josh piped up. He’d only returned from an international friendly match in Tokyo the night before.
Cassie smiled at her youngest. “Well, Aunt Mira’s been helping Maddy with her thesis, and I believe Aunt Alex has set up an internship for her at her company.”
It was on the tip of Maddy’s tongue to point out that she was perfectly capable of sharing her own news, but Mum and Daddy were happy and none of the typical squabbling had broken out between her an her sister yet. She decided to let it go.
“And I’m thinking of getting a job,” Annaleigh chimed in. Her ‘little’ brother had given her an opening, even if it was a bit earlier in the evening than she’d planned.
“Oh?” Stephen asked, face breaking out in a smile. Merlin only knew it was about bloody time his youngest daughter found something to do with her time. “What do you think you want to do, sweetheart?”
The incessant stirring of her vegetables was the only indication of nerves as Annaleigh looked her father in the eye, stating matter-of-factly, “I’m going to ask Aunt Reilly if I can work for her.”
Maddy’s eyes went wide as she looked between her sister and her father. “You don’t have enough casual sex already? You need to get paid for it?”
“It’s an escort service, Madeline, not a brothel,” Annaleigh shot back.
“Are you out of your fucking mind, Annaleigh?” Josh yelled across the table, eyes wide in shock at the very idea of his sister being paid to escort men. A glance at his brother showed Jonathan’s mouth slightly agape in shock, his eyes just as wide as Josh’s.
At the end of the table, Stephen’s own bug eyes were huge, and the piece of meat he’d been chewing on became lodged in his throat as he swallowed.
Mouth set in a grim line, Cassie’s wand whipped out. First came a spell to keep her elder daughter from making comments that would only add fuel to the fire, followed by one to wash out her youngest’s dirty mouth. That accomplished, she turned steely eyes on Annaleigh. “What would possess you to choose that particular career path, daughter?”
She wasn’t sure how to answer that question, exactly. “I don’t know. It seemed like an easy way to make some money while I figure things out. They get paid a lot just to stand on the arm of some guy with more money than social skills.”
Josh was gagging, Jonathan was completely silent- still in shock at his sister’s pronouncement- and Stephen had many, many things he wanted to say. He couldn’t, though, with the wad of half-chewed meat stuck in his throat. He coughed, trying to dislodge it, but it was stuck tight.
“Oh, Stephen!” Cassie exclaimed as she realized her husband was turning blue. Another quick spell had the gnarled piece of beef flying across the room and the whole table waited for what might come from his mouth next.
Eyes watering, Stephen coughed again, grateful for the air that flooded his lungs. When he looked up at his youngest daughter, his blue eyes were stony with a hint of anger simmering beneath the surface.
“Absolutely not,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “I forbid it, do you understand?” And if she didn’t understand? Well, despite the outcome, he would be sending an owl to Reilly just as soon as dinner was over. If she had any compassion for their old friendship, she would not be admitting Annaleigh into her employment.
She’d known her daddy wasn’t going to be pleased with the idea, but Annaleigh didn’t flinch. As much as she hated to be in a fight with him - again - she honestly didn’t see what the big deal was. It wasn’t as if she was selling her body.
Clearing her throat, she kept her eyes trained on her father’s. Her siblings would only distract her if she looked at them. “I’m sorry you don’t approve, Daddy, but I’m an adult. You can’t forbid me to do this. What’s the harm in being paid to spend an evening with someone? I’m not doing anything more than I would if I were to go on a blind date.”
“I can’t forbid you to do this?” Merlin, did his daughter have to try and give him a heart attack every time she decided she wanted to do something? Rising from his seat at the head of the table, his blue eyes were flinty as he stared his youngest daughter down.
“Hide and watch me,” he growled before stalking out of the dining room.
Annaleigh was out of her seat like a shot and hot on his heels, her mother following with a sigh a moment later. “Daddy? What are you going to do?” she demanded, though the cold anger in his eyes made her voice waver just the tiniest bit.
Back at the table, Maddy frantically motioned for one of her brothers to take the silencing spell off of her.
Silently, Jonathan pulled out his wand and lifted their mother’s spell off Maddy.
“It’s like she sets out to find the one thing that will upset him,” the eldest of the Cornfoot children grumbled once she was able to speak again.
Meanwhile, in Stephen’s study, he turned and whirled about on his daughter. “Annaleigh, go back into the dining room with your siblings. Now.” His tone brooked no argument.
“You told me to watch,” she fired back, already regretting the words as her stubborn streak took over her mouth.
“And now I’m telling you to go back to the dining room!” he shot back, barely containing his anger at his impetuous daughter.
She opened her mouth to retort, but her mother’s hand clapped firmly on Annaleigh’s shoulder and the look that Mrs. Cornfoot was wearing clearly promised Hell if another word came from her daughter’s lips. Turning on her heel, Annaleigh skulked back down the hall, muttering about overbearing parents.
Cassie went to her husband and wrapped her arms around his waist, running her hands over his back soothingly. “Are you alright?”
“Not really, my daughter wants to toe the line between legitimate businesswoman and hooker,” Stephen growled as he yanked out a sheet of parchment and began to scribble a furious note to Reilly. “What the bloody hell is she thinking?”
“I’m not sure even Annaleigh knows what she’s thinking. Reilly wouldn’t hire her, would she?” She couldn’t imagine the older woman would take on Stephen’s daughter, but Reilly had always been something of an enigma.
Stephen shook his head. “No, she wouldn’t. This is just a precaution.” As he finished the letter, he dusted a bit of sand over the ink to help it dry, then folded it up neatly, sealing it with the signet he kept in his desk. A quick whistle summoned his owl, and his missive to Reilly was out the window.
Cassie watched the bird fly away until it was out of sight, then turned to her husband. She knew he was still fuming, but she also knew he hated it when there was a rift between him and one of the children. “Are you going to be able to come back to dinner, or shall I send everyone home? We’ll have to sort this out with Annaleigh eventually, and you know she’s going to be furious with you for going to Reilly.”
Leaning forward, Stephen covered his face with his hands, elbows propped up on the desk. He could feel the beginnings of a migraine creeping in, and it made his head throb just to think about the whole thing. “Let her be furious,” he said, his voice muffled by his hands. “I’m fairly certain I have colleagues who contract with Reilly, and I’d rather they not pay for my daughter like she’s a trophy to be had by the highest bidder.”
“I know, love,” Cassie murmured, slipping behind him to massage his temples. “I don’t relish the idea of running into her at a Ministry function on the arm of some sleazy upper-level manager.” As much as she loved her daughter, on occasion she could be a real pain in the arse. “I should get back to the table. Are you coming?”
With a sigh, Stephen reached up to take one of her hands and brought it to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to the back of it. “Yeah, I’m coming.”
Looping her arms around his neck, Cassie kissed Stephen’s cheek tenderly. “Everything will work out, love. It always does in the end.” She stepped to the side and reached out her hand for his. They might as well get the explosions over with.
In the dining room, Annaleigh’s leg bounced with a mixture of nervous and angry energy. She didn’t like making Daddy upset. It wasn’t as if that was her goal, but she was an adult now, fully capable of making her own decisions. He had no right to be so heavy-handed with her life. “I’m not doing anything wrong,” she grumbled under her breath.
Jonathan shot her a look out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't happy with his twin, not by a long shot. It wasn’t that he necessarily disapproved of her working for their aunt- though in all honesty, he hated the idea. But she hadn’t said a word about this to him, and that bothered him more than words could express.
She could feel Jonathan’s eyes on her and knew her twin was displeased she hadn’t told him about her idea before announcing it to the whole family. He’d only have tried to talk her out of it, though, and she’d made up her mind. It was easy money she could make while she decided what she wanted to do with her life.
Glancing over at her brother, her best friend, Annaleigh said softly, “You’d have told me not to do it.”
“Still will,” he muttered.
“I could use one person on my side, Jon.”
“Your brother knows it’s a bad idea, Annaleigh. You seem to be the only one who doesn’t see that,” Cassie said flatly as she and Stephen rejoined their children.
Jonathan didn’t say anything. He didn’t know what to say, but whenever he thought of it, he would tell his twin when they got home. Annaleigh had concocted some pretty hairbrained schemes in the past, but this took the cake.
With a sigh, Stephen settled into his chair and glanced around the table quickly, his gaze stern. After a long, hard silence, he picked up his knife and fork and resumed eating.
Annaleigh frowned. He wasn’t even going to say what he’d done. Obviously he’d gone to his office for a reason. “You’re not going to speak to me now, Daddy?”
“I have nothing to say right now, Annaleigh,” Stephen said, taking a bite of his vegetables.
“What did you do in your office?” she pressed, though it made her heart ache that he was so angry with her. She was angry too, but that didn’t make it easier.
“I had to take care of something,” was his short reply.
Jonathan was giving her a look that said to leave it alone, but Annaleigh was nothing if not pigheaded. “If it affects me, I think I have a right to know. Obviously you didn’t rush off to order an emergency set of dress robes.”
Stephen slammed his fork down and glared at his youngest daughter. “No, Annaleigh Miranda, I sent an owl to your Aunt Reilly which informed her of this ridiculous notion of yours, and told her that if she valued our friendship at all, she would not take you into her employment.”
There was a moment of complete silence as Annaleigh processed this information. He’d completely bypassed her. No discussion. No ‘letting her make her own mistakes’. He’d just cut her feet out from under her.
“That’s...” she started, rising from her chair as her voice rose in volume. “You can’t... You had no right interfering! How dare you go around me as if what I want doesn’t even matter?!”
“Watch you mouth, Annaleigh,” Cassie warned.
“I had no right?” Stephen asked incredulously, rising from his own seat once more. “What I want is a daughter who doesn’t aspire to walk the line between escort and hooker! I’ve known Reilly Chambers (DUNSTAN) for nearly forty years, and I do believe I have a better idea of what goes into her business than you do.”
Annaleigh recoiled as if she’d been struck. Eyes watering, she stepped back and pushed in her chair. “That’s fine, then, Mr. Cornfoot. You no longer have a daughter who wants to work in that line of business.” She managed to Disapparate before the sobs started, but it was a close thing.
Stephen felt as though he’d been doused with ice cold water. His heart nearly stopped, and he knew the look in Annaleigh’s eyes would haunt him for many nights to come.
“It’ll be fine,” Cassie said, not really directing her comment to anyone in particular. The silence at the table, even Maddy was holding her tongue, and the sharp absence of their younger daughter was too much to absorb. She had to believe it would be okay, that her family would get through this just as they had everything else. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
Jonathan swallowed and pushed back from his seat. “I’m sorry,” he said, glancing up at his mum. Annaleigh needed him, probably more than she ever had. Another second passed, and he Disapparated with a ‘crack.’
It would be an understatement to say Maddy was mad at her sister, but she knew this was not the time to vent about Annaleigh’s latest shenanigans. Looking between her parents, she did her best to comfort them. “Jonathan will calm her down. He can always get through to her. She didn’t mean it, Daddy. I’m sure she didn’t.”
“It’s Annaleigh. We have no idea what she meant,” Josh commented darkly.
“Well, she couldn’t have meant that,” Maddy retorted, giving him a significant look. It was inconceivable that Annaleigh was actually considering excluding Daddy from her life. “Daddy’s her father and she loves him. She’s just being a pain right now.”
“Right now?” her brother retorted, raising an eyebrow.
“That’s enough,” Stephen said, glancing up at his two remaining children. “Let’s drop the subject. Now.”
Maddy quickly focused on her dinner.
Sharing a worried look with Stephen, Cassie reached out and took his hand. I love you, she mouthed.
After a long minute, Stephen glanced up at his wife and brought her hand to his lips, pressing his lips to her soft skin. As upset and hurt as he was, it wasn’t right of him to take out his own mistakes on those he loved. Annaleigh had always been a tempestuous little firebrand, but she’d never done or said anything to elicit the reaction it had tonight.
His lips were still pressed to her hand when his gaze met hers, and his eyes said so much more than he could say in that moment. His anger at himself, his frustration with his daughter, his love for Cassie... it was all there for her to read.
Turning away to give her parents a moment of privacy, Maddy was comforted by the obvious affection they showed, even during difficult moments. That was what she wanted someday, when she finally met a man worthy of the example her father set.
Cassie gave Stephen’s hand a final squeeze before refocusing on the children still at the table. “So tell us about your trip, Joshy.”