The accusation was dangerously close to what James had said to him a few weeks ago. He held up his hands. "I'm not defendi
ng her. I was just saying …"
At her death glare, he decided it was time to change tactics. Mara had been incredibly good-natured about his friendship with Avery so far but he had to expect that there would be some areas where they clashed. It was inevitable. And Mara was incredibly territorial about stuff like this. Keeping her away from family events when Avery was free to attend sent the wrong message and he could easily see how she'd be offended by that.
"If you really want to go, then we'll go but I have to warn you that these things are boring. I didn't think you'd be interested in another night of hanging out with my parents."
Mara crossed her arms. "You know, your parents actually seem like they've loosened up a bit. If they can deal with my mother and her inappropriate sex talk at the dinner table then I'm starting to think that they aren't the reason you don't want us to go anywhere. We can't just hide away up here forever. I feel like I haven't met any of your friends."
"You're my friend," he responded automatically, then sighed since he knew that wasn't what she meant. "Maybe my friends are assholes?"
She turned to put the cake pan in the oven and set the timer. Then she came around the counter and looped her arms over his head. "Am I such a hick that you don't want to introduce me to anybody?"
"What? Mara, that is not the reason. If anything, I don't want to see how many of my old friends will hit on you the second my back is turned."
"Nice. Some friends you have."
She might have thought that he was making excuses but Trent knew all too well, that his friends hitting on her was a virtual certainty. His brother usually didn't go to these events either but if he did, Trent would be keeping her away from him, too. "Well, for most Upper East Siders, morality is a fluid concept."
"Charming. I can't wait to meet the gang."
"Fine. Let's do it. Maybe it won't be that bad. It's probably going to be mainly my mother's friends and whoever else has nothing better to do than drop $2,000 a plate for dinner on a Saturday night."
Mara nodded along with his diatribe. "Apparently I fall into the third category so don't knock it."
"You do not fall into the third category. We have way better things to do on a Saturday night but I'm willing to humor you. I guess I have been hogging you all to myself. I want you to be happy here. Or back in Virginia. Wherever you want to be, I'm there."
"Good. Because I think I want all of the above. I really want both of our families to be involved in our lives."
Over the last few weeks, he'd been really surprised at the changes he'd noticed in his father's demeanor. They weren't a warm and fuzzy sitcom family by any means but he felt like when he said something his father was making an effort to at least listen.
"I'll call them now and let them know we're coming."
Mara beamed at him before going back into the kitchen. He picked up the invitation and took it with him to his office. He pulled out his cell phone. He wasn't sure if his parents were staying at their place in the city or at the house in Montauk so he just dialed his father's cell phone number.
His father answered on the first ring.
"Dad, it's Trent. I wanted to let Mom know that we'll be at the charity gala on Saturday night."
"She'll be glad to hear it. Your sister will be in attendance. I'm not sure about your brother. He's probably still avoiding me." It was the first time he'd heard his father voice any regret over that situation.
"Well, Mara wants to go so we'll be there. I wasn't expecting to be in town this long so I'll need to hire a permanent driver. If you have anyone you can spare, I'd be grateful."
"Why don't I just send over Shane?"
"He still works for you?" Trent sat down in his office chair and leaned back. Shane Morrow had been his driver when he was in high school. He would have thought that the older man would have retired by now.
"No, he's still here. He keeps making noise about retiring but he'll never do it. He's like me. Needs the job to survive. He's been driving me the past couple of years but I'll shift a few things around. He was always fond of you."
"I'm not sure about that. I was a little jerk. I used to ditch him all the time."
"You were a teenager." James seemed to think that statement explained everything. "Speaking of which, I finally realized why Mara seemed so familiar."
He'd been expecting it ever since that dinner. He'd braced himself every time the phone rang for this very conversation. But now that it was here, Trent found that he was just tired. Too tired to explain or worry about what his father was going to do.
His father must have interpreted his silence as anger. "I shouldn't have brought it up. That was a nasty business. For all of us. I tried to clean things up as best as I could but I never really asked if you were okay through it all. If you needed anything."
"Dad, I'm fine. It's all … fine."