Free Tenacious Love (Banished Saga, Book Four): Banished Saga, Book Four by Ramona Flightner

pause.
    The man led them down one poorly lit hallway to the left. They passed numerous closed doors before reaching one which the tall man pounded on a few times before thrusting it open.
    “Damn it, Gil. Can’t you leave me in peace for a few moments before I have to go to that infernal party?” Lucas groused.
    “It’s a soiree, and, no, I can’t. Not when your relations come calling.”
    Lucas spun toward the door, sitting atop a stool in front of a small table where he appeared to have been writing. He dropped the pen, his mouth agape as he beheld them. “Sav? Rissa?” He whooped loudly as he jumped up and grabbed first Savannah, twirling her in a circle, and then repeated the same with Clarissa. She giggled as he finally set her on her feet again.
    He stepped back, his hand still on Clarissa’s arm, and reached out to link his other hand with Savannah’s. “You came! Please tell me that you saw the performance.”
    “Of course we did. We’d just arrived home from Washington, DC, when I read you were to be here in Butte. You should have written and told us that you’d be so near,” Clarissa chided as she ran a hand down his arm. The door clicked behind them, and they were granted privacy with Lucas.
    “It was a last-minute addition to the tour. The decision was made only a few weeks ago. I’d forgotten about your trip to DC, or I would have insisted on performing here later this summer.” His gaze moved from Savannah to Clarissa and back. “I can’t believe you’re both here.”
    “I can’t believe I finally heard your gorgeous compositions performed in public,” Savannah said, her eyes gleaming with pride. “I wanted to proclaim to everyone sitting near me that you were my brother.”
    “You liked them?” Lucas asked, unable to hide his childlike eagerness.
    “I loved them,” Savannah said.
    “They were wondrous, Lucas. And to think you composed them too,” Clarissa said.
    Savannah and Clarissa sat on a small settee, and Lucas settled on a chair he had turned to face them. “I don’t have long until I must go to the after-performance party. It’s seen as acceptable to arrive late, but I’m pushing the limits of propriety already.”
    “We couldn’t obtain tickets for that,” Clarissa said. “It is a fund-raiser of some sort and quite expensive.”
    “Of course you’re coming, as my guests,” Lucas said with a smile. “The organizer will be delighted I’m willing to stay for longer than one drink, and he’ll know it was due to the presence of you both.”
    “Why would he worry you’d leave early?” Savannah asked.
    “I’m becoming known as a difficult artist .” Lucas looked chagrined. “It’s hard, night after night, to enter a room filled with people I don’t know. To have them fawning over me. I always hope I’ll see someone I know, but I never do. The only way I continue to attend these events is by bargaining with myself that I only have to stay for one drink.”
    “Well then,” Clarissa said with a broad smile, “let’s go prove your reputation wrong and shock them all.” She rose, reaching her hand down for his as he stood.

    * * *
    T hey strode into the lobby of the Finlen Hotel, its crystal chandeliers sparkling, marble floor gleaming, and approached the entrance to the ballroom. They heard a gentle roar behind the closed mahogany doors, and Clarissa slowed her confident strides.
    “It’s all right, Rissa,” Lucas soothed, pulling her forward. “I can guarantee the Butte society won’t be like what you suffered in Boston.” He stood between Savannah and Clarissa, each of them with an arm looped through one of his. He winked as he smiled, a carefree lightness in his spirit which Clarissa sensed he hadn’t felt in too long. “They’ll be shocked and then ravenously curious to discover how the reclusive pianist could have two beautiful women with him when he just arrived today.”
    Savannah rolled her eyes at him but couldn’t help giggling.