When Romance Prevails (The Dark Horse Trilogy Book 3) by Cynthia Dane

his stomach while a maid set the table for more guests. “I’m not a fan of his, No sir. But I suppose that he will be respectable. I just hope he doesn’t uproot all of those policies I put into place. Not like your father would have.”
    Hunter maintained his politician’s smile while he nodded at Raymond. “I’m sure Governor Payne will do just fine during his tenure.”
    “Governor! He ain’t governor yet!” Raymond’s knees bumped into the dining table shortly before his family walked in. “Oh, hello…”
    Brenda sat next to her husband while Kerri found a space between him and Hunter. “What are you two talking about?” she asked, aware that her father was shooting laser beams over her head. While Raymond would not say he blessed the relationship between his daughter and Hunter Hall, he gave up fighting it, especially now that neither he nor Terrence won the election. One step at a time. Kerri took her boyfriend’s hand beneath the table.
    The doorbell rang.
    “Oh, that must be…” Brenda got up and insisted that the kids stay in their seats. Raymond grumbled something about “uninvited guests.” By the time Brenda returned from the foyer, she had in tow a tall man with a haggard face that was once considered one of “the most beautiful in the commercials.”
    “Mitchell,” Terrence said through gritting teeth.
    “Hall.”
    Both men averted their eyes while Brenda showed Terrence to a seat far away from her husband, but still near everyone else.
    When Brenda came up with the idea to “All have a meal together, because this is clearly something that is happening,” Kerri thought she was joking. Then the invitations were sent and Hunter nearly choked over the phone.
    Now here was Terrence Hall, finally stepping into the Governor’s Mansion. It may have been on his own terms, but it was not what he had in mind over a year ago.
    “Well, isn’t this a lovely afternoon?” Brenda, always the perfect hostess, summoned the maids to start bringing out lunch. She flashed a smile at her daughter and then spared a smaller one for Hunter. “I’m so glad to see the weather clearing up. I wasn’t sure it was going to after that most recent storm.”
    Throats cleared. The tension between both older men was thick enough to need a chainsaw to cut through.
    The doorbell rang again.
    Nobody got up in time before someone came marching through the door, scaring a pair of maids as they started to bring out the bread and salad. Hunter got up, however, when his mother appeared in the entryway, her nails prime to slash open the back of Terrence’s head. What a friendly divorce. Ronnie filed over a month ago and now lived in her own apartment downtown. Hunter didn’t blame her. Neither did Kerri.
    “Oh for goodness sake.” She ignored Brenda, the woman she once smacked in the face, as she tried to get Ronnie to sit anywhere but next to her former husband. “Look at this ass just sitting here like he was supposed to rule this roost. You lost, Terrence! Get over it! Our son’s sleeping with the enemy, as you put it.”
    The room fell deathly quiet.
    Ronnie grunted, tossed her coat onto the chair next to Terrence’s, pulled it out, and slammed her rear into it. “Hello, son,” she said with a manicured smile. “Hello, Kerri.”
    They both nodded to her. Kerri had spent more than one meal with the Halls thus far, although never together. Terrence never knew what to say to her. Ronnie, on the other hand, was the first of the four parents to welcome the relationship with open arms. She was probably relieved that someone around there had a good bond.
    “Well,” Raymond said, his seat squeaking as he readjusted himself in this strange impasse. “We’re all here. For the love God, don’t tell us you two kids are getting married.”
    Kerri could hear the disdain in her father’s voice. Last thing he wants is to be legally tied to the Halls. “We’re not getting married.” A collective sigh was let out