Page 13 of A Little Bit Whiskey
“I didn’t spend much time with your four older kids, but the twins and Zinny were always nice, even if we weren’t friends. My mom didn’t want me hanging out with them, and Anna made it clear I wasn’t allowed to.”
“I’m glad my kids were kind, but I’m sorry you were given mixed messages about my family.” Weezer took her hand. “That rumor was hard on the twins, especially Noir. Being called a bastard his entire life didn’t help that boy. He took it to heart.”
“He still does,” Tamsyn admitted. “Thank you for telling me all this. It will be interesting to hear what Anna has to say.”
“There is no love lost between me and her, but remember, there are always two sides to every story. Both are based in truth and perception. Just because her side could be different, doesn’t mean it’s not real to her. It’s how she feels about what happened.”
Tamsyn jerked her head.
“You didn’t expect me to say that about Anna, now did you?”
“No, I didn’t,” Tamsyn whispered. “I know how Anna can be and she does bend reality to meet her personal desires in life. Sometimes I wonder if she’s truly happy.”
“My take on that is she settled for Fred.”
“That’s not fair.” Tamsyn might have her own set of issues with Anna, but to attack someone’s marriage wasn’t cool.
“I’m not saying she doesn’t love him now. I have no doubt they are still together for a reason. But back then, he wasn’t her type. He wasn’t rich. He wasn’t overly ambitious. He wasn’t the face of the community, like he is now. But when they married, he was a cop and she wanted to make him a politician.”
“She still does and Fred wants nothing to do with that. If it wasn’t for Carter, I’m not sure he’d be chief of police. Fred is ready to retire. He’s waiting for me to be ready to fill his shoes.”
Weezer smiled wide. “You’d make for a great chief. You’re smart and you’ve got balls. I admire that.”
“Coming from you, that means a lot.” Tamsyn had one more thing she wanted to discuss with Weezer. The thought of bringing it up made her pulse race faster than the first time she had to draw her weapon on a perp. While every police officer knew that one day it would happen, it wasn’t something they wanted to do. “This thing with me and Noir. It’s going to cause a huge ruckus with everyone in town. It will bring up everything we just talked about. I will need to pull out that paternity test at every street corner just to prove I’m not his sibling. While it will be the hardest on me and Noir, I need to know how you and Carter feel about this. I know I’m not everyone’s favorite person.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Weezer squeezed her hands, hard. “I’m sorry if we made you feel that way, but to be fair, you haven’t made it easy for us to be friendly. And we’ve kept a safe distance out of our respect for you and Elizabeth. But make no mistake. We have no ill will toward you. If you make our son happy, we will support the two of you. This family has weathered far worse than this little scandal. It will pass.”
“I hope you’re right.” Tamsyn sucked in a shallow breath.
“You must care deeply for my boy; otherwise, you wouldn’t subject yourself to the ridicule that is coming.”
Tamsyn reached for her wine and tipped it back like a shot of whiskey. It was one thing to admit her feelings to herself and to Noir. But to express it to his mother—his family—and to the world, was something entirely different. “I tried not to. And it’s not like it came out of left field. Noir and I have been chatting for years. We’ve danced around this for a long time, pushing our feelings aside and trying to be friends. But we couldn’t fight it anymore.”
“You can’t fight true love.”
Tamsyn coughed. Love was too strong of a word.
Thankfully, Noir strolled into the family room. “You two look chummy.”
“We had a nice chat.” Weezer stood. “Time to go find my new daughter-in-law and give her a piece of my mind.” She kissed Noir’s cheek. “Tamsyn’s a keeper. Don’t fuck it up.”
Noir chuckled. “Yes, Mother.”
Heat rose to Tamsyn’s cheek. This was not the reception she had expected. Her heart swelled. Now, if only she could get Anna and Fred on board.
“Hey, babe.” Noir lifted her off the sofa and took her in his arms. “Told you my family liked you.”
“One hurdle overcome, but we have a million more.” She wrapped her arms around his strong shoulders.
“Would you mind driving me back to Nebbiolo’s place? I want to grab as much stuff as I can tonight and bring it back to the cottage so the newlyweds can have the place to themselves. When you get off work in the morning, you can swing by before I have to go to work.”
She groaned. “I don’t think I’ll enjoy the fact your parents will be able to see me coming and going.”
“They won’t bother you. They might be over the top and have been known to meddle, but they have always respected their children’s privacy.” His lips landed on her mouth in a soft, but potent kiss. It was tender, loving, and sweet.
“All right, but we better get going. I need to be at work in an hour and Fred runs a tight ship.” She had plenty of time; that wasn’t the problem. She feared Anna had already informed Fred of herrelationship status.Fred might not have the same problems with the River family. He respected Carter. If it weren’t for him, Fred wouldn’t have his current position as chief of police, a position he hadn’t necessarily wanted ten years ago. But Carter thought he’d make a better one than old man Harper.
That was certainly true and Tamsyn was glad Fred took the job.
