Page 101 of Family Bonds: Alana & Brennan
He’d listen to her advice, but he didn’t have to follow it if it wasn’t what he wanted or felt deep down.
Life was meant for living and he came to Amore Island to start over.
That meant every aspect of his life.
31
A GOOD BUFFER
“Why are you so nervous?” he asked her three days later. “I had to meet three people. You’re just meeting one.”
“I wouldn’t have been nervous if you hadn’t told me that your mother was going to be as tough as my brother and father were.”
Alana wouldn’t say she was dreading this. That was too strong of a word.
Apprehension was more like it.
Maybe uncertainty.
Yeah, that was better.
She needed to make a good impression on Sadie Austin.
She knew how protective Brennan was of his daughter and she was positive it was a trait he’d learned from his mother.
“I just didn’t want you to think she was going to give you a hug and a warm smile. I mean, she might. I don’t know.”
It was a little after two. Becca was still napping and Alana had driven over so that the three of them could go to Sadie’s together.
It also gave the two of them a chance to chat in private.
“What did your mother think of Rene? Is it okay to ask that? Not after, I can guess that, but before Becca was born.”
He sighed. “My mother didn’t meet Rene until after I found out she was pregnant. It’s not like Rene was around much for it to work out. I hadn’t even told my mother I was dating Rene for a few months either.”
“Oh. So in her eyes you got someone pregnant you barely knew rather than several months of a relationship?”
“Let’s just be honest. I hardly knew her and it wasn’t a relationship in her eyes like it was in mine. Rene found out she was pregnant and I did all the right things hoping for a better outcome. I don’t regret a thing.”
Alana wasn’t so sure how she felt about him saying that.
She was going to assume he meant it in terms of caring for Rene for Becca. That everything he’d done had been for his daughter and not the woman who cheated on him with multiple men.
“It’s not for me to judge and I’m not. I only wanted to know what your mother thought of her.”
“She didn’t like Rene much. She said she didn’t think Rene was going to settle down, but I didn’t want to listen. My mother only said it that once and it wasn’t until recently that she told me how she really felt.”
“Why now?” she asked, frowning.
“Because she said if she’d told me back then it wouldn’t have changed anything. Rene was pregnant and I wanted to be part of my daughter’s life. It might have caused more stress with me having to choose between my mother who was going to help me, and a woman who I didn’t love. She let it play out.”
Kind of like what her parents did.
When Jonathan was out of the picture, she found out what their true feelings were.
They only put a good face on because she was in love with him.
Which brought her mind back to Brennan.
