Page 62 of Honeyed

Alana has been in newsrooms and studios all day, promoting the upcoming seventy-fifth anniversary of Hope Pizza. She looked absolutely gorgeous on the morning show I watched her on, and I promise I’ve worked hard at Lily today. We plan to open next week before the summer season starts and still need to install some shelving and sort through product. It’s grunt work, so while she’s being the marketing extraordinaire, I’ve locked myself in here to get it done.

“Your only son-in-law, but I’ll take it. Please tell me that’s—”

“Your favorite tomato soup? Yes. Plus, I brought along that gouda grilled cheese you loved as a freshman in high school.” She winks at me like a mother who surprises her kids on the regular.

“I’m a grown man and still worship that grilled cheese.” I set down my drill and cross the room to hug her.

“It looks like you could use a break, and I came over to help since you’ve taken all the tasks upon yourself. So put me to work. Everything okay with the electrical now?”

Purposely, I haven’t brought up the tension with Thomas to Alana. I know she’s internally stewing over it, and trying to sway her either way now would only upset her. Again, because I know her, I know she takes time to digest her feelings and make a decision about what she’ll do next. When we got into a fight our sophomore year of college because I didn’t want to intrude on parent’s weekend at her university, it took her until Halloween to call me with tears in her voice, telling me she missed me and that my costume in social media pictures was subpar.

But it’s not like I’ve talked to her father either, and even if Leona is here to smooth things over, there is still that wedge that’s been driven.

“Everything is good, great actually. I only have to sort through the clothing sizes and hang them accordingly, but if I’m eating so are you. Let’s sit over there.” I point to the two folding chairs and card table Alana and I set up so we didn’t get any of the real furniture pieces in here dirty.

Leona brings the food over and sets it out, complete with disposable bowls and silverware she brought along.

“You’re the best mom I know.” I grin. “Although I know Cass will definitely take some pages from your book.”

We sit down, and she sighs happily. “I’m so excited for my grandbaby to be here, I could cry every second of the day. It’s bittersweet watching your babies turn into real adults, but it’s also the most rewarding thing ever. Seeing Patrick and now Alana find the loves of their lives to create homes and families with like Thomas and I did? It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

I look down at my soup as I take the first spoonful, not wanting Leona to see the war going on in my eyes. I’m so happy with Alana, but there are still so many complications. The one at the forefront of my mind is my past, which seems to be creeping up, trying to poison me and her in turn. I could see how rattled she was that Mason followed us, that he knows who she is. Part of me still wants to find that motherfucker and beat him to a pulp for scaring her. Hopefully, he’s gone, but if I know anything about my father, it’s that he isn’t remorseful and only wants more attention during the anniversary of my mother’s murder.

Alana must have thrown the letter away or buried it deep in some drawer because she hasn’t brought it up since. I told her the truth when I said I’ve never read a word from my father. What good would it do? I’m never going to forgive him; I don’t need closure. All it will do is serve his self-interests, and I’m not going to feed into that. But the fact that this Mason guy is creeping around now, trying to open a can of worms he knows nothing about? It scares me when it means Alana is in the crosshairs, too.

“Making you happy is one of the most important things to me,” I tell her because it’s true.

We eat in silence for a few moments, and then Leona looks up at me and clears her throat. “But something has been bothering you.”

She knows me too well; the entire Ashton family does. I forget that at times. But it’s not like I can give her the whole truth. So I settle for some of it.

“A director is bugging me to be a part of this documentary about my … my biological parents. I’ve told him no, but he doesn’t seem to get the memo. I just worry about Alana getting tangled up in this mess.”

Concern flits over her elegant features, a face so similar to Alana’s that I know what my wife will probably look like at Leona’s age. “Our girl is strong. Don’t underestimate that.”

I snort. “You think I don’t know that? I worry she’ll try to outwit and fight this to her detriment when I don’t need her to. I want to protect her, is all.”

“Which is why I knew it was you for her from day one.” Leona places her palm on my cheek. “But you can’t push these things, even if you two drove me insane at times.”

I can’t exactly tell her that Alana and I had a fake marriage initially, but I can’t disagree. I always knew that I would be in love with Alana for my entire life, even if we weren’t together. It’s on the tip of my tongue to divulge everything to her, but even though Leona loves me like a son, I don’t know what her reaction would be to that. It’s not often that I wish I had someone outside of this family to confide in, and it’s both a blessing and a curse.

Arthur was that safe haven for me for a time, but growing up, I was pretty much alone with my innermost thoughts. If I had a real problem, I went to Leona and Thomas. But where Alana is concerned, I’ll never put them in that position, even if they were to try to give me advice.

“For a while, I lost a bit of faith. There were … complications holding us back.”

Your husband doesn’t come out of my mouth, but it might as well. Of course, Leona knows. How couldn’t she? She’s been here the whole time.

“Thomas will come around. His ego is bruised, and lord knows my husband is pigheaded. More than most men I know. It also makes him very protective, and that’s what he is when it comes to his children. All of them, including you. You two rattled him. He owes you both an apology, a large one. Again, we can’t push these things.”

“Did you know about his talk with me, all those years ago?” I ask because that question has always bugged me.

Even more than the documentary discussion, I want to know what Leona thinks—and thought—of Alana and me together. And even though Thomas seemed to have apologized for that conversation with me, and told me I was worthy of his daughter, his actions with the store seem to belie that. Sure, he might have given me his blessing, but his actions are speaking a different language.

Her eyes light with flames of what looks like anger. “Not until very recently, no, and believe me, Thomas has some answering to do to me for that. I’m so sorry, sweetheart. While his intentions might have been good, his approach was all wrong. I do think it gave you both time to mature as your own people, but it made your hearts struggle and for that, I am so upset with him. In the end, though, true love finds a way. That sounds like a silly fairy tale, but in the case of you two, I believe it. And do you know why it will last?”

“Why?”

“Because you are best friends at the center of your love. You’ve got years of supporting each other, talking without the complications of romance, confiding in one another unlike you did with anyone else. That’s what makes a strong foundation. So trust Alana to know that she’ll fight for you to the ends of the earth, even when it comes to something as painful and messy as your biological father trying to pull a stunt like this documentary. My daughter would slay dragons for you.”

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