It's All Relative (65 page)

Leilani started to cry, and Mason was startled at the emotion that pulled out of him. He could easily picture the beautiful, exotic woman he’d spent countless hours wrapped around. He found himself lost in the past, in all the good times they’d shared. There was a time where he would have done anything for this woman. “Please, Mason…he’ll hate me if I tell him, and he’ll hate me even more if Nate tells him. I can’t have him hating me. He’s all I have…”

Mason sighed, once again moved to irrationality by her. Even after all this time, was there anything he wouldn’t do for her? “Don’t cry, Leilani.” He sighed again, exhausted already. “Fine, I’ll tell him. Somehow, I’ll tell him…if that’s what you really want.”

Her tone immediately brightened. “Oh, please, Mason. I know I’m putting a lot on you, and I know you don’t deserve this, but it
has
to come from you. If I tell him, it will destroy what we have.”

“But if I do…it doesn’t matter, because we don’t have anything to destroy. Because you never let me have anything with him. You took his
entire
childhood away from me, Leilani.” Loneliness swept over him in a rush, nearly crushing him. “How could you do that to me?”

Leilani sobbed again. Quietly, she answered with, “I’m so sorry. I was young, foolish, hurt…confused. I thought you were better off being left in the dark. I didn’t want to make things difficult for you…or for Kai.”

“Then maybe you should just let him keep believing Nate is his father. Does it really matter now?” Mason wearily rested his elbows on the table. He felt like the solid oak could barely hold his mammoth weight at the moment.

Leilani sighed. “I completely agree with you, but Nate doesn’t. He’s done with the lies. He feels it’s time.” Her tone turned a little sour. “Personally, I think he’s hoping Kai will turn against me. We’re very close…” Her voice cracked, and she sobbed again.

“Leilani,” Mason breathed, his own emotion bubbling up. “Don’t cry, sweetheart.” He was startled that he’d called her that, after all this time. She seemed surprised as well, and her tears eventually stopped. Mason cleared his throat. He needed to process this conversation, needed to get away from what her voice immediately brought back in him. “It’s late, I should go, Leilani.”

“Okay, Mason. Thank you,” she whispered.

He swallowed that lump again. “Yeah,” was all he could get out.

Just as he was about to say goodbye, she quietly said, “I never stopped loving you, by the way.”

Mason closed his eyes. “I never stopped loving you either, Leilani.” Then he hung up the phone before she could respond.

Returning to the present, Mason looked down at his table of pinned-in-place bees. He suddenly felt exactly like those bees, trapped in a position he didn’t want to be in. Leilani had effectively cornered him into a spot that neither he nor Kai could get out of now. He was positive Kai had no idea what was coming, Mason certainly hadn’t seen it.

Closing his eyes, he blocked out the sight of those trapped insects, and prayed that he and Kai survived this more intact than the dying insects he was studying.

(Cut scene #4. This is at the end of chapter 8, when Jessie visits Millie at home.)

A
s Millie was settled into her favorite chair, she thought about her visit with Kai this morning. It had sure been sweet of the boy to bring her breakfast. She’d been too queasy to eat it, but the thought was all that mattered. Even if Kai had the unfortunate fate of being
that
woman’s son, her own had raised him right. He was a thoughtful gentleman.

With a sigh, Millie hoped his real father didn’t do anything stupid and foolish to break the boy’s heart. By Kai’s reaction when she’d asked about his first day, she knew he wasn’t aware of his paternity yet. She hoped he stayed clueless; the other choice held nothing but pain for her grandchild.

Millie was eager to protect Kai’s generous heart as much as she could. And as much as she knew the love of family would help him get through the shock, should he ever learn the truth, she also knew that the intimate nature of a romantic connection would help him even more. While she and Jessica could give him familial love and support, a woman could give him physical love and support in a way they couldn’t. If anything else, he could take out his frustration by making love all day long.

Millie smiled at the thought. She might be an old woman, but she was no prude. Sometimes a good roll in the hay did wonders for the soul.

Her granddaughter walked into the room as she was grinning over her thoughts. Jessica Marie tilted her head at Millie and proceeded to tuck the blanket Millie had around her. Even though Millie couldn’t have been cocooned any farther, and was going to have a heck of a time unwrapping herself in she needed to get up, she appreciated her granddaughter’s sentiment. Yet another son had raised their child right. It made Millie very proud.

“Happy to be home, Grams?” Jessica politely asked.

Millie patted the young woman’s arm and hoped she found a good man to care for someday. Someone who deserved the nurturing love the girl was so quick to give. “Yes, dear.” Sighing, she snuggled into her assortment of pillows. “I’m very happy to be home.” Smirking to herself, she added, “Although, I will miss Susan and her never-ending stories.”

Jessica Marie smiled at her as she straightened. She shook her head a little, seemingly amused that Millie had bonded so quickly with her caregivers. Millie contained a smile. If there was one thing Millie had learned at her age, it was to not waste time. Millie was quick to love and quick to laugh, because really, the end could come at any time for her. For anyone, she supposed.

Smiling, Jessica said, “I’m going to go make you some lunch, Grams. Do you have any tomatoes in your greenhouse? I could make you a nice, juicy BLT?” She rubbed her stomach after she suggested it, like she had a hankering.

“I believe there are some in there. Thank you, Jessica.”

Jessica Marie smiled and asked Millie if she needed anything else before she went outside. When Millie told her she was fine, she smiled wider and almost skipped out of the room. Millie had to raise an eyebrow at her granddaughter’s antics. Maybe she’d already found a boy to look after. She certainly seemed like a woman in love. Although…Millie had also seen slight frowns and a light misting of her eyes at times. Whatever her charming granddaughter had gotten herself into, it didn’t appear to be a completely easy situation. Millie smiled wider as she closed her eyes. She knew from experience that the best relationships were never the easy ones.

She started to doze off, thinking of her own at-times passionate relationship with her husband. There were so many years of love, laughter, and heartache for Millie to flip through. She was just on the cusp of sleep when she heard a plate being set on the table next to her. When she opened her eyes, her granddaughter gave her apologetic eyes. “Sorry, I wasn’t sure if I should wake you or not.”

Millie yawned and stretched out as much as she could in the burrito-like blankets wrapped around her. A small pain shot up her hip when she did. Trying to hide the flinch, she casually told Jessica, “You didn’t, dear. I was only reminiscing.”

As warmth from the trip down memory lane filled Millie, Jessica frowned. She’d apparently caught the slight flinch in the old woman’s face. “I’ll go get your pain pills.”

Jessica was up and out of the room before Millie could even protest. Sighing, she reached over and grabbed the plate with an absurdly large sandwich on it. Shaking her head, Millie wondered how her granddaughter had thought her small stomach could possibly handle the mountain of food. Especially since the pain pills that Jessica was so politely bringing to her, had a tendency to give her bouts of nausea.

Grabbing the smaller half of the sandwich, Millie sat back and took a bite. She wouldn’t make the sweet girl feel bad by refusing to eat the meal she’d prepared. Millie could suffer through an upset stomach to make her family happy.

Jessica came back with the pills, and Millie took the two she handed her without complaint. As they were sliding down her throat, Millie hoped they didn’t bring the BLT back up it. Not showing any of that worry to Jessica, she gave her a bright smile. “Thank you so much, Jessica Marie.” Laughing, she added, “Between you and Kai, I’m the most well-fed woman in town.”

It could have been her imagination, but Millie almost thought she saw Jessica twitch at the mention of Kai’s name. Not like the other day, when she’d seemed like she hadn’t wanted anything to do with him, just an odd, involuntary movement at his name. Kai had mentioned that Jessica was taking good care of him. Millie hoped that meant whatever weirdness had been between them before, had passed.

As Jessica smiled politely at the comment, Millie decided to speak her thoughts. Taking another small bite of her sandwich, she tossed out, “We should find Kai a girl.” Jessica’s eyes widened, and her mouth popped open a little. Curious, Millie added, “He’s too good of a boy to not have someone to love. Don’t you think?” It was about as indirect as Millie could be, asking if everything was all right between the two of them.

Jessica swallowed and tucked her hair behind her ears. Grabbing one of the long strands, she started twisting it around her finger. It was an old childhood habit of Jessica’s. One that Millie was a little surprised to see pop up again. “Yeah, he’s really great…but he just got here. I doubt he’s looking for anything yet.”

Millie watched the girl twist the strand of hair around her finger so tight that she was practically cutting off the circulation in her digit. “Nonsense. What boy his age isn’t looking to sow his oats a bit?” Millie smiled softly and took another bite of her sandwich.

Jessica’s face flooded with color as she gaped at Millie. “Grandma!” she exclaimed.

Millie laughed. She wasn’t sure if Jessica was against the thought of a man trying out different partners, or if she was just surprised that her grandmother was suggesting it. Millie hadn’t raised her family members to be prudes, and she certainly would never have expected that from Jessica Marie; she must just be surprised. “Oh, relax, dear. No harm in a man…exploring his options.” Curious what her reaction would be, Millie raised a pointed eyebrow at Jessica. “A woman either, dear.”

Millie had to laugh again as she watched her granddaughter’s face turn an even brighter shade of red. She immediately turned away from Millie and began jerking on the strand of hair in her fingers. She yanked so hard, Millie was sure she’d pull the whole piece out by the root. “Well, sure…I guess,” she muttered, still seemingly flabbergasted by the whole conversation.

Millie chuckled and took another bite of her sandwich. “Do you know anyone he could date?” she asked Jessica casually.

The bright red immediately drained from Jessica’s cheeks as she shook her head. “No…and I really don’t think he’s interested in being…set up.”

Wiping some crumbs off of her lips, Millie sighed. “I know, he said as much.” Shaking her head, she added, “But men are stubborn, and they don’t always know what they need.”

As Jessica studied the strand of hair in her fingers, she muttered something that almost sounded like, “He doesn’t need that.” Millie couldn’t be positive of her hearing though. She was just about to ask her granddaughter to repeat what she’d said, when Jessica lifted her eyes to Millie’s. “Well, I don’t know anyone…for him.”

The way Jessica paused over that sentence, Millie had clearly heard the words she hadn’t said—anyone
good enough
for him. Millie smiled. They had indeed bonded. “Well, keep an eye out.”

Jessica sighed and leaned back in her chair. Studying her hair again, she softly said, “What if I don’t want to give him up yet?”

Millie paused in taking a bite of her sandwich, about the last bite her stomach could handle. “What do you mean, dear?”

Jessica flushed, looking embarrassed that she’d said that out loud. Sputtering a little, she added, “I mean, he just got here, and I’m finally getting to know…my cousin. What if I just want him to myself for a little bit? Before I have to share him with a girlfriend?”

Millie smiled and set her sandwich down; her stomach was too queasy to take another bite anyway. “I’m glad to hear you say that. You two seemed so…odd, the first time you met. I’m glad things are better.”

Jessica Marie flushed again, and shifted her eyes to the large window that overlooked the front yard. An empty bird feeder took a place of prominence in the view and Jessica stared at it, like it held all the answers to life’s biggest questions. “Yeah…we’re better.”

Millie watched her granddaughter curiously, wondering where her head was. Young people. Everything was so dramatic. Resting back in her chair, Millie watched Jessica’s eyes lose focus, as she lost herself to some inner thought. Not wanting to disrupt the girl’s musings, Millie closed her eyes and pondered how long she had to rest before she could sneak past her grandchildren and get back to her greenhouse. She had some herbs she wanted to grow for Kai. Something to spruce up his life a little bit. Rosemary, maybe?