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He’s leaving out a pretty big chunk of the family in those dinners. “And your parents?”
“They don’t join us very often.” He pauses. “I think they’ve shown up twice.”
I can’t gauge how he feels about that. Usually, he’s pretty open, but right now he’s careful with his words. “Is there some kind of animosity between you? Or your sister-in-law and them?”
“There’s no animosity. They just have other things to do.”
“So…they just don’t show up?”
His smile is an exact copy of his mid-happy version. “Their usual reasoning is that we see each other in the office every day as it is.”
My mom is in my business twenty-four-seven, but it would still hurt if she never joined Hope and me for dinner because she’d already seen me around town. “That’s something you say to your coworkers, not your kids.”
His eyes light, and I would almost think he’s impressed by my little outburst if I didn’t realize immediately just how rude a thing that was to say about his parents.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I just can’t wrap my head around parents who aren’t involved in their kids’ lives.”
I want to understand, but I don’t know what to ask. Every question in my head feels like an accusation. LikeHow can your parents not want to spend time with you?OrHow can they expect you to make lifelong commitments to your family business but not do the same when it comes to your personal lives?Or the real stunnerIs this why you feel so responsible for everyone? Because nobody is looking out foryou?
“I see that look. You’re ready to fight them on my behalf.”
I straighten, and try to get the bloodthirsty expression off my face. “It’s going around.”
“I like that look. But there’s no need to hunt down my parents to give them a piece of your mind.”
I make a sour face. “I’m still thinking about it.”
“They love us, no matter how it sounds. Once they opened their store, the business came first.”
“That doesn’t sound as good as you think it does,” I whisper. “You and your brothers needed people there for you.”
My parents run their own businesses, too, but I always knew I could count on them for anything. I can’t imagine feeling like their work success was more important.
“My brothers had me. And we were never neglected. We stayed with our Grandma Gloria and Grandpa Connor whenever our parents were overwhelmed with keeping the business afloat. We tore through their huge yard and big old house like little devils. They knew how to keep us in line.”
I don’t think he realizes how much more tenderness he shows when he talks about his grandparents than when he talks about his mom and dad. “Are your grandparents still with you?”
“We lost Grandpa several years ago, but Grandma still gets up to trouble. She moved into a retirement community a couple of years back, and Dean bought her house. He and Eliza have made it their home.” He splays a hand toward me. “Which is why Eliza is doing the family dinner thing.”
“Yeah, but yourparents…”
He shrugs, but I’m not sure he’s as indifferent as he’s making out to be. “They keep busy.”
I open my mouth to respond that they shouldn’t be too busy forfamily, but his quick smile makes me hold my tongue. It’s a good thing he finds my indignation amusing because I have plenty of it after hearing about this.
I get up to serve him seconds just to show him he can be taken care of too, even in some small way. Well, that, and to keep him from staring into my angry face while I internally explode. My mom meddles too much, but at least I can justify it by how much she loves Hope and me. Not bothering to see your kids outside of work is hard to explain away as an excessof affection. But I can’t very well go on a rant about his parents.
I set his refilled plate in front of him, and he looks up at me.
“Thank you.” His beaming smile melts a little bit of my anger. “You would make an excellent paladin, by the way. Very strong defender.”
I laugh and drop into my seat. “Are they the best dressed?”
“Oh, yeah. Armor like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Can you have more than one paladin on a team?”
“Sure.”
