Page 25 of Gin and Bear It

“Okay.” Dad runs his hands down his thighs. “Married. My JJ. Married. I can’t stop you, can I?”

“I promise it’ll be great, Dad.” Great? I couldn’t have chosen a more milquetoast word. “I’ll have the hotel and I’ll be able to continue what Mimi and Pop made.”

“I know. That’s the only reason I’m not throwing as much a fuss as I think I should.” He grunts as he stands up and goes to the kitchen. I exchange a look with Jeremiah, who only shrugs. “Where is the wedding?”

“We’re just going to the courthouse on Monday.”

“Oh, so I’ll come at lunch.” Dad wanders to the kitchen. “The courthouse is close to the office.”

“Wait, what?” I glance at Jeremiah, who’s trying his hardest not to laugh. Asshole.

“I’m going to see my baby get married.” Dad turns off the timer on the oven right as it starts beeping. “And I’ll get to speak with Ash beforehand.”

I open my mouth and close it. Dad is sentimental as hell and cried like a baby at Kendra’s wedding. But he adores Malcolm. Would he cry with Ash? And waste his tears?

He looks at me expectantly. There’s no use in trying to get out of it, so I tell him the time. He puts it into his calendar on his phone and tucks it into his pocket.

“Dinner’s ready. Let’s eat,” he says.

“So that’s it?” I blurt.

“What else can I say?” Dad shrugs and reaches over to grab Ms. Beulah. “You’re dead set on this and I haven’t been able to stop you from doing anything. Just be careful, JJ. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

I snort. “I won’t. Trust me.”

EIGHT

ASH

“Ashley.” Mom blinks so many times in a row that she might pull a muscle. “Ashley B⁠—”

“Mom.” I cut her off before she whips out my middle name. “Take a breath.”

She does take a breath, but she does something worse—tears well up in her eyes. Fuck.

“You’re getting married to Jada and you didn’t breathe a word of it to me?” she asks. Lady, sensing that Mom is distraught, nudges Mom’s hand with her nose.

I sigh and rest my hand on the back of my car, which is packed with all my stuff. I don’t have much—a lot of the space is filled with instruments and my most important vinyl, but I just have one big suitcase with my clothes.

“Yes,” I say.

Mom squeezes the bridge of her nose and starts pacing. “Married. You’re getting married! To Jada! She’s like family already and I didn’t know! She didn’t tell me, either, but I haven’t seen her in a while. But you’ve been living under our roof and haven’t said a word!”

Mom’s voice is carrying through the garage and into the house, and I don’t want Dad to hear her. I put a hand on her shoulder, half to steady her and half to get her to stop pacing before she trips over Lady.

“It’s complicated, Mom,” I say in what I hope is a soothing voice. “She’s been going through a lot and we were long distance.”

“Is it just because of your grandfather’s will?” she asks, suddenly serious. Her neatly groomed eyebrows furrow. “Because you can’t just marry Jada because of that. She deserves more.”

“What? No.” Absolutely, but we have to pull off this ruse with Mom, too. “It’s not just that alone. We were dating and it’s been serious, even though we’ve been long distance. I got the news about the inheritance, so we moved our timeline up. That’s all.”

Mom purses her lips and rests a hand on her hip. She looks impeccably put together, as always. I’ve never seen her look out of sorts, unless she’s sick.

“I love both of you dearly, and y’all are grown, but this is…” She leans against my car, too, and Lady leans against her leg. “This is sudden.”

I just nod. There’s nothing else I can really say to make it any easier for her.

“Did you already set a date?” Mom asks after a long pause.