Chapter 24
When I wake the following morning, Daniel has one arm beneath me while using his other hand to stroke my arm with the tips of his fingers. Goosebumps raise along the trail and I can feel his erection against my bottom. He presses a kiss to my neck, "Good morning, baby." His voice is still husky from sleep, so he hasn't been awake very long.
"Mmm, morning," I mutter as I stretch, feeling sore thanks to muscles that haven't been used in awhile.
Daniel moves my hair away from my face so that he can place a soft kiss in the spot where my neck meets my shoulder and I tremble slightly. Chuckling against me, he says, "I should probably get you home, huh?"
Oh man. I don't even want to think about how that's going to go. "Yeah, I should probably get home. I'm sure Mom is ready to hand CJ off."
When we leave Daniel's apartment, he links our fingers together, tugging me close to him as we walk down to his truck. The only time he lets go of my hand is after he helps me into the seat. He closes my door and heads over to the driver's side. As soon as he climbs in, he takes my hand again and I scoot over to cuddle up to his side. Having a relationship with someone is strange after more than two years of being alone. I don't want to be far from him.
He doesn't say much on the drive, but the closer we get, the tenser he becomes. I know he's worrying about how I'm going to react to what Mom will say, but I don’t know how to reassure him. I just know that I have to at least try.
"Hey," I say, tipping my head up to look at him. "She can't say anything that will change how I feel about you, okay? I know you, and I know the truth. Whatever she thinks doesn't matter."
Daniel sighs, shaking his head. "Genevieve, you know that's not true. She's your mom, and no matter what, her opinion does matter to you. She's the only family you have left and I won't be responsible for taking that away from you."
My heart swells in my chest at his words. He really does understand me. Leaning my head against his shoulder, I enjoy the closeness we have and pray that my mother doesn't try to take this away from us.
When we pull up outside of my house, I watch my mother pull the curtains to the side, and her reaction at seeing Daniel help me out of his truck is everything I thought it would be. Her eyes narrow and she drops the curtain. Ten seconds later, she comes storming out the front door, a pissed-off expression on her face.
Rushing forward, I meet her on the walkway before she can get to Daniel. "Mom," I implore, "please, can we go inside and talk about this? I don't want the neighbors to hear all of this."
"Hmpf. Yes, let's go inside. When you left last night, I had no idea you were going to see him." She says with such disdain, and I can't figure out what he ever did to her. "If I'd known you were going to meet up with him, I would never have agreed to watch CJ. I'm so disappointed in you, Genny Prior."
I tip my head to the side and feel the person I’ve become finally emerge. I’m not taking this anymore. Hands on my hips, I spurt out, "Yeah, well, I'm disappointed in you too, Mom."
Her eyes flash up to mine, surprise and disbelief prominently displayed on her face. I'm expecting her to completely fly off the handle, but instead she just turns on her heel and walks back into the house, saying nothing to Daniel or me.
Turning, I motion to Daniel to come on and he walks up to meet me. Taking his hand, I lead him into the house, intent on having this out with my mother. She needs to understand that Daniel isn't going anywhere and that I won’t let her influence my relationship, no matter how much I love her.
Once we are all inside, she turns to face us, crossing her arms over her chest and staring us both down. "Well, Genevieve, do you have anything to say for yourself?" Her tone is caustic, but I can hear an undertone of hurt there as well.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I try to figure out a way to have this conversation with her without it starting a huge fight. I can feel Daniel at my back, he's trying to support me, to show my mom that we are a united front, although I'm not sure it's going to do any good. "What would you like me to say Mother? I asked you over here last night because I needed to go talk to Daniel. If I told you my plans, you wouldn’t have come."
"You're right," she agrees with a nod, "I wouldn't have. I also wouldn't have volunteered to be your babysitter so you could go act like a teenage girl instead of the thirty-three-year-old woman you really are—you’re too old for him." She has her hands on her hips as she reads me the riot act and I'm trying hard not to let her words bother me. I can feel Daniel's body tighten with anger as his hand grips mine.
Looking back at him, I give him what I hope is a reassuring smile before turning back to my mom. "Mom, I love you, you know that I do, but you're wrong about him! I don't understand why you're so against this. He's been making sure things around this house have been taken care of since before Cade left on his deployment. He's been nothing but respectful to you and to me. I just don't get it!"
"When are you going to realize that he's only here because he thinks you will be his sugar mama?" She says the last two words like she walks around talking street, day and night. Then she deflates right in front of me, her eyes sad instead of angry. "I just don't want to see you get hurt. I didn't think you would ever get over Cade, and now, you've moved on to this young man who doesn't know the first thing about living in the real world—"
Daniel's control has come to an end. He steps in front of me protectively, ending her tirade. "First of all, how dare you think that the only reason I would be with your daughter is because she has money. How dare you!" My mom's eyes widen at his words, and truthfully, so do mine. "I don't need Gen's money. I have a trust fund of my own. And yeah, I could have had it very easy by going to work for my father, but I'm not interested in his business, and, frankly, I don’t want anything to do with him. As soon as I can pull my sister out of his house, I will.
“Do you see this?” He jerks up the leg of his pants, tugging his jeans high enough to reveal the scars. “The man you admire so much whipped his own seven-year-old. I don’t want to be like him. I don’t want anything to do with him. There’s a reason my mother left, and I don’t blame her.”
Daniel watches my mother’s face as it shifts from anger to horror. He pauses for a second, shaking his jeans back down to his ankle. “Listen, I want to make my own way, my own fortune. I want to sink or swim on my own, not succeed just because of who my father is, and if my business went under tomorrow, I'd still be able to take care of Genevieve and your grandson without touching her money at all. I have more money than I could ever spend, invested in more stocks and bonds than you could count. This isn’t about money, so stop acting like it is." He stops to take a breath, and my mother looks on in shock, still speechless at everything he's saying.
"With all due respect, Mrs. Howlett, I love your daughter and your grandson. I respected Cade when he was alive, and I'm damn sure not going to disrespect him now by taking advantage of his widow." He's standing tall in front of me when he finishes, and when I look around him at my mother; she has tears in her eyes and is looking at him with grudging respect.
Daniel pulls me to him, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me into his side. He's staring my mother down, but her face says she finally understands what I see in him. She is realizing she doesn’t know everything about him—that Daniel isn’t who she thought he was.
She walks over to us, taking my face in her hands and kissing my cheek before hugging me tightly. "I’m wrong and I'm sorry,” she says softly into my hair. I nod, and she pulls away to do the same to him. I can feel him stiffen when she motions for him to bend over because he's too tall for her to grab his cheeks. I don't know what she says into his ear, but whatever it is must've been good since he relaxes against me.
My mom looks like a huge weight has been taken off her shoulders and I suddenly realize how hard watching me grieve for Cade has been on her. It explains why she was always pushing me towards guys that she thought could take care of me, and why she was so against Daniel in the beginning. To someone who doesn't know him, he must look like a young kid who's just experimenting. I know now that she was just trying to protect me, even if she went about it wrong.
A single tear rolls down her cheek and she brushes it away. "I'm going to go. I've got so much to do at home, and I'm sure the three of you want to spend time together." She kisses my cheek once more before walking out the front door, leaving me to watch her with my mouth gaping open.
The door shuts and Daniel turns to me with a grin. "Well, that went way better than I was expecting."
"I was a little worried."
Daniel snorts, "A little? I was a lot worried. Gen, your mom is scary."
"You handled her pretty well though." I feel almost giddy at the thought that my mom seems to be on board with our relationship. I don't want to fight with her, but there's no way I'm giving Daniel up, either.
Pulling me over to the couch, Daniel sits down beside me, tucking me into his side. "Now that I've faced the firing squad and won, can we relax for a few before CJ gets up from his nap? I just want to enjoy the fact that we can be together."
Giggling at his analogy, I nod. He's absolutely right. Not having to hide the fact that we're in love is freeing. I snuggle closer as he turns on the television, searching for something to watch and enjoying his company.