“Mrs. Humphreys,” I provided.
“Yes. Well, she came to see us yesterday. It’s the strangest thing, she seems to think you’re... Oh, hello.” Mom’s words died on her tongue when she spun around, and her gaze landed on the big man behind me. “And who might this be?”
I didn’t fight. I didn’t take flight.
I freaking froze.
Mouth gaping like a fish out of water, I blinked at my mom.
Thankfully, Tristan didn’t have the same problem. Stepping forward, he held out his hand. “Tristan Blake, nice to meet you, Mrs. Rivera.”
His sugary sweet tone made my mom blush.
Clutching one hand over her heart, she pressed the palm of the other against Tristan’s. “Oh, well, the pleasure is all mine, young man.”
Just my luck that my mom would swoon over Tristan. Or maybe she was swooning because I’d finally shown up for a family lunch with a man by my side?
Those eyes, the same color as my own, met mine, eyebrows slowly climbing up her forehead. She held my stare for a few long moments before she gave my left hand a pointed look.
“Am I to assume there’s any truth to what Mrs. Humphreys said?”
“Well.” Wringing my hands, I shifted from one foot to the other. “You see—”
“Blake?” My dad’s wary voice interrupted from somewhere behind me. “Isn’t that the fella you work for’s name?”
Tristan didn’t miss a beat. He simply turned and shook my dad’s hand like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like I wasn’t standing right there sweating freaking bullets.
Which only got ten times worse when the men were locked in a staring contest that lasted way longer than what was considered normal. After whatever wordless thing had passed between them, my dad faced me and crossed his arms over his chest.
“I thought you hated him.”
Tristan made a surprised noise while I impersonated a fish yet again. Rapidly opening and closing my mouth, I desperately tried to get my lungs to work.
“Yes, I...uhm...well…” Words. I needed words. But my damn brain wouldn’t work.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were seeing someone?”
I couldn’t stand the hurt in my mom’s voice. I’d put it there because I thought I needed to fight my battles alone. Maybe it’d be best to come clean and tell my parents what was really going on?
Or maybe not. If my mom was this hurt that I didn’t tell her I was seeing someone, I couldn’t imagine how much worse she’d feel when I confessed to them Tristan and I weren’t engaged.
We were freaking married.
Ugh. What a mess.
Sometime during my inner ramblings, Mom had joined Dad. She slipped her arm through his elbow then they leveled me with a concerned expression. My stomach flipped weightlessly, and guilt gnawed at my insides.
I opened my mouth to...explain...apologize... I didn’t even know what but before a single sound could escape, Tristan sidled in beside me. Snaking his arm around my waist, he yanked me to him.
“Mr. and Mrs. Rivera, our intention was never to hurt anyone.”
My mom swooned a little. No surprises there. My dad, however, wasn’t convinced. Narrowing his eyes at Tristan, he ground out, “And what exactly are your intentions with my daughterandgranddaughter?”
Again, that knife in my heart twisted violently. They deserved to know about the battle we were fighting. They loved Millie just as much as I did, and if Taelyn won, their hearts would be shredded into a million pieces.
In my own way I’d tried to protect them, especially with Dad’s health still so fragile. But I never bargained on Mrs. Humphreys. If she asked them about the engagement, she could’ve just as easily told them about the custody battle we were facing.
“The truth is,” I said, making eye contact with both my parents. Tristan’s fingers pushed into my side, silently warning me not to do this. But he didn’t have to worry. I held the shovel now, and I’d never be able to climb out of the hole I was digging.
