She frowned. “Maybe it is, though some of my visions have been quite specific on that part. The problem with seeing into the future is you always see bits and pieces of it. It's never the full picture and in truth, it's always changing. I find it more tedious than anything else most of the time.”
Laurel didn't understand what any of it meant. She didn't want to hear about Fire Islands or great families. She wanted to know where the rest of her family was and what kind of people they were. Since where she came from meant so much, it was important that Laurel find out what she had to work with. What if she came from a horrible family?
She got many of the answers she was looking for and it was late in the day before they ended their conversation. Star offered to let them stay the night and Laurel agreed, before Nathan could say one way or another.
“You don't mind, do you?”
He shrugged. “No, but we are going to have to make a stop in the morning. You know that my parents don't live that far from here, only about an hour's trip. Maybe we can find out more about your family from them. You know, the ancestry.”
While Star had lots of answers about the immediate family, she was holding things back and didn't seem to have the information that was needed. Laurel could see the frustration when she dodged his questions, but she really didn't care where she came from. The only thing that mattered was that it was something that they could both accept. She loved Nathan and wanted them to be together.
“Sounds good. I would like to meet your parents. At least you got to meet my mother.” She shrugged, still not sure how to feel about it all. “I actually did have good parents. They were human and kept me in the dark for pretty much all of my life, but they were good to me and I never had to question if they loved me or put me first, you know? It could've been worse.”
“That's a good way to look at it.”
Star came back into the room and took them to a spare bedroom that she had down the hall. There was only one room, one bed. Laurel heard the door shut behind her, after she told Star goodnight. Her mind instantly shifted to other things.
She looked over at Nathan and he shook his head.
“There is no way, Laurel, so get that look off of your face. I'm sleeping on the floor.”
A part of her wanted to push it, but at the same time, they were already in a weird situation. Ardor and noise might make it even worse.
Chapter 16
Nathan didn't sleep a wink and as soon as Laurel was awake, they were saying their goodbyes to Star, promising to come visit soon and setting off to go see his parents. Nathan’s mother would be there, though he wasn’t sure if he was going to see his dad or not.
It wasn't going to be the pleasant trip that Laurel thought it was going to be. Sure, he was going to ask some questions about her family, but he was also going to tell them his plans. The plans that they were not going to be happy with, because he was going against everything that they had decided for him, what they had decided was his fate.
When Laurel asked him why he was so nervous, he didn't come out and say anything. He didn't mention that he was going to be breaking his promise to Nancy while he was there. It was not a social call that he was looking forward to. It was going to most likely change his place in the family.
Before he met Laurel, he would have never even considered that a possibility. That's why he went along with the whole charade with Nancy to begin with. He hadn’t wanted to lose his family, but now he knew that with Laurel, he would make his own. They could decide to be a part of it or not. Either way, though, Nathan was going to be alright, because he was going to have Laurel by his side.
He tried to lead with that positivity, hoping that it was enough to lie to himself. Nathan knew that it could go very badly.
They weren't even to the door before his mom came out and rushed to him. She looked relieved to see him and only barely noticed the woman by his side.
“Nathan! It is so good to see you!”
He let her kiss his cheeks, one on each side, and then pulled back to look at him, making a remark about how much bigger he was and asking if he was doing well.
The whole time his mother was talking, she looked at Laurel with a disapproving look on her face. Finally, she came out and said something about it. “What have we here Nathan? This doesn't look like Nancy, your promised.”
Nathan was used to the frankness of his mother. It was something that he saw in Laurel and admired that, too.
Nathan could not believe that his mother was starting right from the gate. Or maybe he could. His family had always been blunt, to the point, and it was going to be one of those situations where he was going to have to be the same way. Like a bandage, he was just going to have to rip it off.
“This is Laurel Mendoza. Does that name mean anything to you?”
His mother smiled and the look of suspicion was gone. Now, she wasn't looking like she wanted Laurel to leave immediately. She was actually smiling a whole lot bigger and inviting them in. It was clear that the name meant something to her and by the looks of it, that was a good thing.
“You cannot imagine how thankful I am to hear that name! I thought that it was never going to happen. I wanted to believe it would, mind you, but for it to actually happen is quite special.”
Nathan had no idea what was going on. His mom was known to do an about face from time to time, but nothing so swift. Not in seconds.
They walked in the house and he looked back at Laurel, telling her that everything was fine. He didn't actually believe it, or even know if it was true, but he wanted her to feel better. It looked like Laurel might bolt at any moment.
“Why do I get a feeling that you're about to tell me something that I never knew before? Something that you should have told me a long time ago.”
