Saffy had watched mated couples interact so many times in the past and had longed to have that same connection with someone. Now she had it, and she couldn’t have been happier. Whatever happened, they really would get through it. Together.
When Ramon’s father pulled into her street, she directed him to her house. “You can pull up into the driveway,” she told him.
As soon as they had parked, the front door opened, and her mom and dad came outside to greet them.
“My baby,” her mom said, pulling Saffy into a hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
“Hey, Mom,” Saffy said, and heat prickled at her eyes.
She hadn’t realized until that very moment just how much she’d missed her.
Then her mom turned to Ramon and his parents. “It’s very nice to meet you,” she said with surprising warmth. “Welcome to my home.”
She shook hands with them both before standing aside so that her husband could greet them.
“Saffy,” her dad said with a nod.
She supposed it was better than nothing.
Her father’s face didn’t have her mother’s warmth in it, but he reached out and shook Ramon’s parents’ hands before shaking Ramon’s.
“Please, come inside,” he said and led them into the house.
After they’d taken their seats, Saffy noted that the table had been set for six. She glanced at the empty seats with a frown. “Aren’t Charlotte and Mason joining us?”
Her mother shook her head. “Mason is working, and Charlotte is at her friend’s birthday party.”
Huh, her sister hadn’t told her about the party. Then the rest of what her mother had said sunk in and her eyes widened.
“Mason has ajob?” she spluttered.
She glanced at her mate and noted the surprise on his face, too.
Her mom nodded. “Security, though why he couldn’t put that expensive college degree to good use is beyond me.”
“Mason has actually started to make some changes for the better,” her father said. “With those horrible boys he used to hang around with gone, I think he might just be able to turn his life around. He has stopped drinking and is far more agreeable company now.”
Saffy would believe it when she saw it. It was true, his friends hadn’t been very nice, in fact theyhadbeen horrible, but Mason had been the ringleader of their little group, there was no doubt about it. She wasn’t sure she liked the way her father made them out to be the bad guys and she hoped it meant he wouldn’t go easy on Mason and allow him to slip back into his old ways.
“Do you have more children?” her mom asked Ramon’s mother, moving onto a safe topic for them both
Ramon’s mom smiled and nodded, moving her hands animatedly as she spoke. “Si, three in total, two boys and a girl.”
Her parents made a little small talk until the server that her mom had hired for the night brought out the first course. Dinner was a stuffy affair, nothing like the relaxed, comfortable atmosphere at Ramon’s parents’ house, but at least her parents were civil. More actually, they could even have been described as friendly.
After the meal was finished, her father opened a bottle of champagne and shared it out between six flutes before handing a glass to each of them and taking one for himself.
“I do hope you’ll join me in congratulating Saffy and Ramon on their mating,” he said, to her surprise. “I’m sure you’ll agree that our families have been at war for too long and I hope that our children’s mating can bring an end to the feud, once and for all.”
He raised his glass in a toast. “To Saffy and Ramon!”
“To Saffy and Ramon,” their parents said in unison before they all drank a toast.
A glance at Ramon told her that he was just as surprised by her father’s toast and request for an end to the feud as she was.
“I will happily agree to a truce,” Ramon’s dad said. “If we both agree to enforce it by threat of banishment. Many of the younger generation don’t know what started it in the first place and I think they would be more than happy to see it come to an end.”
“I can agree to that,” her father said.
