“A return on her investments. We have a partnership that works well for us.”
Diane stared at him like he’d just spoken to her in his native language. “What the heck is a partnership? So, y’all aren’t having sex then is what I’m gathering?”
Kennedy choked on her food, patting her chest before spitting out a feeble, “Ma!”
“She ain’t asking nothing wrong, Kennedy. This man is talking about you like you’re an employee he can hire or fire at will, while you were here moping around my damn house about him. I don’t think he’s good enough for you,” Butch declared, balling his face in incredulity. Relic stared for a few seconds before he nodded.
“I know, I’m not. Kennedy knows it, too, but we want each other anyway. It may not be in the manner everyone expects us to, but that isn’t our issue. As far as her moping around your house for days, that’s just as big of a problem for me as it is for you. I would’ve much rather her done it at mine, but she chose to leave.”
“And you let her like she meant nothing to ya,” Butch pointed out.
“And I came to correct my mistake.”
“He didn’t make a mistake.” Kennedy spoke up in his defense, and Relic glanced in her direction. “If he’d forced me to stay, I would resent him more. He knows that. Relic gave me space to wrap my head around everything that’s happened with the shooting and where we stand.”
“So, you’re good?” he verified. “You’re ready to come back?”
“No, but I will soon because I need to check on Savvy. I want to spend a few more days with my mom first. You forgot, I have to drive your car back, too.”
Relic’s nostrils flared, and jaw muscles spasmed, as he resumed eating to signal the end of the conversation. Her features fell flat at his dismissal, and after her eyes flitted to her mom’s judgmental expression, she wanted to crawl under the table and hide. She was used to his detachment but understood how it appeared to outsiders who didn’t know him or the traumatic experiences of his past.
“She doesn’t do what you want, and you shut down,” Diane assessed, but Relic’s gaze stayed on his plate like he didn’t hear her. His aloofness didn’t move her when she’d married a man who’d once carried the same characteristics before realizing it wouldn’t get him far with her. “Maybe you don’t like expressing your feelings. Maybe you have none for my daughter.”
“Really?” Kennedy retorted, and her father held up a hand.
“Let your mother finish. She knows a thing or two, so listen. He ain’t gotta respond, but I know he hears her.”
“All I’m getting at is that it seems like he’s not open to communicating. I’m not saying he should force your hand, but it wouldn’t hurt to express he needs you right now. A lot of the time, all it takes is showing some vulnerability to win us over, but he seems to lack that. You’re not the most expressive woman either, Kennedy, so I see how wires can get crossed. You want more than he gives, and he’s giving no more than what he believes you want.”
“I’ve never been a man of many words.” Every set of eyes drifted to Relic when he lifted his face from his plate to reply. “If I feel like it’ll be a waste of breath, I don’t use it. I prefer letting my actions speak in the instances I can’t. My brother’s daughter was in the hospital, but I left home and drove over seven hours to talk to Kennedy face to face just because she wouldn’t answer her phone. I don’t date, and I don’t meet families, yet I’m sitting at a table, letting two people who don’t know shit about me or my personal life dissect me because I know putting you at ease will put her at ease.
“Do I wanna drag Kennedy out of your fucking house and make her come with me? Yes. Am I capable of it? Yes. Will I do it? No, because I pick and choose my battles with her. Me against you two is a losing one, so I’m not wasting my time. Now, can I finish eating? I have a long ride home ahead of me, and this French toast is good. My son would love it. It’s his favorite, too.”
The table went dead silent, and Kennedy’s mouth fell open before she clamped it shut, preventing the corners of her lips from curling upward at Relic respectfully putting her parents in their place. She couldn’t deny that he made her proud and annoyed in the same instance. He’d shed a light on the way he’d learned to subtly handle her without it coming off as controlling. Even more so, Relic defended and expressed their connection—no matter how offhand it sounded—when a man she’d dealt with for years, who’d known her parents even longer, hadn’t grown the balls to do the same. Relic made it hard for Kennedy to believe or accept that every gesture he made held an ulterior motive behind it.
“Well, you made valid points,” Diane acknowledged, cracking a smile as she cut into her stack of French toast. “I stand corrected, and I didn’t mean to offend you. Kennedy is the only child I have left, so I’d like to know that she’s in good hands. Butch, you got anything you’d like to add?”
“Shit, I was done talking once he said he had no wins against us. Clearly, Kennedy has set the tone, so I can’t say much about it. As long as he knows, I ain’t Tekken, and I’ll bust his ass about my daughter, I’m good.”
Relic snorted a chuckle before a genuine smile spread across his face that sent Diane’s eyes stretching wide. He’d turned into a whole new man in front of her with that one gesture.
“I see why my daughter is taken with you, Relic,” she complimented, and her husband snapped his head in her direction while Kennedy squealed a laugh.
“I know goddamn well you didn’t just tell that boy he looks good in my face.”
“Butch, stop it. He’s a handsome young man when he isn’t brooding. I’m just telling my daughter, I get it. That’s how I got caught up and pregnant by your behind.”
“Yea, alright. Relic, you gotta get the hell out of here, trying to steal my daughter and my wife. We really got a problem now ‘cause I don’t play about mine.”
Relic simpered and lifted both hands. “Your wife is beautiful, but I’ll stick to the younger version. I like mine with a little bite to it.”
“Oh, don’t let Diane’s sweet smile and soft voice fool you. Kennedy ain’t get her mouth and attitude from out of nowhere. She’s her mother’s child.”
“Butch, hush.” Diane fanned him off with a coy grin. She sipped her orange juice before casually sliding in, “I’ll have Kennedy set up Tekken or Koda’s old room for you to get some rest before you leave, Relic.”
“What?” Kennedy and Butch blurted in unison. Relic tossed his head while dusting his hands clean.
“I appreciate it, but I need to get back, and I think I’ve overstayed my welcome.”
