“I’ll text you if I need anything.”
Mason nodded, then turned and walked to his beat-up SUV parked across the street. Xeni didn’t realize she was watching him until she felt her head tilt a bit to the side. She was definitely checking out his ass and he definitely glanced back over his shoulder and caught her.
“It’s okay to admire the view,” he called out. “It’ll be all yours tomorrow after four.”
“Okay, okay. Relax,” Xeni shouted back. She was still miserable and numb. Super numb and full of rage, but that didn’t change the smile that lingered on her face as he drove away. Her future husband was kind of funny.
5
Mason gripped the edge of the steel counter to stop himself from pacing. In the time it took him to text his friends and his cousins and get back to the farm, the anxiety over Ms. Sable’s ultimatum had transformed into something he could only describe as giddiness. It was probably still anxiety, but Mason could feel it was edged with excitement. He’d been in the States for seven years, an exile firmly imposed by his father. Now that he and Xeni were one step closer to receiving their portions of the inheritance, he could finally put that part of his life behind him. At the rate he’d been going, it would have taken him another ten years to fix what he'd fucked up. Now he could feel the crushing pressure in his chest finally starting to ease.
There was no joy in losing Sable. He knew he would miss her every day for the rest of his life, but he couldn’t thank her enough for lifting this burden off his back. Only a handful of people knew the real reason he’d come to run the cafe on Silas’s farm, not that anyone needed to know. But when he’d finally shared the truth with Ms. Sable a few years ago as they bonded over their shared love of seventies funk, she’d offered the first real bit of comfort he’d felt since moving into the room above the cannery.
He thought back to the night she’d invited him over so they could talk tunes. He’d explained his initial interest in becoming a piper, and how after he’d mastered his first song, he’d finally felt like he’d given his father a reason to be proud of him. Ms. Sable had been so easy to get on with, he’d found himself sharing the dirty details about his whole fucked-up situation. The guilt and the shame were still fresh at the time, but she’d told him the only thing he needed to hear and for once he actually felt heard.
He loved his cousin Silas. Still, he wasn’t much for conversation. Plus, he’d had his own family drama to worry about. And then Liz arrived. She was fantastic, a real great girl, and as time went by she became a true friend to Mason. Maya and her wife, Ginny, were great pals too, but they traded exclusively in sarcasm and barbs. And they had each other, which is really what he’d been looking for. Someone who finally understood him. He found that friendship in Ms. Sable and even though she was gone, she had tried to help him out one last time. He could admit that he’d been a little pissed off with her overly involved plan, but if Xeni was on board, he wasn’t going to say no. And like she’d said, they were going to do things their way. For Mason, it felt like a second chance.
His first wedding had been a nonstarter. His first fiancée, a mistake. He and Xeni were strangers. They definitely weren’t in love, but this time he got to choose. Xeni seemed like a damn good choice.
Mason looked up, arching an eyebrow at Ginny as she let out a dramatic sigh. There wouldn’t be much activity in the cannery until the afternoon, but she and Maya had plenty of jam, sauce and honey to make. The smell of fresh lavender honey filled the space. He knew he was interrupting their day.
“Just tell us now,” Ginny said. “You can debrief Silas later.”
“Let me tell you all at once. Don’t worry, I won’t take up too much of your time.”
Just then, the back door to the kitchen opened, bringing a gust of heat and his cousins with it. Liz’s pregnant belly entered first and she was talking to Silas over her shoulder.
“I just want to stick to my birth plan this time.”
“I just want to be there this time,” Silas replied. “But talk to Dianda again. You hired her for a reason.”
“Yeah, I’ll call her tonight. Sorry. More baby business,” Liz said offering a warm smile. “Hi, hi, hi. We got your text. What’s going on?”
Mason stood his full height and pulled his confidence together. “I need help planning a wedding. By tomorrow.”
Maya blinked several times. “Uh, whose wedding?”
“Mine. To Ms. Sable’s—to Xeni Everly.”
“Uh…” Ginny echoed everyone else’s confusion.
“Yeah. Uh is right. Spill it,” Liz said.
Mason laid out select details of what Mr. Barber and Ms. Jordan had shared with him and Xeni. How much money and the conditions he’d have to fulfill to get it. He made sure to leave out the bits that belonged to Xeni and Xeni alone. What he had to share was more than enough to process before the lunch rush.
“That’s what she left you in her will?” Liz said, the shock still clear in her voice. “I thought it was going to be her piano or something.”
“No. She’s offering to clear up my debt, essentially.”
“But… you have to marry someone you don’t know.”
“I’m not worried about that. Xeni and I have spoken and we’re on the same page. We fulfill the terms of the will, we both get what has been left to us. I pay off my father and we live happily ever after.”
“Does this mean—” Ginny stopped herself, her gaze drifting over to Maya.
“What?”
“Does this mean you’re leaving?” Maya said. “Like, going back to Edinburgh? You won’t owe your dad anymore. You could go back.”
