“Yeah, I’m her boyfriend,’ Dillon said. It didn’t feel presumptuous coming out of his mouth anymore.
Lina moved from hugging her grandmother to shaking Garrett’s hand as soon as Dillon let go of it.
They all sat back down, with Garrett and his mom exclaiming over Lina’s loaf of pumpkin bread. Lina found Dillon’s hand under the table and laced her fingers through his. She was shaking a little, but you’d never known it based on her friendly smile and eager eyes.
Garrett glanced at his mother. “Well, we don’t want to keep you in suspense, Lina. You’re probably wondering about your dad. Sorry for being so cautious, but I wanted to talk to him first. It’s a lot to take in, especially for old guys like us who get set in our ways. Derek is an airline pilot, and was a bush pilot before that. He did contract work overseas for years. Sort of a recovering nomad these days. He usually works over the holidays and is a little hard to get ahold of. But when I got him to call me back, we had a long talk. He remembers your mom. I think that’s a story best heard from him, to be honest.”
Lina dipped her head. “I can understand that.”
From what she’d told Dillon, he knew Lina’s mom hadn’t thought highly of the man. Dillon hoped her dad was someone worth getting to know now.
Garrett leaned forward. “He’s so very excited that you reached out. Like you said, he had no idea you existed. He’s in the process of rearranging his schedule so he can fly into Sky Harbor Airport and meet you before the end of the year. How would you feel about that?”
***
Lina felt so many things all at once. Fear, hope, excitement. She nodded. “I’d like that.” The war between hope and fear might rage on, but there was no need to get into all that right now. It wasn’t like she was going to ask her dad not to come see her. She just hadn’t expected to find him so quickly.
“Is my dad married? Does he have a family?”
Garrett shook his head. “No to both of those. This is big. Having you here…” He cleared his throat and looked down at the tablecloth. “I had no idea taking a DNA test would lead to this.”
A waitress came over to take the drink orders, providing a much-needed break in the conversation. Lina was afraid she’d bawl right then and there. She loved Garrett and her grandmother already.
Her grandmother swatted Garrett when he brought up the test results as soon as the waitress left. “Garrett, hold on a minute and let’s do proper introductions before we get into all that. Lina, dear, you are my one and only grandchild so you can pick whatever you’d like to call me. Grammy, Grandma, Nana. My name is Iris. You can call me Iris if that feels better.”
Lina’s heart melted a little more. She had a feeling Iris would prefer a grandmother kind of name. “How about Nana, then?”
“Then I’m Nana. Your young man can call me Nana too, if he likes. Who did you bring with you?”
Lina squeezed Dillon’s hand. “This is Dillon.”
Dillon shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Nana.”
Earning brownie points already, that one.
The conversation moved to lighter things—what looked good on the menu and how the Arizona winters dried out the skin something fierce. But eventually, as Lina knew they would, Nana and Garrett asked details about Lina’s childhood and the fact that her mom had already passed on.
Lina had processed losing her mom, but it was still hard to talk about. She always felt responsible for other people’s sympathy and discomfort with death. It was worse with these two, because she sensed some guilt on their part for not being there during Lina’s growing up years when she moved around from rental to rental.
Lina reached out and touched Nana’s hand. “My mom chose to keep me to herself. I may never know all the reasons for that, but I’m not here to cast any blame on her, or either of you, or on my dad.”
Nana nodded. “Well, she obviously raised you to be a wise girl. We’re just happy to meet you now.”
Lina glanced at Dillon. He’d been quietly listening. Some of the details about her past he already knew, but not all of them. His gaze held nothing but understanding. She loved his quiet way of lending her strength.
“How long have you two known each other?” Nana asked.
Lina smiled. “About four months, but for most of that we were workout buddies.”
“I’m a slow mover, as I’ve been told,” Dillon said, lightly bumping Lina with his shoulder.
“It’s been good for me. I’m not naturally very patient.”
Lina’s phone buzzed. She felt the vibration against her foot where her purse sat. It was the third time in ten minutes. But she wanted to give Garrett and Nana her full attention, so she ignored it until well into the meal, when Dillon and Garrett latched onto the topic of farming, and Nana had excused herself to use the ladies’ room.
Lina pulled her phone out and checked her messages.
Introducing Parker Chase Reynolds. Once he decided to come this morning, he came quickly. Everyone is healthy and resting. Come and see us soon, Lina!
