Aletta turned with one hand on the doorknob—his mother’s house lacked the automation that had become common all through Taurean space, but she insisted she liked it this way and didn’t want to change—and looked up at him, her lower lip caught between her teeth.
“The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave.”
Gark pulled the door open and gave her a gentle push in the middle of her back. “Get to it, then.”
She laughed and skipped down the hallway in front of him.
“Dylan! You’d better be ready, or we’ll be late.”
His mate’s sister stepped out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. “I’m ready.”
“You’re wearing boots.”
Dylan looked down at her feet. “Letty, I always wear boots.”
“It’s a dance, Dee. How are you going to dance in boots?”
Dylan laughed. “At least my toes won’t get crushed by size fourteen feet.” She stuck her foot out. “Besides, I put new laces in. See? They’re pink.”
Gark shook his head. He found his mother on the front porch, sitting in the old swing she used to share with his father. She was a handsome woman, her bronzed skin darker thanks to the work she did in the garden and the many long hours she spent managing the farm. A far cry from the pampered daughter of a Taurean diplomat she’d been as a young woman.
“Mother.”
She looked up with a smile. “Gark, my heart. Come and sit with me.” She patted the swing next to her, and Gark eased himself into the seat.
They sat for a few moments in the low light of early evening, the insects calling and the cooling breeze rustling the trees.
“Is that mate of yours giving Dylan a hard time?”
Gark snorted. “Of course.”
They shared a smile, sitting in silence as they stared out across the fields. The long grasses that were processed into fabric had been cut down, and in the distance, the big farming bots were tilling the soil.
His mother’s hand slipped into his and squeezed. “I want you to know how proud I am of you, Gark.” Her eyes were warm on his, the lines at the corners crinkling as she smiled.
He straightened. “Mother, you don’t need to…” He trailed off, looking down at their joined hands. He patted hers with his other, holding tightly to her.
“I worried about you, you know.”
He looked up with a start.
“I think I’ll always worry about you. I’m your mother.” She smiled, patting the side of his face. “When you were in the military, I worried, of course I did. But I worried even more when you left.”
He looked down at their hands, not sure what to say.
“I was worried you’d be alone.” Her eyes were warm. “But now I don’t need to worry. You have found someone who makes you feel the way your father made me feel.”
His cheeks heated. This was not something he wanted to talk about with his mother.
“Oh, not like that!” She shook her head with a laugh. “Don’t you ever wonder why I didn’t return to Taurus after your father died?”
Gark nodded. “It was because of me.”
She snorted a disbelieving laugh. “Oh, Lady. No! It wasn’t because of you.”
Gark frowned. If she hadn’t returned to Taurus because of him, then why hadn’t she gone back?
“Then why?”
