Charles Morrow was a smart sonofabitch. He’d been saving that nugget for just the right moment.
An hour later, they were bundled into the back of Charles’ Land Rover. Jonathan couldn’t help tugging on the neck of his shirt, wondering what “convincing” Charles might entail and disappointed that the one man capable of shredding tension wouldn’t be coming to his rescue again.
thirty-eight
MAGS
Mags puton a cheerful face for the drive home, but inside, she was reeling. The moment her dad had announced that he wasn’t fine with her and Jonathan sleeping together, her world had tilted ever so slightly off its axis.
She couldn’t place her finger on exactly what her father’s tone of voice had broadcast. It definitely wasn’t anger or disappointment but… She bit her lower lip, intent on unearthing the serious note that had been unmistakable.
Sensing her mood, Jonathan brought one of her hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “Stop worrying, Mags,” he whispered in her ear. “If your dad isn’t satisfied with our answers tonight, then we keep trying until he is. Not sleeping in the same room doesn’t make us any less together.”
She let out a shuddering breath but nodded. He was right, and this level of insecurity didn’t suit her. She may not be the smoothest talker, but what she did have was mettle. She wouldn’t flatten under pressure. She might explode, but she wouldn’t back down, especially when it was something as important as her feelings for Jonathan.
Not that she had shared those feelings with him. Or him with her.
Perhaps her unease stemmed from not knowing what Jonathan’s answers would be to her father’s questions. Hell, she didn’t know what her answers were going to be.
Sighing internally, Mags knew exactly how she felt. Her indecision was whether or not she’d be truthful. Or would the truth scare Jonathan?
They were so new, and she was cautious.
Perhaps too cautious. “You’re right. We’ll figure it out.”
“Together,” he said with enough conviction that Mags’ chest warmed.
Firming her resolve, she made up her mind to face this family moment as she had all other obstacles, which calmed her nerves.
Once they were seated on the living room’s comfy couches, her dad handed out drinks, water all the way around for the tired group. He sat forward, her mom by his side. “I understand that your mom and I have been gone for a while, so I’d like to know when you two…started things,” he said, choking a bit on the last words.
Right to it then. Mags glanced at Jonathan, who took the hint and answered. “We’ve only been officially dating for a few weeks. It took a while to convince your daughter to trust me.”
Mags winced. Her dad was a researcher, and trust, or the lack thereof, was just the type of rabbit hole he would enjoy digging in.
“Why wouldn’t she trust you?”
She hated being right.
Jonathan winced, but Mags knew him well enough to know that he would never be anything but a hundred percent honest.
“I hurt Mags at a New Year’s Eve party almost three years ago.”
Her mom’s eyes widened, but her dad looked furious. “What the hell do you mean you hurt her? Physically?”
That put Mags’ back up. “Christ, Dad. I expect chest-beating and jumping to conclusions from Uncle Colly and Thomas, but not from you. You owe Jon an apology for even thinking he would raise a hand against me, let alone saying it out loud.” She was so angry her body vibrated with it. Jonathan put a hand on her leg in an attempt to calm her.Good fucking luck.
As quickly as the anger had come, it flowed out of her dad. He shook his head and rubbed his face roughly. “Margaret is right. I apologize, Jonathan. I didn’t think it was violence, but I did jump to…I don’t know, unwanted sexual advances, which is just as bad. I’m truly sorry.
“I wouldn’t change being with your mother these past few months. Not for anything. However, I find myself out of sorts. Being so far from my girls has been hard. Hearing that you’ve started a new business, live with a man I’ve never met, have a new boyfriend, and that there might be a delusional killer after one or both of my children is a lot to take in.”
Her mom put an arm around her husband and hugged him tight to her side. “I’m sorry, Charles. I asked a lot of you, and by not telling our family, I made you shoulder my treatments alone.”
Several tears streaked down her mom’s face, gutting Mags and her father if the sick look on his face was any indication.
“Aileen,” her dad said softly, forcing her chin up to meet his eyes. “Where you go, I go. Nothing less. Don’t insult our marriage by indicating that supporting you isn’t my top priority. Is that clear?”
In a watery voice, her mom answered, “It is.”
