“You do look pretty, Diane,” Shelly Sullivan said, drawing my attention away from Jennifer and to the lady mechanic’s gently smiling face.
Surprising myself, I blushed at the compliment because, goodness! Shelly was stunning when she smiled and didn’t have grease on her face. I’m talking otherworldly beauty.
“Thank you,” I croaked out. My brain short circuited for a moment and I could only nod with a big, dumb smile on my face.
Happy conversations ebbed and flowed around us. A few latecomers tapped me on the shoulder while Jenn and I were talking to Beau and Shelly, mostly to offer congratulations and hugs. I hadn’t yet seen Cletus. I’d been told he’d arrived, but I hadn’t spotted him when Jennifer and I walked in.
He was supposed to come join us, but I wasn’t going to push it. My future son-in-law and I were starting to understand each other, and that was enough.
“It’s awfully nice to see you both looking so happy,” Beau said, drawing my attention back to his summer sky eyes. “I helped Shelly with the welding of those hearts, you know. I did about half of the work.”
Shelly slid a glare to her beau and a smirk tugged at her lips. “That’s very funny.”
He laughed, giving her a kiss on her cheek. “You’re funny.”
“I’m never funny,” she said.
“You’re always funny,” he said, looking at her like she hung Jupiter in the heavens. “Come on, tell us a joke.”
I studied the two of them. There never was a more unlikely pair. I smiled right along with their friendly banter. Jennifer did too, gazing at the members of her new family like she might be just as much in love with them as they were with each other.
“Okay.” Shelly gave an easy nod. “Here’s one: what is the difference between a welder and a comedian?”
“What?” Jenn, Beau, and I asked in unison.
She lifted an eyebrow and deadpanned, “A comedian tells jokes.”
All three of us erupted in laughter, which also made Shelly laugh, and I sent a little prayer of thanks upward for these people and this moment and—
“Oh no,” someone to my right said, and I was jostled by an elbow. A few folks gasped and an odd kind of energy pressed at my back as conversations rippled to silence behind us.
Frowning, I turned my head to see what the matter was, and then I saw them. Kip and Elena. Standing at the entrance to the party. Looking determined to ruin it.
“Oh Good Lord.” I turned back to Jenn and gripped her arm, whispering urgently, “Do not turn around. Don’t give him the satisfaction.” Stiffening my spine, I pulled in a deep breath and lifted my chin, preparing to do battle. “I will deal with this.”
Turning from my daughter, trusting Beau and Shelly to keep her safe, I walked to the barn doors and straight to the smirking, smarmy faces of Kip and Elena.
“Diane.” Kip said my name as though it tasted like farts and spoiled milk.
No matter. I didn’t care what he thought of me. I simply needed him to leave Jennifer alone.
Punching down the urge to scream at the man and demand he feel shame for his selfishness, I cleared my throat and leaned forward to whisper as calmly as I could muster, “Kip, if you are here to talk to me, we can certainly—”
“We have every right to be here!” Elena hissed, shoving her face in mine, her eyes glittering with insanity.
I stumbled back, the crazed quality to her expression unsettling me and tying a knot of unease in my stomach. Working to ignore the attention fastened to us from all directions, I frantically searched my brain for an answer to this problem. How did I get them to see reason? Or, since that was unlikely, how did I keep them calm and quiet until the sheriff made his way through the crowd?
Before I could think of anything, Kip stepped forward, nearly colliding with Elena. "Well, isn’t this nice. I guess the invitation to my own daughter’s engagement party got lost in the mail?” The words were shouted so everyone could hear and the knots in my stomach twisted.
He wouldn’t be reasoned with. He was here to make a scene, and that was that. Furthermore, there was nothing I could say or do to keep him from making that scene. I’d have to just . . . wait. Wait out the storm and hope—by the time Sheriff James arrived—Kip and Elena hadn’t done too much damage and the evening could be salvaged.
Grimacing, I struggled to keep hold on my composure. But I wished Jason had been with me. I knew my hands were tied, but I wished I didn’t have to do this all alone. I wished he was here to hold my hand.
Abruptly, big, sturdy fingers reached for mine and my eyes shot up to their owner, my heart leaping to my throat, because for an impossible fraction of a second, I thought my wish had come true.
But it was Billy Winston who stood at my shoulder, not Jason. And Hank Weller was walking past him to stand at my other side. The second oldest Winston brother gave me a kind smile and the knots eased, just a bit. My burdens had lessened because this strong, sweet, capable young man was willing to share them temporarily.
Just knowing I wasn’t alone, just knowing someone had my back and wouldn’t let me face these demons by myself, made a big difference.
And yet, as I turned to face those two demented charlatans again, I couldn’t help the persistent wish that it had been Jason at my side. Not because I didn’t truly appreciate Billy’s gesture, but because Billy wasn’t my person.
Jason was my person.
I loved him.
In that moment, I knew it to be true. My heart ached and I longed for him. If Beau and Shelly had made it work, so could we. As soon as this night ended, I would bite the bullet and ask him what had been on my mind. Once Jennifer and Cletus married, I would ask Jason to run away with me. He’d said he could leave any time and we had no reason to delay our life together.
Because if or when I faced demons, he was the one I wanted at my side.
Chapter Seventeen
*Jason*
“At an early age I learned that people make mistakes, and you have to decide if their mistakes are bigger than your love for them.”
Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
I left the grounds of the Lodge after taking my sweet time making Diane feel good in her office. I then went on a walk in the forest, waiting for night to fully descend before hiking back under the cover of darkness.
Now, hours later, I found myself in the unusual position of strolling around with a smile on my face even while feeling disappointed I hadn’t seen my daughter. Giving the barn a wide berth so as not to be spotted by any of the townsfolk, I narrowed my eyes at the partygoers one more time, searching for the only two people I wanted.
Diane had worked hard on the party, and I wanted it to be a huge success for her sake. But Diane wasn’t at the party—not that I could see—and neither were Duane and Jess. I’d spotted the James family—the sheriff and Louisa’s sister as well as their son Jackson—and I’d spied Beau Winston, Duane’s twin, with his woman, but no sign of my daughter.
I hadn’t asked Diane if Jess would be present for the party because I’d just assumed she’d be there. Diane still didn’t know that Jessica James was my biological child. She hadn’t brought the matter up again during our time together and neither had I.