The television blared, and a glance in the living room showed it empty.
“Mom! Mommyyyy!” Honey hollered impressively. Then winked at him. “I should have warned you; we’re the loud family.”
“Just how many more secrets do you have, Honeybee?”
“Tons.” She grinned so mischievously she almost popped a dimple. “Jealous that you’re not the only one?”
“More like delighted there’s so much of you left to discover.” He smiled down on her and would have planted a kiss, only he heard someone reply.
“Stop bellowing. I’m coming!” bellowed a woman who emerged through a swinging door at the far end of the wide hall. A shorter, rounder, older version of Honey, she wiped her hands on an apron dusty with flour.
“Where’s Daddy?” Honey asked upon seeing her.
“Excuse me? Where’s, ‘Hello, Mommy? How are you? Sorry I’ve been a neglectful daughter,’” the woman berated.
“Neglectful how? We talk almost every single day,” Honey huffed.
“Talk yes, but do you visit? No. It’s like you don’t love me anymore. Me, who sacrificed my girlish figure. Untold sleepless nights. And that head. Aie. No love.” Honey’s mother managed a melodramatic fling.
Honey didn’t fall for it. “Where’s Daddy?”
“Around, but I don’t know if he wants to see you.”
Honey’s gaze narrowed. “Hold on, are you telling me there’s nothing wrong with him?”
“Other than the usual?” riposted her mother.
“You faked that phone call! Why? Why would you panic me like that?” Honey freaked.
“You know why.” Mom’s gaze went to Ulric then Honey’s belly. Then narrowed on him again. “Well. Well. Look who finally found the balls to be a man and show his face.”
“Mom!” Honey exclaimed. Meanwhile, Ulric really wished he’d stayed in the car.
“He’s not welcome here.” Honey’s mom crossed her arms and glared.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Honey tucked close and grabbed his hand. “The reason you didn’t meet him before was because I didn’t want to share him quite yet. So don’t blame Ulric. It’s not his fault. Things just kind of happened.”
“Apparently,” her mom replied dryly, along with another stare at Honey’s rounded belly.
“Don’t start, Mom. I’m a grown woman. My body, my choice, remember?”
“Is it? It’s been so long since I’ve seen you.” Mom went back to the other guilt trip.
“We’re here now, even if on false pretenses. Happy? Mom, this is Ulric. Ulric, this is my mom, Daisy Iris.”
He had practice not chuckling at the name because one of his good friends was called Billy Gruff. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Iris.”
“Nice? Ha!” she snorted. “Steals my daughter away for more than a month. Brings her back looking like she’s starving. Which means my grandbaby is probably dying of hunger, and you think you can charm me?”
“I swear, I feed her often, but I’m a pretty basic cook.”
“You make food for her?” The mother eyed him. “Like what?”
“Steak. Burgers. Chops. I’m handiest around a barbecue.”
“I like barbecue,” stated Mrs. Iris.
“Honey and I would love to serve you some when you come to dinner.” He smiled.
He didn’t get one in return, just a terse, “We eat in ten minutes.” The woman whirled and stomped into the kitchen.
Honey eyed him. “She must like you.”
“How do you figure? She just reamed me out.”
“She offered you dinner.”
“Which makes me happier than you’ll ever know.” Since they’d walked inside, his nose wanted to follow the aroma. His taste buds watered.
“I can’t believe she tricked us into coming,” Honey grumbled as she kicked off her shoes.
“I will admit, I didn’t have completely fake emergency on my bingo card.” And yet as he kicked off his shoes, he’d never been more relieved. At the same time, how did her parents have access to the kind of tech that could wipe a phone? The same kind with the balls to fake an emergency.
A glance to the room opposite that of the television showed a second living room, much more ornate in décor, with the carved sofa and end tables, porcelain bric-a-brac all over, and every single piece of fabric-covered furniture glossy with plastic.
He inclined his head and asked, “Is that to protect the furniture from pets?”
Honey snorted. “As if my mom would ever allow an animal inside. She usually runs a lint roller over me the moment I walk in the house. Why do you think I told you to leave the cat with Erryn and Quinn?”
“Wait a second.” He snapped his fingers. “Was becoming a vet a rebellion thing for you?”
One corner of her mouth quirked. “Maybe.”
“Nerd,” he teased.
“Be glad of it or we would have never met,” she taunted right back.
He dragged her close, entranced by the way she’d found her smile again. “We would have met. Fate would have intervened.”
As they passed the door in a hall smelling faintly of exhaust, which must lead to the garage, he had to wonder, “Where’s your father?”
“Probably up to no good,” Honey muttered. “Be ready.”
The door behind them opened.
Ulric smelt the gun oil before the man holding it. He whirled and made sure he acted as a shield for Honey as he slapped away the hand holding the barrel of a shotgun. “Honey, get out of here.”
“Don’t hit him!” Honey shrieked as he wound back his fist to punch. She also added, “Daddy, put that gun down!”
Daddy? He eyed the older fellow in front of him. Almost of a size as Ulric, thicker around the middle, his hair white with a few hints of gray. Scowling at Ulric with Honey’s eyes.
Dammit.
Ulric stepped away from Honey’s dad, who once more placed both hands on the gun and aimed it.
Honey didn’t pay it any kind of respect. “What do you think you’re doing?” She stepped in front of the barrel, and the man immediately dropped it down.
“It wasn’t loaded.”
“And yet what was the rule you taught me growing up? Hunh?” Honey wagged a finger in his face and harangued, “You said, ‘Don’t let me catch you aimin’ it at anyone, or you’re in trouble.’”
“He deserved a little scare.” The glare was for Ulric.
“Ulric hasn’t done anything.”
“I wouldn’t call what he did nothing. And then he steals you away. Haven’t seen you in months—”
“It’s been one, Daddy.”
“Seems longer,” he grumbled eyeing her large belly. “And then you show up with the control freak. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t holding you hostage.” The glare would have incinerated Ulric if the man had superpowers.
“I am his girlfriend, not his prisoner,” Honey huffed.
“I swear, sir, my intentions are honorable.” He tried to defend himself.
“And yet my unmarried daughter is getting close to popping your brat.” The other man arched a brow.