Chapter Twenty-Two
IF JAS HAD been to a more awkward dinner, he couldn’t recall it. Starting with the fact that Jas was almost positive his mom had tricked her father into coming here, because Andrés had shown up in overalls with a tool box, and had seemed pretty surprised to find a full meal laid out in the kitchen. Jas was pretty sure his grandpa would have stomped out if it hadn’t been for Katrina’s presence.
The little house didn’t have a dedicated dining room, but Jas had added an extra leaf to the kitchen table so the five of them could sit there. He and his mom and his sullen, silent grandpa had instinctively taken the same seats they’d sat in when he was a kid. Bikram was on one side of Jas, Katrina on the other. Doodle sat at Jas’s feet, head on his leg, mouth open.
He fed the dog a tiny piece of bread, and she gulped it down. Some might say he was bribing his way into her affections, but this was an insurance policy. He’d never cared if any animal liked him before, but they’d never been Katrina’s before either.
Tara cleared her throat. “Katrina, this pizza is divine.”
Katrina smiled. Her skin glowed. She looked the same whenever she cooked for anyone, like she was getting nourishment from nourishing others. “Thank you.”
“What’s the crust made of?” Bikram took a bite of his slice, the crunch loud and satisfying.
“It’s sourdough.”
“Katrina has a starter handed down from her mother,” Tara enthused. “Isn’t that lovely? She said it’s traveled all around the world with her.”
“I’m happy to give you some,” Katrina offered.
“Daisy might like that.” Tara wrinkled her nose. “You know now I’m no chef.”
“You don’t have to be a chef. Baking with sourdough requires some science and some patience, is all. It seems complicated, but using it is more heart and care than talent.”
Tara took a sip of her wine. “Oh, there’s definitely talent in this meal. Right, Dad?”
Jas’s grandfather broke his silence with a grunt and helped himself to another slice of pizza. He’d devoured his salad and soup and his first helping, leaving only crumbs on his plate. He hadn’t looked in Katrina’s direction too much, which told Jas his grandfather might be embarrassed she had witnessed his outburst last night. “The food’s not bad, Katrina.”
Jas’s repressed resentment toward his grandfather needed only a spark to ignite. “She cooked for hours. You can give her a better compliment than that.”
Andrés plopped his slice onto his plate and pointed at his grandson. “Listen up, you little—”
“Nope, we are not doing this.” Tara interrupted her father without raising her voice, and he immediately subsided. “If we cannot speak to each other in civil tones, we will not speak to each other at all.”
Jas sniffed, and he busied himself with his food. His grandfather did the same. A tense silence consumed the room.
His mother finally sighed. “Oh shit. I should have known better than to give you lot the option of not talking at all.”
Andrés finished off his second slice of pizza and reached for a third. Jas bit his tongue to keep from commenting on his grandpa bypassing all the other healthier sides on the table in favor of the pizza. “I don’t have a problem with anyone talking. I do have a problem with us airing our dirty laundry in front of a guest who isn’t family,” his grandpa muttered.
“Katrina is my family,” Jas snapped, and it was only as he said the words that he realized how true they were.
And, when Bikram choked and hid his laugh with a napkin, how telling.
Jas ducked his head and avoided looking at Katrina. They hadn’t defined their relationship privately. It was beyond presumptuous to claim her as his family when—
“I’ve already seen your laundry.” Katrina’s tone was easy. “Last night, when you threatened to disown your grandson.”
Andrés looked down at his plate, but didn’t answer that pointed reminder.
“Would you like my completely unsolicited opinion?” Katrina asked.
“It’s hardly unsolicited if you’re family,” Tara said to Katrina.
Katrina’s cheeks turned red, but she continued. “You all love each other deeply. You have a family anyone would envy.”
“Everything I have ever done in my life has been for my family.”
Jas’s throat closed up at his grandpa’s fervent words. They were true. His grandpa had sacrificed so much for all of them.
Anger and resentment and guilt and love swirled together inside of him, creating the most annoying, overwhelming mix of emotions.
Katrina’s tone was gentle. “You can’t seem to talk to each other is all.”
“That is an absolutely accurate assessment.” His mother’s eyes were wet with unshed tears. “You two are breaking my heart. I want you both to be happy.”
Andrés surprised Jas by speaking. “Whenever I try to talk to him, he doesn’t listen.”
Jas took a sip of his water. “You don’t listen either.”
Bikram rested his arm on the back of their mother’s seat. “The funny thing is, you two are each other’s Kryptonite, and you can’t even see it. You both interact like adults with other people. It’s only when you’re together that everything falls apart.”
That wasn’t entirely true. Jas wasn’t exactly forthcoming with everyone else.
He slid a surreptitious glance at his grandfather’s stubborn jaw. His immediate instinct was to stick his chin out, too.
Okay, there might be some truth to Bikram’s observation.
“Dad, you cannot seriously consider never speaking to Jas again over something so foolish as him not attending the parade. You can’t possibly be that angry.”
Andrés’s eyes glinted. “I’m not angry, I’m disappointed.”
Tara scowled. “It’s not only disappointment.”
“So what? I’m allowed to be angry my flesh and blood turned their back on everything I worked for.”
Bikram cleared his throat. “If I may, Grandpa: Mom didn’t want the farm, either, but you’re not mad at her for picking a different career path.”
Tara sighed. “Because I’m a girl, my love.”
“That’s sexist.” It was rare for Bikram to rebuke their grandfather.
“I’m not sexist. If she’d wanted the farm, I would have encouraged her,” Andrés growled.
“You didn’t expect it of her, though.”
“Because daughters go off and start their own families. Sons stay with you. They build with you.” His grandpa jabbed his thumb at Jas. “I built all this for my boy. And he threw it all away.”
“Grandpa.” Bikram shook his head. “He chose to enlist. You can’t be mad at him forever for picking a different profession.”
“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about after he was done.”
Jas stirred, weary of being discussed like he wasn’t in the room. “What about after I was done with the military?”
“You were injured. You should have come home and let us take care of you, let this land take care of you. Instead, you chose to go live with a man who was of no relation to any of us. Blood is thicker than water, but you chose Hardeep Arora over me. The family of the man that abandoned my father? You abandoned me and this land to go live with him?”