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“Because he was out of control.”
“That’s your opinion.”
“Which is the one that matters,” their mom chimes in, followed by their dad backing her up.
Helen sighs with resignation. “That’s where you’re wrong, you just can’t see it. Jason and I matter, too.”
“We’ve always taken that into consideration,” their dad retorts, but he doesn’t sound as confident now.
“No, you haven’t,” Jason corrects him. “You tried to force Helen to marry a man she didn’t even like.”
“He would treat her well.”
“That’s not what makes a happy marriage,” Helen states. “I want love.” Her eyes shift to me and I take her hand, letting her know she has mine.
“Be that as it may…”
Helen cuts them off, informing them it wasn’t their choice to make, then changing the subject and asking them to forward Jason’s transcripts to the school here. Their mom sputters, saying that Jason is only here temporarily.
“I want to stay with Helen.”
There’s muttering on the other end, the two seeming to come to an agreement as the dad responds, “Helen, if you want guardianship of your brother, it’s yours.” Neither Patel sibling gets excited, letting me know they’re expecting a catch. “If you both come home and you marry Arin.” I don’t appreciate the smugness in his tone. Motioning to Helen, I mouth to her to switch to a video call.
She does without hesitation, her trust in me a beautiful thing. Sitting beside her as she waits for them to accept the invite, I slide her wedding set on her ring finger and whisper, “I’m sorry. This isn’t the way I wanted to propose, but they kind of forced my hand.”
“Say yes,” Jason quietly urges. I’m worried he’s only doing so because he knows I’m trying to keep him here, and though I’m sure that has something to do with it, he looks me straight in my eyes, letting me see that he approves.
“I’ll ask you properly later, I promise.”
“You don’t have to. The answer is yes.” I kiss her just as her father’s bark alerts us that the screen has changed to visual.
“Who are you?” He demands to know.
“Her husband.”
“I beg your pardon.”
“You should,” I interject. “I’m a bit upset that you’re continuing to attempt to marry my wife to another man.”
Her mother stares at me shrewdly, searching for a loophole. She won’t find one. “Since when? I’ve never met you before.”
“That’s more of a mark against you than me. Perhaps if you’d taken the time to treat your children like people instead of pieces on a chess board, you’d know Helen and I have been together for months.” A bit of a stretch, but they don’t need to know that. “All you really need to know is that I love your daughter.”
I feel Helen trembling at my declaration and I hate that this is how she hears it for the first time. Just one more fault to lay at their parents’ feet.
“And you, young lady?”
“I love him, too.” The dial tone greets her words, but that’s a worry for a different day. Right now, I kiss my fiancée, loving that I can feel my ring on her as she threads her fingers through my hair and returns it.
“Get a room,” Jason mutters, making us laugh, but he’s happy. I can hear it as he begins teasing us, refusing to be the ring bearer.
Chapter Eight
Helen
February 18th…
Grady wasn’t wrong when he warned me his parents would visit soon. Just as he suspected, they drove the equipment here, each in one of the two work vehicles he’d stashed in Briarwood.
