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He drew the door shut, leaving Dyrel, his mom, and me alone.
His mom placed her fists on her hips.
“Well, this is a hell of a hullabaloo,” she said. “If you’d called me, I could have got the passenger ship to turn back. The owner owes me a favor.”
“Thanks for your help,” Dyrel said shortly. “But I don’t need your help. I rescued her from the ship and got her here in one piece.”
“But it was close, from what I heard,” Dyrel’s mom said.
“She’s fine now. Thank you for your help but you can leave.”
He turned his back on his mom and focused on me.
His mom didn’t move. She surveyed the scene and looked from me to her son and back again. There was a strange quirk to her lips.
A smile?
What was there to smile about?
She said, “Dyrel—”
“Really, mom,” Dyrel said. “You can go. I appreciate your help with the officers but there was never a chance I was going to leave her side.”
“She means that much to you?”
“She means everything,” Dyrel said, turning to me and smiling. “I understand your concern about the inheritance, the job, and the company. I understand now because I care about something as much as you do. I don’t need the company. Or the money. You’ve been very patient with me and I let you down. I let the whole family down. Well, that ends now. I don’t want my inheritance. And I don’t want the job or the company either. I’ll begin from the bottom, the same way Dad did.”
His mom was quiet a moment as she contemplated his words. She moved over to the other side of the bed and sat on its edge.
“It was never about the money or the job,” she said. “When I said I wanted you to find a good woman, I wasn’t trying to set a trap. I wanted you to find someone you could love. I wanted you to live part of your life the way I lived mine. I understand times are different. Things have changed. But some things stay the same. Love is always the same. You really love her, don’t you?”
“With all my heart,” Dyrel said, interweaving his fingers through mine.
His mom fixed me with a look.
“And you feel the same way with him?” she said.
I nodded.
“With all my heart,” I said.
His mom nodded.
“Then the inheritance is yours,” she said to Dyrel. “The position will be waiting for you whenever you’re ready. It was always yours. I just wanted to leave your father’s legacy in good hands. Now I can see that between you, it will be.”
She leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek. She made a fist on her chest and pushed it toward me. I did the same back to her. Even barely touching my chest sent shockwaves of pain through my system.
“Welcome to the family, child,” she said.
She kissed her son on the cheek and left.
We were alone. Even though I must have looked disgusting, he kissed me on the cheek, forehead, and lips.
“Looks like you got everything you ever wanted,” I said.
“I did,” he said. “And it’s right here.”
He ran his finger down my cheek.
