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My eyes darted back and forth as I attempted to come up with a response. “I… I don’t know. I guess I’ve been scared to say anything, because I’ve been worried you all might think the worst is happening.”
“Like what?”
I swallowed hard. “That I’m going to agree to sell part of the family’s land. I’m not. I would never do that. I’ll admit, Wyatt and his family aren’t anything like I imagined, but I still wouldn’t sell the land.”
Confusion washed over her, and her eyes roamed over my face. It was as though she was searching for answers to the questions she had in her head.
I couldn’t take it, so I asked, “What is it?”
“Have you met his family?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I went to a birthday party for his sister several weeks ago, and I had dinner with them at his parents’ house the last two Sundays.”
“So, they get you, but we don’t get him?”
As soon as she said it, guilt flooded me. I knew why I had chosen to hide my relationship with Wyatt from my family, but now that my grandma was pointing out how hurt they were, I realized just how unfair I’d been to them.
“I’m sorry,” I lamented. “I should have been honest about my relationship with Wyatt.”
“Everyone wanted to meet him, but they don’t want to push you to do something you might not be comfortable with. I couldn’t stand it any longer. I want the best for you. We all do, and it’s hard to sit back and know we can’t celebrate the good things happening in your life. If anything, keeping him from us only leads us to believe he’s worse than the last one.”
Oh, God.
The last thing I wanted was for my family to make the same mistake I did with comparing Wyatt to Tristan.
Tears filled my eyes. “He’s nothing like him, Grandma.”
“So, invite him to dinner, and let us all meet him as the man in your life and not the guy who is just a friend you go for a run with,” she urged.
I pressed my lips together, feeling sad about what I’d done and the secret I’d kept from my family. Nodding, I promised, “I’ll invite him for dinner.”
My grandmother smiled at me, looking like a weight had been lifted off of her chest. She reached her hand up and swiped at my tears. “If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that you can’t waste the time you have with the ones you love. If he’s the man you say he is, you should want us to love him, too. We can’t do that if you don’t let us.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
She smiled at me. “Don’t be sorry. Just make sure you invite him. That’s all we want.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
Jerking her head toward the table, she said, “I hope we win big tonight.”
I let out a laugh and swiped at my tears. “Yeah. Wyatt hopes we do, too.”
There was a beat of silence before my grandmother wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly. “I love you, Rhea.”
“I love you, too, Grandma.”
A minute later, the rest of the ladies we normally sat with started showing up at our table. We didn’t speak about Wyatt again for the rest of the night, and simply enjoyed our time together playing bingo.
Sadly, once again, we didn’t win big.
But I was prepared to say I’d gotten something better than money could buy.
And the next day, I went to visit with my parents to ask them about inviting Wyatt for dinner. They were ready as soon as we were.
So, I asked Wyatt if he’d mind coming to dinner to meet my family.
He responded in the best way imaginable. “I was wondering when I would get the opportunity.”
