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Tate, Cooper, and Liam all started laughing, and Dad rolled his eyes. “When did today become the day everyone decided to gang up on me?”
Narrowing her eyes on him, Gram said, “You needed a swift kick in the pants, Malcolm. I’d rather see my grandson take his time getting to know a girl. He’s got a far better chance of finding the right one that way.”
“All that matters is that I found the right one in the end,” Dad argued.
Mom’s eyes sparkled as they fell on her husband. After all that we’d just learned about how they’d gotten together, I was more grateful than ever to know they’d wound up where they did. There weren’t any two people in my life who loved each other more than my parents loved one another.
I guess it was to be expected, though, considering they had my grandparents as role models, even if the way each couple loved was different.
Recognizing that was all that mattered and feeling the urge to take the heat off my dad, I said, “I appreciate everyone’s interest in meeting Rhea. It’s Ivy’s birthday, so I want the focus to be on her this weekend.”
“I’d love it if you brought her, Wyatt. I think it would be wonderful,” Ivy insisted.
I nodded. “Thanks, Ivy. I’ll talk to her tomorrow then. I can’t promise anything, since as Pop put it, it’s last minute. But if she’s free, I’ll certainly bring her.”
“Of course, she’ll come. She likes you, too, doesn’t she?”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Gram,” Cooper teased. “This is Wyatt we’re talking about.”
Tate laughed just as my mom stood and said, “Alright, that’s enough. How about we bring some of those delicious cookies Jules made in here, so we can enjoy that instead?”
At the mention of freshly baked cookies, the conversation surrounding the relationship I had with Rhea dissipated.
The rest of our time together was filled with fun and laughs, like always, and I was thankful that my mom had managed to steer things in another direction.
Eventually, as was always the case, good things had to come to an end. So, before any of us was really ready for it to happen, the evening started to wind down. It was back to work tomorrow—or school, in the case of my sisters—and as much fun as it would be to continue spending time with my family, we all had to face reality again.
As everyone began saying their goodbyes and gathering up their things, my mom walked up to me and asked, “Can I talk to you for a minute before you leave?”
“Sure. What’s going on?”
She jerked her head toward the empty family room, an indication she wanted to speak privately. Confused, but eager to hear whatever she had to say, I followed her there.
“Is everything okay?” I asked once she turned around to face me.
“I don’t know,” she replied. “Is it?”
“What do you mean?”
She sighed and sat down on the couch. When I sat down on the opposite end, she said, “You came here early to talk to your dad and me about the situation with Rhea, but I’m not sure you got any answers. Or, well, I’m not sure you got any of the answers you were looking for, even if you wound up with a lot of opinions.”
I smiled, wanting to reassure her. “It’s okay. That’s par for the course in a family like this. I’m not upset that everyone else knows what’s going on.”
“I understand that, Wyatt. But I want to make sure you have what you need, whatever that is, to do whatever you need to do,” she explained.
If there was one thing I loved about my mom, it was her uncanny ability to recognize when any one of her children was struggling. Even better, she didn’t attempt to make a spectacle of a situation and would instead find a moment like this to address it privately.
“I’m not quite sure I know how it’ll happen yet, but I’m going to do my best to keep my promise to my family and find a way to work this out,” I told her.
My mom scooted closer to me, placed her hand on my arm, and replied, “I’m not worried about Westwood’s or the theme park.”
“What?”
Her eyes roamed over my face, a hint of despair in them. “I want you to be happy. I want all of you to be happy. And I don’t want you to risk what you already have or feel happening between you and Rhea, if you believe there’s a real shot at something special. The land purchase is not worth your happiness. If you think there’s a chance for you and Rhea, I want you to focus on fostering that relationship.”
Considering how conflicted I felt about the situation and how I’d be able to do what was necessary for my job while maintaining a healthy relationship with Rhea, I appreciated my mother’s advice. But there was one thing still nagging at me. “I don’t want to let everyone down.”
She shook her head and gave my arm a squeeze. “You won’t. This family cares about you, and even Cooper will be happy to sit in on more meetings if it means that you’re happy.”
