Page 98 of Beached Wedding

“What are you making us, Fox?” Mom asked.

“Besides a hasty getaway?” I muttered.

He snorted. “I’m still here.” He set out a bowl and found a knife.

We’ll get through this, he seemed to be saying.We can get through anything.

Tears came back into my eyes.

“Barbecued ribs,” he told Mom. “I’m cheating with the sauce. I usually make it from scratch. When I’m being fancy, I use dark beer. This’ll do, though.” He had a bottle of prepared barbecue sauce, but was setting out fresh garlic and chopped parsley. “How were the turtles?”

“Bigger than I expected,” Mom said. “They didn’t move much, but one made its way into the water. We found a table inthe shade where we could see them as we ate. Oh,” she recalled. “Ryan found me a treasure while we were beach combing.”

She dug into the pocket of her shirt and withdrew a square gold charm. It was engraved with the words ‘Great-grandma.’

“He wanted me to have it because I’m a grandma and he thinks I’m great.” She was both amused and affronted at the idea she was being called a great-grandmother.

“It’s biologically possible,” I reminded her. “Do you think Whit will have a baby with Oliver? Oooh, maybe she and Fliss can do that together.”

“Bite your tongue,” Mom ordered into her wine glass.

“Ruthless,” Fox said with a chuckle and a shake of his head.

“You’re originally from Seattle, aren’t you, Fox?” Mom asked. “Do you ever think of moving back there?”

Oh, Mom. Be more obvious.

He glanced up from chopping the ribs into sections and dropping them into the bowl of sauce. “Seattle is a great place to visit, but no, I don’t think I’d ever move back there. I’ve considered California a few times. Shane and I have discussed how and where to expand the business. We’ve talked about here, too. Those are long term goals, though. We’ve been concentrating on growing within Australia.”

“And now...?” Mom probed. “Are you liable to lose your stake in the business?”

“Mom.”

“It’s okay,” Fox assured me. “There are provisions in our partnership agreement on how to buy one another out if we decide we can’t work together. It will be expensive and messy, but I’ll come away with something. Enough for Ash and I to start fresh. What did you say the other day?” He glanced at me. “Something about viewing disaster as an opportunity to make choices that might not otherwise be available?”

“I doubt I was that eloquent, but sure, I’ll take credit.” I started washing vegetables for the salad.

“You can’t work in the U.S.,” Mom said to me, brows pulled with introspection. “You’re better off in Australia where you have a visa now, so you can both work. Australia has universal health care, too. Sandy was telling me about their system. Honestly, I think our government could learn a few things,” she added with a sigh.

“Mom’s a nurse,” I reminded Fox.

“Will you have to marry to put Ash on your plan?” she asked Fox.

“Mom. Put away your shotgun. You don’t even want me to get married. Ever,” I reminded.

“I never said ‘never.’ I’m just asking how it works.”

Fox glanced up from starting to peel potatoes, mouth twitching with amusement.

“Truth is, there might be some hiccups with Ash’s visa if she won’t be working for T&B since the company sponsored her. If that happens, we’ll reassess, but after she started running our social media, I had a few people ask me who we were using. We were cagey because she was trading work for rent, but there are definitely opportunities for her to do more of that.”

“Medi Wear would hire you remotely, wouldn’t they?” Mom said, perking up. “They offered that when you put in your notice.”

“Mom. Your rotors are showing.” It was something Fliss said when Whit was being a helicopter mom.

“I just want to know you’ll be all right,” she said pithily. “And I’ll say this once so it’s out there. You can always come home if you run into trouble getting on your feet. With Fox, unless he’s the source of the trouble.”

“Mom.” But I was laughing now.

---