Page 37 of True Honey
“Can you believe that I was gifted two grandsons and neither of them give two shits about the business?” He held up two shaky fingers with a scowl on his face as he exclaimed in dramatic fashion. “Are you going to introduce me, Silas?” he snapped at me and I turned to Drew who was all smiles for the old man.
“Seymour Shore.” He held a hand out for her and Drew stepped into it, leaving me alone and feeling her absence like a tidal wave.
“Drew Courtney,” she said sweetly, holding out her left hand for him.Clever.
Grandfather’s eyes flickered up from the ring to me and back to Drew.
“How much is he paying you?” he asked her.
“Seymour,” Mother sounded appalled as she strutted into the lounge with a drink in her hand. “Where are your manners?”
“I’m dying,” he said, like it was a reasonable excuse to be rude.
“Dying men can have manners,” she scolded him.
Mom walked around the room, coming to me first, “Happy birthday, love.” She wrapped her hands around my face and kissed my cheek. “You look nice, are you sleeping better?” She asked and I nodded.
I could see the surprise on Drew’s face as Mom backed away.It’s your birthday?It was written all over her face but she shook it off just as smoothly.
“Sylwia Shore.” She offered Drew a hand. Technically she was in the progress of reclaiming her maiden name, Kott, but she had given me a speech about how it was easier to continue with her current introduction. It was less confusing, she said, but I could see the hurt on her face every time she was forced to use it.
“Drew,” she said again. My mother held onto her hand, her eyes casting over to me in the same way my Grandfather’s did.
“Interesting,” she hummed, “it’s beautiful.”
“Silas deserves all the credit,” Drew recovered quickly, straightening her shoulders and holding my mothers intense stare.
“I’m sure he does,” Mother cooed with a knowing smile before turning to Josh. “You look handsome today,” she said to him, and Josh nodded a quick thank you.
Their relationship was still weird, tense at moments but both were doing their best to adjust while working through their own issues caused by the same man. A rapture in our family that no one really knew how to handle.
“Dean,” she said hello to him, her hand brushing his shoulder in passing. “Dinner is ready,” she added.
Grandfather disappeared through the archway after her, leaving the four of us in limbo. Josh cut me a sharp look, his eyes demanding answers.
“Later,” I said to him and the denial of any information in the moment infuriated him.
“This family loves secrets more than an alcoholic loves a brewery,” Josh said, shaking his head angrily before starting to walk away from me but Dean stopped him with a flat palm to the chest and whispered something in his ear that made Josh’s shoulders relax and his jaw unclench.
When the two of them disappeared into the dinning room without another word, I leaned my head back and dumped the remainder of the old whiskey down my throat in a single gulp. It warmed my chest and stomach but did nothing to help the anxiety that was coursing through my bloodstream.
I’d known going into tonight that it was going to be bumpy but I hadn’t expected everyone to question my decision that loudly. Drew watched me, her hands folded together in front of her like she was trying to become smaller to give me space to be angry.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized to her quickly, not wanting her to feel unsafe or uncomfortable just because I did.
“You didn’t tell me it was your birthday. It wasn’t in the binder,” she murmured.
The hurt was evident.
“I’m not really big on it,” I said, “we don’t really do birthdays in my family.”
“Everyone should do birthdays,” she said softly, relaxing just slightly into the moment. She looked around me at the entrance to the dining room at the sound of Grandfather laughing loudly at something.
“When you want for nothing, birthdays are irrelevant, what do you get a man who has everything?” I said, mocking my father but feeling the serious implications behind his words. It had never been about not knowing what gift to buy, it had been about not wanting to put the effort into spending time with me. “Enough birthday talk,” I said, forcing a smile to dodge the raw spot my childhood had left behind.
“Alright,” she said, “we should go in before they notice we're whispering in the other room.” It surprised me when she stepped forward and tucked her hands into the lapels of the jacket I was wearing, her face closer to mine in a strangely intimate way that made the breath catch in my throat. “Put your arms around me, Silas,” she instructed. I listened, pressing the palms of my hands up her back and resting on her shoulder blades.
I could feel the heave of her breathing and in the momentary silence of everything, it slowed my heart rate as I mimicked her breaths and calmed down. I opened my mouth to thank her for being so kind but was cut off.
