Page 26 of Honeybees and Sexy Tees
I reached over and punched the end button as he drove. I let the silence linger in the car until he was ready to speak.
“I don’t know what to think.” The heavy sigh he released told me he was glad Nathan hadn’t found Milas dead but frustrated we still didn’t have any answers.
“Why would Milas bother to pay off a marina to say they did repairs on his boat if he had no intention of having the repairs done?”
“The only reason I can think of is he was hiding something,” Mathias answered, his concentration on the traffic the closer we got to Duluth.
“Or he was buying an alibi because—”
“He was into something shady,” Mathias said on a breath. “Not that the alibi did much for him.”
“That night we went on the yacht with him, you two stayed up and talked. Did he say anything that made you think he wasn’t planning to go to Florida?”
“Nothing,” he said, swinging his head. “I could tell he was upset I wouldn’t throw in on the business, but the way he played it, he’d just go forward with his plans to have the boat renovated and then be back in the spring.”
I shook my head as he merged onto the bridge to cross into Duluth. “I think we’re missing a big part of the picture, and until Nathan uncovers what that is, we’re never going to get to the bottom of it.”
He grasped his lip between his teeth for a moment. “I just hope that we don’t find the rest of the picture hidden under the waves.”
♥
If Mathias knew one way to make sure I made the smart decision, it was to take me to his parents’ house. After we left the pharmacy and picked up some clothes in Duluth, we stopped over to fill them in on the new situation with the apartment. We also hadn’t told them I’d graduated college when we were there Friday, nor had Mathias told them about his recent decisions regarding the business.
A day spent on the shore of Lake Superior was just what I needed, though I suspect it had more to do with the company I kept than the location. Birgitte and Theo always calmed me, and they centered me back on the idea that my family can be who I want them to be. We told them about my diploma, and Theo had tears in his eyes when he hugged me. He was proud of me the way a father should be of his daughter, and it meant more to me than any piece of paper I could hold in my hand. Mathias had offered to drive me to my parents’ house to tell them about my degree, but I gave that one a pass. I wasn’t in the mood to ruin a perfectly good day with those two. It might sound harsh, but they usually saw every step up I took as a way to get money out of me. If I had a degree, that would mean I was making more money, which in their eyes, they were entitled to.Entitled.That was a word that would define them until the day they died, and honestly, I was over it.
After spending the day with Birgitte and Theo and their gentle encouragement to move into the house just waiting for an occupant, I had relented. I didn’t have to agree to move in for good, and I told him so. I told Mathias I was staying there for now, but that I reserved the right to go back to the apartment once it was repaired. I could admit to myself it would be hard to move back to my apartment after spending time at the new house. I wasn’t telling Mathias that, though.
Watching him change back into the boy I used to know was too satisfying to walk away from right now. Every day he let himself relax a little bit more and a little bit more into the idea that he could take his money and do what he had always told me he wanted to do—help people.
“Earth to Honey,” Mathias said, waving his hand in front of my face. I snapped out of my daydream and lowered his hand. “You okay?” he asked, stopping halfway through the orchard.
We’d decided to take a walk through the trees after dinner, not something Laverne ever allowed the general public to do, but we were no longer the general public. We were now the owners of something she’d put her heart and soul into for years. When I’d talked with her earlier this week, I could tell she regretted having to sell the place, but she was glad she could sell it to us.
Her daughter, Ava-Grace, was still managing the restaurant for us but wasn’t interested in buying it. She was getting married next year, and they planned to start a family immediately after that. I couldn’t blame her for not wanting to be tied to that lifestyle. Not when she got a firsthand taste of running it every day. Something told me I’d be looking for a new general manager in a year, but I wasn’t going to worry about it right now. I had enough to worry about.
“Yeah, sorry, just daydreaming,” I answered as we started walking again. That was when I noticed the way the setting sun shone through his hair and made him glow with youthful exuberance. It was a look he hadn’t worn in years. Maybe a lifestyle change was what he needed after all.
“You were wearing the expression that you put on when you’re daydreaming about your parents.” His words were tongue-in-cheek, yet they weren’t.
“I was thinking about how they always want money from me and how I’m so over it. There’s no love there. I don’t know if there ever was, but I know for sure I’m over it. I’m done pretending. This thing with them is toxic, and until I end it, they’ll continue to extort me through my guilt. Does that make me a terrible person?”
“Honey, if that makes you a terrible person, then I’m Satan. In the whole of your life, you’ve never received anything from them but problems. Your parents are expert manipulators and know how to yank your chain to get what they want. If you’ve finally decided you’ve had enough, then you have every right to cut the chain and walk away. It’s past time if you ask me.”
“Finally?” I asked. “You think I’ve been too nice to them.”
“Not finally in the way it sounded. Finally, like in your heart. We’re human, and we all have to teach our minds to listen to our hearts or vice versa. I don’t know which case it is for you with your parents, but I use the word ‘finally,’ meaning you’ve accepted you can’t change them, but you don’t have to take their abuse any longer. God knows I’ve had my own struggles with finally.”
I raised a brow at his words. “Convincing your heart or your head?”
“Some of each, but I can tell you this”—he rested my hand on his chest—”I’m so much happier since I finally cut the strings and walked away.”
I tipped my head to the side in confusion. “Walked away from what, Mathias?”
He gave me that pained smile and stared off over my shoulder. “The idea that I have to be more to stay relevant and, dare I say, loved.”
“What?” I was utterly flabbergasted by his revelation. “Loved? By your business dealings?”
“No, by my family,” he answered, slipping his hand back into mine as he started walking again. “My parents love me, but Far has always been a taskmaster about my career.”
