Page 10 of Conquering the Skies

Dahlia raised an eyebrow but took the obvious bait. “Of course, sweetie.Everyoneis going to be there.” Her expression softened. “I would love for you two to attend with us.”

Ash gulped down another bite of food. “Sounds great! I can’t wait.”

“And I know Geneva will appreciate your company, and not have to make excuses to wander away from me all night.” She sniffed. “Since this will be Marcus’s first big social appearance since his engagement, it might not be a good image for you to present, tagging along with him and his blushing bride-to-be.”

She chose not to acknowledge her mother’s snide tone. “You’re probably right. I’m thrilled for Marcus and Adele, and this must be such an exciting time for them!”

Exhaling, Dahlia focused on cutting her meat into tiny pieces. “I’m sure his parents are beside themselves with joy…or at least I’m assuming they are, since I still don’t know much about her or her family. At least I haven’t heard about any objections from them about her.” She nibbled at her fork. “I suppose the engagement announcement was…appropriate. Did you see it? It was in quite a few news outlets.”

“Not yet.” She sipped from her glass, wishing it contained something stronger than plain water. “As you yourself said, I’ve been so busy with work, remember?”

Dahlia continued without missing a beat. “Daughters and sons are so different, or so I’ve been told. I wonder if the Brents will have any say in planning the wedding. Or if his future wife will one day want to go home to her own planet and he’ll have to leave Pasurea.”

“If I learn anything new, I’ll be sure to let you know,” she said brightly.

Ash stepped in to rescue her yet again. “I don’t think my mom had any complaints when my brothers got married,” he said. “I just remember it being a fun time for everybody involved.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.” Dahlia smoothed her bright-red hair, patting the side of her updo. “Perhaps I’ll finally get the chance to meet her one of these days.”

“Sure! I don’t think she’s ever been to this planet. I bet she’d love to see it.”

“Wonderful.” Her steely gaze flicked back and forth between them. “It doesn’t even need to be a special occasion or anything, similar to the ones we’ve been discussing.”

Geneva silently willed her communicator to alert her to some sort of emergency or urgent situation to save her from yet another awkward family dinner. By this point, she would have accepted an earthquake or a meteor striking her parents’ estate if it meant she had an excuse to escape. “We’ll work out the details sometime soon,” she said in the same airy manner. As she pretended to adjust her ponytail, she stared at Frederick with wide eyes, issuing her wordless plea. “In the meantime, Father, it sounds like you’ll be joining us at the symphony, too. That’ll be nice, for a change.”

“Ah, yes.” He cleared his throat, taking his cue. “Someonehas informed me I’ve been spending too much time at the office lately, working a few too many late nights.”

“Gee, I wonder who,” she said, forcing out what she hoped sounded like a lighthearted laugh.

“Regardless, I did promise to make more of an effort to show my face at some of these things.” He slid his hand over the table and wrapped his fingers around Dahlia’s. “I know how important it is, and I’m looking forward to a lovely evening.”

Her chin lifted for a moment as she regarded him with skepticism, but then her stance relaxed. “I appreciate it,” she said. “And I do think you’ll enjoy the concert. I heard on the last stop on his tour, the conductor…”

As she chattered on about the upcoming event, Geneva quietly exhaled.She means well,she repeated to herself on a constant loop as she ate her dinner. Certain aspects of their relationship would never change, she reasoned, but despite her annoyance at some of her mother’s prying, she knew deep down they’d each accepted each other as they were, both strengths and flaws.

***

As soon as she walked through the door of her apartment, Geneva kicked off her shoes and flopped facedown onto the sofa. “Ugh, that was painful,” she said, her voice muffled by the cushions.

Ash sat beside her, pushing her hair out of the way. “It wasn’t so bad.”

“Well, in a way, I guess it was typical for dinner with my parents.” She inched upward, wrapping her arms around his waist as she rested her cheek on his chest. “I apologize for…just about everything my mother said back there.”

He chuckled. “Geneva, it’s fine. Dahlia doesn’t throw anything at me I can’t handle.” Reclining against the corner of the sofa, he swung his legs up and returned her embrace. “And you did a decent job of not obviously letting her get to you.”

“You mean, I didn’t lose my temper.”

“Same difference.”

A long sigh left her lips. “Still, though. I don’t like her prying or dropping hints she thinks are subtle when they’re not.”

He groped around for the remote control and turned on the TV. “Eh, you fended her off pretty well. Right now, she’s probably complaining to your father about how you never share anything with her until she has to force it out of you.”

She snorted. “Fair.”

Without releasing him, Geneva wiggled around until she could see the screen. A team of amateur bakers struggled to prevent a tall cake from collapsing, and she watched for a few moments before speaking again. “At the risk of sounding like my mother, we haven’t spoken much about your plans now that you’re done with military life.” She gestured toward the TV. “Aside from watching your favorite baking competitions.”

“They might take up a considerable amount of time. I do have a lot to catch up on, you know.”

---