Chapter 25
Mason
I dropped Ash off at her place and told her to be ready by tomorrow. I couldn’t believe she actually agreed to go with me. Now, I needed to kick my ass into gear. I needed to set up the private jet and make sure it was fueled. I had to research jewelry-making classes in the heart of Milan and schedule some for her. I had to make sure our accommodations were taken care of and that we were in the finest the city had to offer. And of course, I had to make sure she had a passport.
“Yes, just ‘Ash.’ Her license says it, and her social security card says it. Yes, I need it no later than tomorrow afternoon. We’re taking off then.”
“Knock knock!”
I nodded at Winston and waved him in just as I was getting off the phone. The hotel was calling me, wanting to confirm our reservations, so I held up my finger to him and started talking.
“Yes, myself and a guest. For the rest of the week. Yeah, massages in the evenings. Not sure about all our meals. I’ll let the kitchen know.”
“Ooh, sounds fancy,” Winston whispered.
He hopped onto my bed and struck a pose, and I shot him a dirty look when he started batting his eyelashes at me.
“Yeah. Tomorrow evening. See you then.” I hung up the phone, feeling excited that everything was coming together.
“Sounds like the big Milan trip,” Winston said. “Momma dearest know you’re going early?”
“No, she doesn’t, because momma dearest isn’t the one going early,” I said.
“Dude. Don’t tell me you caved to Eva. Come on, we talked about this.”
“I’m taking Ash,” I said.
Winston looked at me, and, for a split second, I couldn’t read his face. He brow ticked slightly, and he stood up from my bed. I went ahead and launched into my grand plan.
“Mom thinks Eva’s best for me because she hasn’t seen me around any other women. I mean, she’s seen me with women I’m screwing, but she hasn’t seen me show this type of interest in a woman. If I take Ash and she sees, I know Mom’s gonna melt.”
“And how do you know this?” Winston asked.
“Because mom has a secret,” I said.
“And this secret would be?”
“Mom wasn’t my grandmother’s choice for Dad.”
“No shit!” Winston exclaimed. “Your mom was the forbidden love?”
“Yep. And Dad defied my grandmother and married her anyway. If my dad got to do it, then why can’t I? Ash is wonderful, and the weekend I spent with her only proved that to me even more. If she sees me with Ash and how we are around each other, it’s done. This Eva shit will be done, and I can have a chance to be with who I want.”
“I don’t know, dude. I mean, that’s cool and all that your mom was forbidden fruit or whatever, but your mom did something Ash probably won’t do.”
“And what’s that?” I asked.
“Try to blend in. I mean, look at your mom. She looks like all the others, and that’s why your father probably got away with it. Your grandmother might’ve been upset, but at least he married someone who looked the part.”
“Are you saying this isn’t gonna work?”
“I’m saying, Mase, that bringing her on a family trip probably isn’t the smartest idea. I mean, she’s gonna meet your mom for crying out loud! Have you told her that?”
“Not necessarily,” I said.
“Dude. Tell her. Don’t let her go into this thinking it’s just gonna be the two of you. There’s been enough weird shit between you two. Lay it out. Be honest.”
“Winston. I am being honest. I want to take her to Milan. Remember that night at the bar?”
“Yeah, when she talked about studying jewelry-making? Yeah, dude. Her best friend wouldn’t stop feeling on my dick.”
“Oh, shit! Frank was copping a feel?”
“Rein it in, Mase,” he said. “I know you think it’s the perfect plan: show your mother what makes you happy, and she’s bound to act like a mother and be happy, right?”
“That’s what moms do,” I said.
“It took my mother over two years to accept the fact that I was ‘slumming’ it, and it took her even longer to cope with the fact that I enjoyed it. Your mom’s not gonna change on a dime, and if she’s like my mom, she’ll buck like a bronco. It’s gonna ruin your trip with Ash.”
“A little support would be nice,” I said.
“I’m defending Ash because no one on the hill will. It’s not fair to put her in this position. Tell her what this trip is, tell her your intentions, and tell her what she’ll be up against. Don’t throw her financial situation at her and don’t tell her that her life’s shit or whatever you did at brunch. Just be honest, dude.”
I got where he was coming from, but I was in tune with the situation. I knew the moment Mom saw me with Ash, she would back off with Eva. Then, with my mother on my side, I could tell her the accusation Eva made at the charity dinner, and my mother and I could go about ditching these dumbass marriage plans. The only reason Eva felt she could threaten me like she could was because she thought she had my mom wrapped around her finger.
The moment she realized that was no longer happening, her threat would be null and void.
Winston left and I made a few more phone calls. Then I sent Ash a text message. I told her I’d pick her up tomorrow afternoon and then we’d make our way for the airport. She sent me a message back letting me know she was all packed and making arrangements with Luna. I tossed my phone to the side and continued packing the rest of my things, and when I heard the door open downstairs, I went to greet Mom.
“Hello, dear!” she exclaimed. “I was wondering if you would ever return home to me.”
“Hello, Mom.”
I embraced her closely and picked her up off her feet. I swung her around in the foyer, and she swatted at me to put her down.
“What in the world has gotten into you?” she said.
“Just some exciting things. Listen, Mom, I’m going to Milan a couple days ahead of you. Is that all right?”
“What for?” she asked inquisitively.
“I’ve just got some things to get in order, but you’ll see when you arrive. I’m sure you're gonna love it.”
“Oh, a surprise? You know how I love surprises.”
“I know. How’d it go with the groomers?”
“Oh, I dropped the dogs off with them,” she said. “I think I’m going to board them there for the night and pick them up tomorrow.”
“Any reason?” I asked.
“Well, I would like to do some packing for the trip without them underneath my feet. You know I’ve never been able to train them away from hopping on the furniture. They’ll ruin my clothes I’ve laid out.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that,” I said, grinning.
“I swear, you seem like a different person, Mason.”
“Mom, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“Did you and Dad love each other when you got married?”
I watched her face falter slightly before she took my hand. She led me into the sitting room and motioned for someone to get her a glass of wine. I knew I’d touched on a sensitive subject, seeing as we didn’t talk much about Dad after he passed, but I guess it was as good a time as any to ask.
“I know we don’t talk much about him,” I said.
She held up her finger and chugged the glass of wine. When she set it down, she drew in a deep, shaky breath.
“Your father was a fine man, and I was lucky to have married him,” she said.
“Did you love each other?” I asked.
“Where is this coming from, Mason?” she asked, with a confused smile.
“Mom. I know it’s been hard for you. You’ve drawn into yourself since Dad passed, and you won’t talk about it. But please. For me.”
I watched quick tears rim her eyes before she blinked them away. I knew I was hitting a sore spot, but I wanted to hear it. I wanted to hear the story of how they met just one more time.
“Your father and I loved each other very much,” she offered.
“Tell me how you two met.”
“You know how we met, Mason,” she spat.
“Tell me again.”
“Mason, what—”
“Please, Mom,” I urged. “I promise there’s a reason, and if it makes you feel any better, it sort of has to do with Milan.”
I watched her eyes light up for a split second, and she was all too anxious to launch into the story.
“Your father was having drinks at the country club, and I was working a summer job. I was waitressing to pay for community college, and he was guzzling down bourbon spritzers. He kept ordering them just so I would keep coming to the table, and eventually, he was too drunk to order anymore. He began badgering me for attention, and my manager asked him to leave, but he said he wouldn’t leave until he had my number.”
“Dad was always persistent,” I said.
“We talked for a while, but I didn’t think it would go anywhere. I was consumed with my studies and working to pay off classes, and he was jetting around the world and watching his father invest in stock markets around the globe.”
“Why did grandmother not approve of you?” I asked.
There was a somber look in her eye before she cleared her throat, and that’s when she reached for yet another glass of wine that had materialized out of nowhere, thanks to the silent footsteps of those my mother employed around the house.
“I just took some refining, is all. A wardrobe change and an attitude adjustment, and I was just fine to stand by your father.”
“What if you hadn’t changed?” I asked. “Do you think dad still would’ve married you?”
Her eyes connected with mine for a split second before they hardened, and I knew I’d probably pushed too far. I wanted to hear her say he would have. I wanted to hear her say they would’ve ridden off into the sunset. I wanted to hear her say that she just played the part for the public, but behind closed doors, she was still the spunky community college waitress my father drank himself to death for their first time meeting, just so he could get her number.
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly.
“Mom?” I asked.
“Yes, son?”
“I love you. You know that, right?”
“Of course, I do, Mason. What a silly thing to ask.”
I could hear the tears in her voice, and it broke something inside of me. Deep down, my mother was still that community college girl who had to change in order to marry someone she loved. I wanted desperately to show her that she didn’t have to act like that. She didn’t have to be that way, not for me. I saw the way her and my father laughed and interacted when I was growing up, and she wasn’t always this cold.
This collected. This walled off.
“I think you’re gonna love Milan,” I said.
My mother looked at me, and her smile grew from ear to ear. Then, she said something that both excited and confused me.
“I actually have an idea of what you might be doing.”
She winked at me before she got up and clapped, and part of me was very confused as to what she meant. On the one hand, she could probably see the purchases for the jewelry classes I was making, but I still had a few more things I had to take care of in order to solidify my plans for tomorrow.
I still had to make sure the jet would be fueled on time, and I wanted to triple-check on Ash’s passport before I left it alone for the night. My mother seemed to have a pep in her step, even with the type of conversation we just had, but a part of me was excited at the prospect that she might actually be all right with this.
She might actually be okay with me bringing Ash to Milan.
I raced back upstairs and finished packing, and the entire time, I kept wondering what it would be like to take Ash on her first international trip. She’d never been out of the country. Hell, she was just in awe of the coastline of her home state.
There was so much I wanted to show her and so much more I wanted to buy for her. I wanted to invest in her jewelry line and get her all the gems and beads and materials she needed to make the best jewelry she could. I wanted to take her shopping and buy her all the clothes she could ever want, and I wanted to take her to all the five-star restaurants and watch her savor every single bite of food.
I wanted to hold her hand while we walked down the cobblestoned streets of the most beautiful city in the world, and I wanted to take her to all the places my father took me to whenever we’d go as a family.
I wanted to tell her and show her all these things, and I wanted her to experience it all with my hand in hers.
I was thrilled for the trip tomorrow afternoon, and I was so excited that I barely slept that night.