Chapter Twenty-Seven
Cheryl
“Mom, Dad. This is Rowe.”
Her mate, her love, and now her fiancé turned away from the conversation he was having with Palin as she approached, one parent on either side of her.
“Hello,” he replied gravely, speaking in his deep “dragon voice” as she called it. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Cheryl had told me so many wonderful things about you.”
Flatterer. Her fingers on her left hand twitched, circling her engagement ring around nervously. They were holding a reception at the ranch house for friends and family of both of them to celebrate their engagement human-style.
Rowe had balked at first, insisting that he didn’t want to do it, but she’d been forceful. This was a human custom. He’d told her he had no friends besides Palin and Torran, but glancing around the room she saw that wasn’t true. There were a few other clusters of men that looked like dragons, if her newly developing “shifter radar” as she jokingly called it was working.
Where they’d come from was beyond her, but they all seemed to get along well, and best of all, they’d brought their mates with them. The last thing she needed was any of her friends trying to take one of them to the back room to get busy. Several of her friends were wild enough to do that. Together.
“Mr. Rowe,” her father said as he shook his hand.
“Just Rowe, please. My father is Mr. Rowe.”
There was a moment of awkward silence as her parents didn’t laugh at the joke. Cheryl cringed internally and tried to convey her apologies to her love. Despite everything Rowe had done for her, her parents were still not happy with the way everything had happened. They had spoken harshly about needing to vet any man she married, to ensure he would treat her right.
“How was the trip here?” Rowe asked, filling the silence.
“Long.”
“Father,” she snapped, losing her cool already. “Rowe is trying to be polite to you, and you’re being an asshole. Give him a chance before you judge him unworthy of whatever it is you feel you’re entitled to do.”
“Cheryl!” her mother admonished.
“No. You’re even worse, because you don’t stop him in public, and you enable him in private. I invited the two of you here because you’re my parents, and because I want you to be in my life. This is Rowe, and he is part of my life. He doesn’t yell at me, or make me feel like I’ve failed him. He compliments me every day, telling me how smart and beautiful I am. He’s a shoulder I need when I have to cry, and a guard if I’m ever in danger.”
Rowe’s growl emphasized that point, and suddenly he wasn’t just a tall man, but a hulking presence that threatened violence to anyone who came near her. Cheryl hadn’t yet figured out how he did that. All he would say was “Dragon stuff.”
“He urges me to achieve my dreams, whatever they may be. He makes me laugh, and he keeps me warm when I’m cold. Which is all the time.” She bit her lip, then continued. “Although it’s none of your business, he’s always very successful in life and will be able to provide for me. And on top of all that, he loves me, which is the most important thing. So act nice, or get out,” she finished with a snarl.
Her parents were both just staring at her in astonishment. Never before had she spoken to them like this. It was rare that she’d even raised her voice. But weeks of dread at this coming moment had just boiled over without warning when her dad started his usual mood.
“So, what will it be?” she asked.
“You feel that strongly about him?” Her father glanced back and forth between the two of them.
“I agreed to marry him,” she said, as if that should be enough. “But yes, Father, I do. He treats me unlike anyone else I’ve ever met. There’s a connection we feel. I know this is incredibly quickly to get engaged, but I would like you to trust me when I tell you that it’s going to work out.”
“Very well.” Her father turned to Rowe. “Thank you for making my daughter happy. That is all I have ever wanted to see from her.” There was a pause, where her mother elbowed him in the side. “Ah. Right. Um, welcome to the family, I suppose.”
Cheryl’s mouth dropped open as her father stepped forward and embraced Rowe.
“He does care about you,” her mother whispered into her ear. “Believe it or not, he’s wanted to say that line for quite a while now.”
She thought she was going to cry. She’d feared they were going to make her choose between Rowe and them. Instead, they were finally, for once, acting like the parents she’d always wanted them to be!
Maybe she should have lost her temper on them years ago.
Cheryl pushed that thought from her head and smiled as conversation broke out between the four of them. Real, honest, unforced conversation.
Her hand reached down and fiddled with the ring and its beautiful band of green, made from a dragon scale according to Rowe. It was unusual, but stunning nonetheless.
Her mate must have noticed, because his big hand found hers, linking fingers and giving her a reassuring squeeze.
Everything was going to be okay.