about your business, Dad. What’s best for your company... merging his assets with yours. I’m not stupid enough not to know this is all an acquisition trade for you.”
Movement from my side catches my attention as Mom slowly walks in. Her chocolate skin seems so pale. The bandana wrapped around her head and her robe makes her seem a little disheveled. She’s wrecked.
“Will you two please stop fighting? I just want you to get along. I missed you so much while you were gone, Sav. I don’t want my final days to be with you both at each other’s throats.”
My entire body slumps as I rush over to Mom, holding her arm and helping her to the table to sit down on her special chair. Dad pulls it out as I pour her a glass of sweet tea from the jug.
“I’m sorry we woke you.”
Dad’s face is somber. He takes a seat next to Mom, holding her hand in his. “I’m sorry, too, my love.”
Mom’s eyes shift up to me as she lets out a soft exhale. “Sav, I love you more than anything. You know that, right?”
Tears well in my eyes as I stare at her gaunt face. “Of course, Momma.”
“Then, for the good of the company, you should at least meet him, Sav. Hunter is a nice guy.”
How the hell can I say no to my mother? A woman dying of stage four pancreatic cancer. It’s just not something I have enough power in me to do. I’ve never been able to say no to my mother, anyway. Now, with her terminal illness, it’s impossible.
My eyes shift to my father. His are full of so much hope—almost desperation.
I guess meeting this Hunter McHale won’t hurt. Agreeing to meet with him isn’t me agreeing to spend the rest of my life with the man.
I pull out a chair, slumping down onto it. “Fine. I’ll meet him. But this in no way binds me to marry him. It’s just a meeting.”
“Thank you, princess. This means everything to me.”
“To us,” Mom corrects.
I furrow my brows, grabbing the pitcher of sweet tea and pour myself a glass. “I still don’t understand the importance of all this. But, Dad, please, enough with the princess!”
He chuckles. “I’ll try, but no promises.”
“Then I will meet Hunter, but I can’t guarantee I will behave.”
Dad scowls as Mom places her hand on his bicep. “She’s teasing, François.”
As a low growl reverbs from Dad’s chest, I smirk. “Savanah, I need you to be on your best behavior.”
“Me? Since when do I ever not behave?” I let out a small laugh.
Mom and Dad both raise their brows.
“You just took off with your best friend to live at a biker clubhouse, of all things, because you didn’t like the idea of this arranged marriage, Savanah. You act first, then you think. You’ve always been this way.”
“Jovie’s happy at the clubhouse. I could have been, too, Dad. It wasn’t a whim. The guys and girls there are great. You talk about me not giving this Hunter a chance. Well, you’re not giving them a chance.”
Mom exhales, her sleepy eyes shifting between the two of us. “François, how about you set up a meeting for Sav and Hunter, and we go from there. No expectations. Just a meeting. He can come over for coffee. Keep it casual.”
“Casual, yeah. Sounds good,” I murmur.
As good as meeting your potential future husband can be, I suppose.
This shit is going to be super casual.
Lord, help me!
1
Savanah
My foot bops nervously on the tiled floor, the gentle tapping rings through our spacious kitchen. The sleek modern French provincial design is something my father brought with him when he moved here from France in his early twenties. Honestly, I have to admit, growing up in this home, I was spoiled. The white wooden décor, the French basket chandeliers, the expensive living—I had everything I could ever wanted or needed growing up.
So why was it never enough?
I suppose by being sheltered, constantly reined in by my parents, being told who I can or can’t be, what I can or can’t do, who I could see was the downside. And they’re still doing it now. Only this time, it’s on a much larger scale by trying to tell me who I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with.
I thought I knew who that was.
I thought I had found the man I was going to spend the rest of forever with, but he up and left me.
Without so much as