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I LOOKED AFTER JEREMY in a mounting panic. He didn’t go further than a few feet. He probably thought I was right behind him. Would I look pathetic, if I called out to him for help?
Mrs. Akers tapped my shoulder after she released my arm. I had enough customer service experience, I could handle her with kindness. She wasn’t Mrs. Burton, anyway. I faced her with a polite smile. Hopefully, my new mother-in-law wouldn’t be half the dragon my almost-one was.
“Alexandra, did you know Jeremy is trying to do a dude ranch? Did you know you were coming to be a part of that? Do you know anything about farms?” She angled her jaw toward me and waited as if my answer would determine her very final opinion of me and how I fit with her son.
I glanced at Jeremy again who was asking the produce stocker about the asparagus.
“Mrs. Akers,” I answered, “I think anything is possible with hard work. New businesses can be hard, but I’ve started quite a few in the past and if someone wants it bad enough...” I trailed off as Jeremy rejoined us.
Talking with Mrs. Akers hadn’t been as bad as I’d expected – barring the fact that we hadn’t had a long time to talk.
She smiled with a peculiar twist to her lips in my direction, but spoke to Jeremy. “Sounds like you married a real winner, Jeremy. She has started a lot of businesses and wasn’t fond of the hard work. It doesn’t sound like she thinks you’ll be able to do your dude ranch.” She tilted her head to the side with a sympathetic smile directed toward Jeremy this time.
Not seemingly alarmed, Jeremy glanced at me quizzically. “She doesn’t know me yet. I don’t usually fail, Mom.” He patted her arm.
His mother pressed a hand to her chest and reared back. “Well, I know that. But she doesn’t and I just wanted to make sure you were aware of what you’re doing.” She glanced at me again and then spoke as if she didn’t want me to hear. “I told you marrying someone you don’t know was foolhardy. You don’t know anything about each other.”
As if I wasn’t there, they continued to speak around me. I set my jaw to the side and tried not to let my fatigue exacerbate the irritation. The last thing I needed was to start a fight with my new mother-in-law simply because she wasn’t getting the information right.
I waited until there was a comfortable break in their dialogue before jumping in. “Actually, I didn’t say anything about you not being able to do your business. I said if you want it bad enough, you’ll do great.”
As if I’d slapped her, Mrs. Akers snapped upright with her elbows pulled in tight and a grimace on her face. She arched another eyebrow and sneered down the end of her nose. “I’m not going to tolerate being called a liar, missy.”
I spluttered from where I stood, folding my arms together at my waist.
Jeremy held up a hand and shook his head. “Mom, it’s okay. I’ll call you later. We’re heading to the house right now.” Jeremy reached out and half-hugged his mother, effectively cutting off her mounting and illogical tirade.
I clamped my teeth shut and didn’t speak as I followed beside him. He wheeled the cart down a different aisle and put enough distance between us and her that I finally felt I could speak. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t say that. I wasn’t trying to call her a liar, either. I just don’t... You and I don’t know each other yet. I don’t think we need more stress this early in the game.” Plus, the garbage I’d left behind didn’t need to follow me clear to Washington.
Not for the first time, I worried about my choice to come. Had I done the right thing? I’d left everything and gone there, hoping for better, and the fight with his mother didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t want to fight with my new family, especially when the ties to my old family had been cut off by my choice.
Jeremy stopped the cart beside the Chinese section and looked at me, bemused. “She’s harmless. Don’t listen to everything she says. Sometimes she gets ahead of herself, and I’ve learned to just take it and let it roll off like rain.”
But what happened when it soaked in?
Jeremy smiled at me, reaching out to take my hand and squeeze it like it was the most natural thing to touch me. I’d never experienced that level of touching with Larry in the whole three years we were together. My ex-fiancé had always been so formal and kissed my cheek or forehead. I’d never even kissed Larry on the mouth.
The last couple years, since moving home, had been chaster than high school, and I was starved for affection. Leaning in to Jeremy’s touch wasn’t obvious, was it? Even if it was, I didn’t care. I didn’t want to pull away from him.
Shopping passed in a daze. Hopefully, I didn’t do anything to embarrass myself. At least we didn’t run into his mother again.
That wasn’t an encounter I was looking forward to again.
