He relaxed a little. “I am sorry for what I said.”
“Don’t be. I’m not that delicate.”
“I don’t want to offend you.”
She smiled. “Do you like pineapple?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I have a recipe for a pineapple-based marinade that’s pretty delicious. It’s Austin’s favorite.” She glanced at Mason. “He’s my youngest.”
“I remember.”
“He’s moved out, but just for the summer. He’ll be moving back in September. Sort of an adulting trial run. I miss him.”
“I’m sure he misses you, too.”
She motioned for him to continue with the barbecue and sat in one of the chairs. “He’s drifting, and it’s all my fault.”
* * *
Mason listened to Robyn nearly as much as he watched her. Not only because he enjoyed the sound of her voice but to make sure he hadn’t totally screwed up what had been a great moment.
Why had he talked about masturbating? In front of her, of all people. He swore silently. It was a boneheaded move. A rookie mistake. Robyn was classy—upscale and beautiful and refined. He should be able to handle that—he’d always been able to assess his surroundings and fit in. Even when he wasn’t comfortable, no one knew. But thirty seconds alone with her and he’d been talking about his dick. Dammit.
“Austin doesn’t have any direction,” she said, her voice low. “I blame myself for that, too.”
“He’s eighteen—that’s on him.”
“No, he’s legally an adult, but no eighteen-year-old is truly mature.” She paused. “Cord and I divorced four years ago. We waited to tell the kids until Harlow had graduated from high school. Part of the settlement was that I kept the house so Austin would have continuity. Same neighborhood, same friends. Plus, it gave Harlow a place to return to on breaks.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Four years ago. Four.”
She seemed a little obsessed with the time thing. He took a seat in one of the wrought iron chairs.
“Harlow went to college. Austin finished high school.” She looked at him, her mouth twisting. “You know what I did in that time? Nothing. Zip. I have a piddly-ass part-time job that doesn’t pay anything. I got a new car because mine was three years old. I kept my membership at the country club.”
Her voice rose a little with each sentence until it approached a pitch only dogs could hear.
“I lived on the payments from my ex-husband. We started the business together, so he’s buying me out. I have no plan, no safety net, no skills, and in six years the money runs out. I wasted four years, so I’m worried Austin learned the wrong lesson from me. I could have gone to college after high school. Lillian and Leo offered to pay for it, but I married Cord instead. So many bad decisions.”
She sighed. “I’ve been thinking about my daughter a lot. She had cancer when she was little. She’s fine now, but for a couple of years, we thought every day we could lose her. After she was better, I didn’t push her hard enough. I indulged and spoiled her because she was alive and happy.”
“That’s not an unexpected response to having a sick kid.”
“I know, but what if I let myself off the hook, too, because of what we’d been through? Did I give myself too much of a break, thinking I endured the worst thing ever? And if so, how do I get myself on track?”
Tears filled her beautiful blue eyes. Tears that made him want to slay whatever dragon might be bothering her. Or at the very least, wash her car. Something tangible that would make her feel better.
That was the guy side of him. The soldier he’d grown to be understood that pity was another way to get lost. Self-pity was a waste of time and effort. Pity made a person feel weak, a slick road to acting weak.
“What are you going to do about it?” he asked a little more loudly than he’d planned.
She jumped slightly. “Excuse me?”
“You have six years to get your life in order. That’s more notice than most folks get. You have money, you have resources, you have time. Come up with a battle plan. Execute. Accomplish. Make things happen.”
One corner of her full mouth twitched. “So no hug?”
Her words were so unexpected, he couldn’t process them. When he did, he started laughing. She joined in, the sound bright and clear. God, she was incredible. Later, when he was alone, he would think about the fact that she’d said “clit” in front of him. He would do a lot more than think about it, but that was for another time.
“Not a lot of hugging in the army,” he told her.
“Probably for the best. There could be some misunderstandings.” She stretched out her long legs. “You’re not wrong. I do have six years to figure it out. I just wish I’d figured out the problem four years ago.”
“You can only go forward. What’s your goal? And none of that ‘I want to be happy and save baby seals’ crap. Realistically, where do you see yourself?”
Her eyes widened. “I really was going to join Greenpeace.”
He grinned at her. “Sure you were.”
“Okay, not that, although I support their cause.” The smile faded. “At some point, I hope not for years, Lillian will leave us, and then I have the contents of the house to deal with.”
“And the cats. We need to all be clear on that. Cats equal you.”
She laughed again. “Oh, Mason, I’d thought Charles II was winning you over.”
“Him, I like. It’s the other fourteen I’m less sure about.”
“Fine. I get the contents and the cats. At that point, I have more than enough inventory to open an antique store.”
“Back in Florida?”
“I don’t know. It’s where I live.”
He wanted to point out she could live here, but didn’t know how that would sound to her. Besides, it wasn’t as if anything was going to happen between them, so why did he care where she lived?
“In the meantime, because I want Lillian to live forever, I’m coming up with my plan. Right now it involves getting some business experience and working more hours. While I’m here, I’m going to do a preliminary inventory of the house. Just broad strokes. A real inventory would take a year. Is that good enough for you, Soldier?”
“It’s a start.”
“A start is more than I had yesterday.”
* * *
Harlow told herself not to read too much into Kip’s decision to pick up his mom and bring her to the club, leaving Harlow to arrive on her own. She told herself the move made sense—Judy had never been to the club and was uncomfortable about finding her way. It was the kind thing to do and spoke well of Kip as a person. Harlow had read somewhere that a woman should pay attention to how a guy treated his mother because it was an indication of how he would treat his wife later in life.
Which sounded great, but left Harlow arriving alone. She was still dealing with the knowledge that her father had cheated on her mother, the fight with her mom, and now having her future mother-in-law inflict her opinion on a possible wedding venue. She’d felt unable to say Judy couldn’t tag along, but suddenly wished her own mom was there as well.