Certainly not my mother, who was desperate for me to have a better life than she did. She wanted bigger things for her daughter than the business end of a mop and dustpan.
Look how far I’ve come, Mama, I thought sardonically. Right back to where you began. But I’m gonna get it right this time. I’m going to get everything they owed you.
“How was breakfast?” Mama H’s cheery voice broke into our tense standoff. “Did you like the omel—” She broke off mid-word when she saw how we were posed, in each other’s faces, obviously both frayed and upset.
She let out a long breath, then set down the little box with a black bow she’d carried in with her. She put her hands on her hips and whistled, so loud it felt like it pierced my eardrums. I winced and covered my ears. She waved at me to put them down.
“Enough of this. Whatever lover’s squabble you two are having can wait.”
She didn’t wait for me to object that she had absolutely not walked into a lover’s quarrel, but she was already barreling ahead.
“Enough of this, the both of you,” she chastised us like we were still small children. “You”—she pointed at Rafe—“take a seat.” Then she pointed her sharp finger at me. “You, too. Sit.”
I obeyed. When Mama H got that voice, you sat down and shut up. I had common sense, and apparently so did Rafe, because he did the same as me. We’d both felt the wrath of Mrs. H many, many times as children.
“Yes, ma’am,” Rafe said. I’d managed not to say yes ma’am along with him, but only by biting my bottom lip. My hands were still tucked obediently in my lap. I didn’t call Mama H Mama for no reason. She could put the fear of God into any soul when she got that tone.
“Now you listen to me, do you hear me? You two are going to need each other, and I won’t see any more of this pettiness. Rafe”—she arched a glaring eyebrow at him, but even though it wasn’t directed at me, I cowered in my seat—“you may not have wanted it to be Fallon going through these Trials with you, and I understand you want to protect her. You want to protect everybody. But you’re going to have to grow up someday and realize that a woman like Fallon can take care of herself.”
Ha. I looked over at Rafe and just barely kept myself from sticking out my tongue. Take that Rafe Jackson. Even Mama H saw my side of it.
“Now, don’t you go thinking you’re so high and mighty, lassie,” Mama H said next, zeroing her laser glare my direction.
I sat back, shoulders straight, feeling skewered like a bug underneath a magnifying glass. Oh shit, why did I have a feeling it was my turn now?
“Yes, I know being here isn’t all hearts and flowers, but it never was going to be, and you were deluding yourself if you thought any different. I tried to prepare you, but you can’t really know how the Trials will test you until you step under this roof and feel the pressure of these walls. They carry secrets and dreams you can’t even fathom.”
She waved her curved pointer finger at the both of us. “The only way the two of you have a hope of surviving—much less thriving in these Trials that will test your mettle, your will, your very soul—is if you work together and lean on one another. And then you have a chance, and I do mean just a chance of passing these Trials. You never know what they’re going to throw at you next. Not even I know what’s coming, but I do know that the only couples who make it are the ones who let go of their egos and cling to each other for strength.”
Rafe’s head bobbed up and down. “Yes, ma’am. We’ll do better.” He looked over at me, his eyebrows knit in sincerity as he reached out and took my hand. “I’ll do better. I’m sorry, Fallon. I swear I’ll do better.”
Well, what the fuck was I supposed to do with him being all sweet like that? I still wanted to be pissed at him. That was much easier to understand and compartmentalize.
A sweet, sensitive Rafe was just a mind-fuck.
But I wasn’t fool enough not to heed Mama H’s warning and advice. So, reluctantly, I squeezed Rafe’s hand back.
It didn’t mean anything. So, I’d work with him instead of against him. We had common goals, that was all. It wasn’t like I agreed to marry the man. Just to work with him since he was the only partner I had.
I was strictly being practical.
A flash of Rafe’s naked body thrusting into mine from last night played out on sudden repeat in my head.