“You might take my side, but I need to work on myself too. I need to work at a lot of things if we are going to really give this relationship a go. Everyone compromises in relationships.”
Nancy said the words while looking at me, like I needed to read between the lines.
“Your dad quit the company, but he’ll never quit working. He loves it too much.” She sighed. “I love that about him too. We needed balance when you were children though.”
“You Stonewoods don’t balance anything very well,” Brey murmured.
Jaydon bumped his shoulder into hers. “You’re a Stonewood, too, Sass Pot. You don’t balance well either.”
“I do too,” she contested.
“You work long hours and you’re barely considering making me an uncle and my mom a grandma.”
Her green eyes flared, and she shoved her shoulder harder into his. “I’m supposed to give you a niece or nephew when you’re barely in town? No thanks.”
“That’s what uncles do! They fly into town, spoil the kids, and fly out. I have to make movies. I’m over there trying to make this world feel something.”
“Your rom-coms are really making people feel things, all right,” she mumbled and looked at me. “Did you see his last rom-com? He barely said two words.”
“Well, in Jaydon’s defense, no one really wanted him or his costar to talk anyway. Them walking around in their swimsuits the whole movie was enough for everyone.” I smiled sweetly at Jaydon and he glared at me with betrayal in his eyes.
“You love my abs just like every other woman in the world.”
I shrugged and sipped on the remains of my hot spiked tea. “I’m not denying that. It’s why the movie did so well.”
“Agreed,” Nancy chimed in. “You got paid solely for your workout schedule and not your acting skills with that one. Hopefully, you’ll pick a better story line for the next movie.”
“Mom!” Jaydon whined but the smile creeping across his face said he could take the heat and knew we were right. “You’re supposed to be on my side always.”
“I’m a mother of truth. Not lies. That movie was awful, honey.”
He guffawed at that, and the sounds of the holiday—of us laughing and sharing jokes—rolled through the wind and over the lake.
“LA is expensive and that movie paid the bills,” he admitted.
Brey shrugged. “You have more talent than that, Jaydon. The world is waiting to see it.”
He sobered and stared out at the lake. He didn’t comment, but I saw the look in his eyes. I saw the doubt we all carry in ourselves. “If you say so, Sass Pot.”
I waited for Nancy to jump in and push him. My mother would have. She would have driven home my talent, explained what it was to be a Blakely, and ground my doubt into dust.
Nancy didn’t say a thing. She rubbed her son’s back and then she turned toward her beautiful home to announce, “Let’s get back, huh? Dinner should be ready soon.”
We walked back through some woods and up a hill. Nancy fell into step beside me as Brey and Jaydon chatted behind us.
“I meant what I said before,” she murmured, not facing me.
I tilted my head, trying to remember her words. “I’m sorry?”
“Everyone compromises in relationships.”
“Oh. Right,” I agreed, not knowing where the conversation was going but sure this woman was going to try to mold me into the person she wanted for her son. I didn’t blame her for it. Every mother wanted the best for their child. I just didn’t know if I would agree with her, if I could compromise any more of my life for Jett. I had compromised so much just to be here.
“He works too much. He doesn’t bend. He’s insanely controlling. He used to make his two brothers sit down for class in the middle of summer, I kid you not. He would instruct them. He was born to be the businessman he is. I know that. I just honestly don’t know if he has it in him to be anything else.”
I wanted to say something to make her feel better, but her words dried up the water that had fed the hope flower blooming in my soul.
“I love him. It’s why I’m warning you. He never brings women home for the holidays. He wants something with you. I can’t quite figure out if he has it in him to give a woman what she needs though.” Her laugh skittered into the wind, filled with sadness. “I’m not sure because he’s like his father, and I still struggle every single day to figure out if that man can give me what I need. I see that look in your eyes. It’s the same look I’ve had for years. You love him.”