Page 32 of A Home for Harmony (Blossoms #16)

TRUE THOUGHTS

“ Y ou’re always the last one to arrive.”

“So good to see you too, Mom,” Harmony said, moving in to give her mother a hug. Her mother returned it like Harmony knew she would, but let go fast.

“I’m not sure why you’re always late,” her mother said.

Her mother couldn’t let anything go unless it was addressed.

“I thought Micah would have driven faster since he didn’t need to worry about getting a ticket. How was I supposed to know he didn’t speed?”

“There you go making jokes over something rather than taking responsibility for taking too long to get ready,” her mother said.

“Mom,” she said. “It doesn’t take long to put on jeans and a sweater, which is all I’m wearing. I don’t even have much makeup on. You like to pick on me. I’m not late. You said noon and it’s three minutes before.” She put her hand up. “This is my boyfriend, Micah Barnes. Micah, my mother, Marion.”

Unbelievable that the minute she walked in the door she was getting a lecture. Maybe now Micah would understand.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said, shaking her mother’s hand.

“You’re not what I expected,” her mother said. There was the rudeness of not saying it was nice to meet Micah. She could point that out but wouldn’t.

“I’m never what you expect,” Harmony said, grinning. “Why should this be any different?”

“But you’re older.” Her mother was frowning as she scoped her boyfriend out. “What’s your age?”

“Mom,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “That’s not nice to say. No one asks your age. Would you like me to volunteer it?”

“No,” her mother said primly. “But it’s obvious that Micah is older than you. If I’d known his last name, I could have figured it out.”

She turned and grinned at Micah, then winked. “Maybe that is why I didn’t give it to you. Why can’t you meet him first to form an opinion rather than trying to get all the dirt on him? Which there isn’t.”

“Everyone has dirt,” her mother said, lifting her nose.

“Including yourself, Marion,” Jerry said, coming into the room and putting his hands on her mother’s shoulders. “Leave Harmony alone. It’s her birthday dinner.” Jerry put his hand out. “I’m Jerry and it’s nice to meet you.”

“Micah,” he said. “The same.”

“My wife gets ahead of herself and is protective of her children and doesn’t always do it in the right way. But we’re getting better about that, aren’t we, Marion?”

Harmony didn’t know what to make of this conversation. Her mother turned to Jerry and smiled, then almost flushed. “We are.”

Her jaw dropped. “Did you hypnotize my mother to get her to smile and agree?” she asked her stepfather.

“Marion, why don’t you go get the snacks out that you spent all morning putting together,” Jerry said.

Her mother nodded and walked away. “What have you done with my mother?” she asked.

Jerry smiled. “I only reminded her that everyone is an adult, including her. If she wants to stay part of your life, she has to give you some respect. It doesn’t take much more than a gentle note of what happened with Theo and then again with Erica.”

“Thank you,” Harmony said sincerely. “I mean that.”

She’d always liked Jerry, but never realized he’d go to bat for her like this.

“No problem,” Jerry said. “Please, come in. Everyone is in the back.”

They moved to the back of the house she grew up in and she saw her siblings seated in the family room, her mother off to the kitchen in the back.

Jerry went to help her mother, so she and Micah moved closer to Erica. “What happened to Mom? Jerry said one word and she just changed in front of my eyes.”

Erica laughed. “We all saw it too. Take it for what it’s worth.”

“Was she ragging on me before we got here? I’m not late.”

“No more than normal,” Theo said. “It’s only a few hours and then we are all out of here. You’re a pro at this.”

That was when she didn’t worry about being embarrassed in front of her boyfriend.

“Harmony,” her mother yelled. “Can you come help me?”

“Yep,” she said. “Here it comes. I guess I should be happy she’s doing it in private.” She turned on her heel. “Coming, Mom.”

“Jerry, why don’t you bring these into the family room for everyone and Harmony and I will be out with the rest?”

“Be nice,” Jerry said. “Or I’ll come right back.”

Her eyes were a little wide over the interaction with her mother and Jerry. “Go on,” she said. “Be nice. Jerry told you to.”

Her mother’s smile dropped. “How old is he?”

“Mom,” she said. “I told you, it’s rude.”

“Harmony,” her mother said. “I can be a lot ruder and I’m trying not to be.”

“Why? It never stopped you before.”

“Maybe I’m trying something different, but I’m asking you to answer my question.”

She always did like to give people the benefit of the doubt. If this came back to bite her in the butt, it wouldn’t be the first time.

“He’s thirty-eight.”

“So eleven years older than you since you’re turning twenty-seven in a few days?”

“You’re good at math,” she said, grinning.

“Don’t joke your way out of this,” her mother said. “What could you possibly have in common with him?”

“Age is a number,” she said. “Mom. Don’t do this to me. For once, can’t you just accept that I know what I want and who I might love? I’ve never felt this way about a guy before. I really haven’t.”

Her mother's eyes shifted over her face. She was waiting for several negative comments to flow out.

Surprisingly, they didn’t come. “I’ll try, but I’m reserving judgment.”

Hmm. That went better than she thought it was going to go.

She picked up one platter her mother put together. “These look pretty.”

“Thank you. I’m trying.” Her mother kept throwing that word out, but it didn’t matter what word you used if your actions didn’t follow.

She walked back to Micah and set the plate down. “My mother is a fantastic cook. We are going to eat well today, Micah. But I’m lucky to have a guy that likes to cook.”

“I’m sure he’s had a lot of years to do it,” his mother said. “Maybe that is what you need in your life, someone to take care of you since you didn’t get it from your father.”

Harmony ground her teeth and scrunched her face. So much for a peace offering.

“Mom,” Erica said. “That’s mean and you know it. Not only to my sister, but to Dad. What did I tell you before Harmony arrived?”

“What?” she asked.

Erica shook her head, but her mother had no problem sharing. “She said you’re very happy and in love with Micah and that if I was mean or blew it, that you might not come back again as you’re already avoiding my calls more than normal. Is that true? Are you avoiding me?”

She looked at her sister. “We’ve all been avoiding your calls for years,” she said, grinning. “Don’t put the sole blame on me, Erica.”

“Oh,” Theo said. “She didn’t. I told Mom the same thing. She needs to grow up and let it go. I don’t think she liked hearing that there are times you’re more mature than her.”

“Thank you,” she said, her head perking up.

“Harmony is much more mature than most her age,” Micah said. “She’s running a successful business and is extremely busy.”

“Online income,” her mother said. “Since you’re in law enforcement, what do you think of this? I think it’s a risk to put herself out there and foolish. She’s always been so soft and someone is going to take advantage of her. She refuses to believe that.”

“You’ve never said that was your worry,” she argued. “You always say it’s the easy way out of a job and doesn’t take a lot of work, not that you’re worried about me.”

“Of course I’m worried about you,” her mother said indignantly.

“Your mother doesn’t do that well of a job conveying her true thoughts and feelings,” Jerry said.

“Oh, she conveys her true thoughts,” Erica said. “More than we want to hear.”

She laughed when Erica said that. Daisy did too.

“I don’t think Harmony is going to be taken advantage of,” Micah said. “She knows what she is doing. She takes a lot of precautions and she’s turned my thought of influencers around some. Not completely, but opened my eyes that they aren’t all superficial.”

“How would you feel if you had a daughter that did something like this?” her mother asked. “Or was easily influenced by people online?”

“My daughter knows to protect herself and take precautions also,” he said. “And she follows Harmony. I will admit I don’t care for it, but as I said, Harmony has made me more open minded.”

“You have a daughter?” her mother squeaked out, her eyes all but stretched to her hairline. “Are you married? Have you been married?”

“I’m divorced,” he said. “Since you’ve been divorced, I’m assuming you don’t think ill of it.”

There were a lot of laughs turned to coughs over that comment.

Yay, Micah. That was a good one and said sincerely and not like a dick.

“Of course not,” her mother said. “Sometimes marriages don’t work out.”

“They don’t,” he said. “My ex-wife and I co-parent our daughter.”

“How old is your daughter?” her mother asked, frowning.

“She’s sixteen,” he said. “And she’s met Harmony and loves her.”

“I’m sure she does,” her mother said. “They probably have a lot of the same mentality and are closer in age.”

“Mom,” she said, the smile gone from her face. “I’m going to leave in a minute. I mean it. You’re being hurtful, not helpful.”

She knew her voice cracked and she was close to tears falling. It was one thing she never wanted her mother to witness, since it didn’t make a difference.

“Marion, tell Harmony you’re sorry,” Jerry said firmly.

Her mother turned to Jerry and saw his eyebrow raised. She’d always thought Jerry was a pushover and was stunned to see this.

“I was speaking the truth,” her mother said.

“Speaking the truth can still be hurtful if not done correctly,” she said. “Your truth doesn’t mean it’s right.”

“That’s right, Harmony,” Jerry said. Her stepfather turned to the room. “You might all wonder what is going on.”

“You don’t need to tell them,” her mother rushed out to say.

“Are you okay, Mom?” Theo asked. He looked concerned, which of course turned the dial on everyone’s radar just now.

“Of course I’m fine,” her mother said, but she dropped her smile, which might have been forced.

“Your mother is worried that she is losing all of her children. Theo is going to have a family of his own. Erica is getting married and informed your mother it’s going to be a destination wedding and that she won’t have any say in it.”

She saw where this was going. “It’s not right,” her mother said.

“It’s my choice,” Erica said.

“And now Harmony has a man in her life that appears very serious,” Jerry said. “We had a long talk and I pointed out there was a reason she wasn’t close to her children and she asked that I point out every time I see her do something that might push you all away.”

“You’ll be pointing things out the entire dinner,” Erica said. She laughed over that comment, but Tucker elbowed her.

“I told her that too,” Jerry said. “But she insisted that isn’t what is happening. So now you know.”

“Are we allowed to point it out?” Harmony asked.

“No,” her mother said. “Because you’ll do it with everything I say and try to make a joke out of it.”

“I don’t think she will,” Micah said. “We talked on the way down and I told her to be honest with you. To say when she was hurt and she did. She should be allowed to voice those things. I tell Scarlet, my daughter, all the time, that I want her to know she can come to me for anything. It’d break my heart if she thought she couldn’t.

Do you really want your kids to feel that way?

That they can’t tell you how they honestly feel? ”

“Well said,” Jerry said. “The ball is in your court, Marion.”