* * *
Rosemary
Lionel wasn’t going to let anyone eat tonight. He was going to go on and on for half a century if that was what it would take to convince Rosemary that she was forbidden from marrying Ash. Fat lot of good that would do, talking until he was hoarse.
It was too bad. She was starving, and that lamb roast smelled ridiculous.
So then she did something unprecedented. She stood up.
“Daddy, you were rude to my fiancé, and I am fucking starving. I’m going to the kitchen to eat. Mama, feel free to join me.”
Later, in the kitchen, Rosemary was eating over the sink.
“Mama, let’s cut to the chase,” Rosemary said with a mouth full of lamb. She had mint jelly all over her expensive powder-dip manicure, but she did not care. “Will you and Daddy please come to the wedding?”
Betsy shook her head and said, “He’s not like us, dear. He is not going to accept us once he finds out who we are.”
“But you accepted Daddy and you’re not a shifter!”
“Rosemary, dear, my circumstances were different. Ashton has his own money and, no doubt, a line of 100 percent human girls around the block just waiting to catch his eye.”
This made Rosemary give a low, territorial growl as she chewed the last of the meat from the bone and shot her mother a side-eye.
“Don’t start one of your little hissy fits, Rosemary. You’re practically still a kitten. You know very little about life. Be careful where you set your sights. Not all panthers are meant to mate for life. Do you really want to mesh this family irreversibly with our most hated business rival and their weird family traditions? Imagine, only requiring the mother’s blessing to get married! What kind of society does he come from?”
“Mama, I do not care about any of that.”
“Well, maybe you should. You have a roof over your head and an insurance policy on that shoe collection of yours that says perhaps you should care.”
Rosemary rolled her eyes. “Holding that over my head, I see. You do know that Ashton and I are grownups and we’re going to get married whether you approve or not? We’re not children who need your blessing. Whatever traditions he’s talking about can go fly a kite in a thunderstorm. We desire your blessing, but if we do not have it, it’s not going to stop us. All you have to do is come to the wedding.”
Her mother laughed out loud. “Next I suppose you’re going to tell me that you don’t need your daddy’s money to plan this thing.”
“If you won’t give us a blessing and accept Ash, then no, I don’t need your money. We can do it on our own,” Rosemary said.
“And why in the ever-loving world would I go to my daughter’s wedding where I do not approve of the groom?” asked Betsy. “And just where do you think you’re gonna have this wedding? The VFW Post?”
Rosemary had finished cleaning off her face and hands in the sink and wiped her face off on a towel. She turned to her mother and said, “Because of me. You’ll come because you love me. And that’s the only reason you need. Because you want to have a good relationship with your future son-in-law, and if you want to see your future grandchildren, you’ll do it.”
Chapter Six
Rosemary
“If Ashton Lewis Boudreaux thinks he’s going to just waltz up here and beg my forgiveness for what he did last night, he’s got another think coming,” Rosemary said with a huff, watching Ash park his GTO on the curb outside her flat the next morning.
Pen was sipping a coffee and watching her friend at the window. “It’s true he acted like a fool last night, based on what you told me. But, honey, don’t take too long to forgive him. He might have had a very good reason.”
“I don’t want to hear any excuses,” she huffed.
“I didn’t say excuse. I said reason. Just hear him out,” Pen said.
Rosemary sighed. “Fine. But I’m going to take a shower. He can cool his heels.”
* * *
Ash
Ash was feeling pretty rough when he heard the window above him creak open. He looked up into the sun’s glare and saw Pen leaning out the window of Rosemary’s flat.
“Boudreaux,” Pen shouted down at him. “You better not be showing up here looking like you’ve been out clubbing all night. And you damn well better come up here showered, shaved, and with some goddamn tulips in your hand. And I mean fresh tulips, not from the grocery store, neither.”
He squinted up at his lifelong friend. “Yes, ma’am. And how is it you’re looking so fresh and rested this morning? You also had a busy night, as I recall.”
Pen snarled. “Don’t you ma’am me. I can smell the squirrel blood on you from a mile away. Dummy. Go away, clean up, and try again.”
Ash turned and did what he was told.
* * *
Rosemary
After Ash returned about an hour later, Rosemary let him in reluctantly.
“Pen, can you give us a moment?” Rosemary said.
“No, it’s okay. Pen knows what’s going on. I’d like her to be here for this,” Ash insisted.
Rosemary looked at her new friend with fresh eyes. “Oh really? Keeping secrets from me?”
Pen looked sheepish. “I…didn’t feel like it was my place to tell you. Just hear him out.”
“Fine,” Rosemary said. “But hurry up, I’m hungry.”
“Baby, you’d better sit down.” He gestured to the fringed antique sofa piled high with pillows. In front of it was a coffee table laden with school lesson plans and the vase where she’d graciously placed the fresh daisies he’d brought her. He couldn’t find any tulips. “I
