Jason lifted a hand. “Jason Nixon, sir. Nice to meet you.”
Libby’s father looked confused as he politely shook Jason’s hand. He’d never been as mistrustful or blatantly racist as her mother. “Ricardo Garcia.” He turned toward Libby. “I’ll get your mother.”
Libby led Jason into the living room and tugged him down to sit next to her on the couch. He glanced down at their combined hands when she didn’t release him. She threaded her fingers through his on his thigh and smiled. She was going all-out.
When her parents entered the room a minute later, her mother was smiling, and then her expression fell serious. She literally flinched when she saw Libby’s hand in Jason’s. “Qué está pasando, Libertad?” she asked.
“Don’t do that, Mamá. Speak in English,” Libby demanded. Her mother had a nasty habit of trying to alienate people by speaking in Spanish in front of them when it suited her.
“Let’s sit down,” Ricardo said, tugging his wife toward an armchair and then pointing at it. He took the opposite armchair and crossed his legs.
Libby honestly had no idea how her father would react to this bombshell. The man often had little to add to any conversation, which made it difficult to read his true feelings.
“Mamá, this is Jason Nixon. We’ve been dating for about a month.”
Her mother gasped and put a hand over her heart.
Jason squeezed Libby’s hand. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
Maria barely glanced at him before returning her gaze to Libby. “That can’t be. You’ve been dating Eduardo and then Javier.”
Libby would bet anything her mother thought by pointing this out she could make Jason flinch. “No, I haven’t, Mamá. I started dating Jason the night after I went out with Eduardo. And your stunt last night with Javier was a new low even for you. You came close to breaking us up with your meddling. I won’t let that happen again. Jason is my boyfriend. You have to stop setting me up with other men.”
Her mother was visibly shaking. “Libertad, you know I don’t approve of you dating outside of—”
Libby jerked. “Outside of what, Mamá? Outside of my race? Because even that isn’t good enough for you. It’s not even a Latino thing for you. My boyfriends have to be specifically from Guatemala with you. Do you not realize how ridiculous that is?”
“People should stick with their own kind,” Maria added in her haughty voice.
“Maria,” Ricardo interjected. One word. Slightly admonishing, but that was more than nothing. There was hope for her father.
Maria jerked her gaze toward her husband. “What? It worked for you and me, didn’t it? I don’t see why young people these days think they need to go mixing up with people from other nationalities.”
“Mamá. You sound ridiculous. And I didn’t come here to argue with you. I came here to tell you that I’m with Jason, so stop sticking your nose in my love life.”
Maria crossed her arms and tipped her nose back. “Well, I don’t approve.”
“Not asking for your approval. I’m telling you how things are. From now on, if you want me to come for dinner, you’ll invite Jason, too.”
Maria gasped. “That’s no way to speak to your mother.” She started playing with the pearls at her neck.
“Just telling you how it is. Take it or leave it.”
“And I think you need to think long and hard about your loyalty to our community, Libertad.” She stood. “You can call me when you’ve come to your senses.” She spun around and stomped from the room.
Libby’s father rubbed his forehead and then met Libby’s gaze. “Give her time, Mija.”
Libby stood, Jason at her side. “This is how it’s going to be, Dad. If you want to see me, Jason is part of the package.”
“I understand. I’ll talk to your mother, but you know how she is. It won’t be easy.” He reached out and pulled Libby into his arms. “I love you, Mija.”
“Thank you, Papá. I love you, too.”
When he released her, he held out a hand to Jason again. “Nice to meet you, Jason. Sorry the circumstances are not ideal.”
“Nice to meet you too, sir. Hopefully, time will help mend things.”
Libby followed Jason out the front door, saying nothing until they were back in the SUV. Finally, she exhaled. “Gotta say, that went better than I expected.”
He reached for her hand, a slight smile on his lips. “It did? I’m pretty sure your mom reacted exactly as you suspected.”
Libby squeezed his hand. “Yeah, but she could have been worse, and even though my dad didn’t say much, he was clearly on my side more than his wife’s.”
Jason cupped her face and leaned forward to kiss her. “I didn’t say much either, baby girl. I didn’t want to interfere. I hope that was okay.”
“It was perfect. Thank you. You were there for moral support. Now, let’s go back to your house. That was stressful. I need to do something to take my mind off my mother.”
He wiggled his brows. “I have a few ideas.”
She giggled. “Good.” She thought she’d feel devastated, but she felt more relief than anything else. There was no doubt in her mind she’d just made the best decision of her life. No more tiptoeing around her mother, lying to make the woman think she was toeing the line. No more blind dates. From now on, Libby was free to be herself whether her mother liked it or not.
Chapter 28
Monday morning, Libby was in her kitchen sipping her first cup of coffee when a knock sounded at the door. She groaned, hoping it wasn’t another damn gift from Eddie. The man hadn’t sent her anything or even texted in over a week and she’d let her guard down.
Libby shuffled slowly toward the door. She should have taken Jason up on his offer to spend the night last night. The only reason she hadn’t was because she knew he needed to get to work early today, and she hadn’t wanted
