Voted Out
Page 26
“Surprise!”
Stopped in her tracks, Liliane stared in absolute wonder at her visitors. “Ari?”
“Hey, Mom.” Ariana approached her with a cheeky smile on her face. “Miss me?”
“Very much.” Closing the gap between them, Liliane welcomed her home with a huge hug. Holding her tonight set the world right. “How are you? When did you get here?”
“Fine. We landed around noon in Winnipeg.” Grabbing her arm, her daughter coaxed her into sitting at the table beside her. “Dillon’s dad was waiting for us at the airport.”
Liliane’s gaze traveled to the man standing by the sink with a hand on his son’s shoulder. “You drove to Winnipeg today?”
In order to arrive in Winnipeg by lunchtime, Jasper would have left before 5:00 a.m. No wonder she woke up alone and he didn’t visit her at the election office today. If she hadn’t already fallen in love with him, she would have at this moment for driving fourteen hours to bring their children home.
“In his cruiser and in uniform.” Dillon’s grin stretched from ear to ear. “We rode in the back seat, behind the bars, like common criminals.”
“You and Ariana slept during the entire trip, Dill Pickle.” The man she loved pretended to punch his son in the chest, the teasing warming her heart. He made a great dad, and one day, he would also make a wonderful grandfather. “Stop complaining.”
“Hey, that’s police brutality.” An inch taller than his dad, Dillon retaliated with a few weak jabs to the abdomen. “Now I’m hungry. Anyone else wants to eat? I could make omelets.”
While night engulfed them, the sun rose on the other side of the Atlantic, a faraway reminder that their children should eat breakfast. The long afternoon nap they had enjoyed wouldn’t reset their internal clocks, and Liliane expected it would take a few days before they beat the jet lag. Sleep wouldn’t lure Ariana and Dillon into dreamland any sooner than it would her.
“Go ahead, Dillon.” Her stomach rumbling, Liliane gestured toward the refrigerator. “I’d like mine with extra cheese, please. Besides, I want to hear all about your trip.”
As he gripped the handle of the refrigerator, the young man shared a strange look with Ariana. If Jasper’s rising eyebrows were any indication, he didn’t miss the exchange either.
“Mom?” Her daughter patted her forearm. “I know that’s not the special meal I asked you to plan, but since the four of us are here...”
As Ariana hesitated and glanced at Dillon, worry replaced hunger in the pit of Liliane’s stomach. She squeezed Ariana’s fingers. Nothing her daughter could say or do would ever make Liliane love her any less. “Ari, I—”
“It’s not Ari, it’s me. I needed her moral support.” His back against the door of the refrigerator, Dillon eyed his father. “Dad, I know my birth certificate doesn’t agree, but you’re my father, the best father any kid could dream of having. I love you and I respect you, and I want you to be proud of me, but...”
Though Jasper appeared transfixed by his son’s speech, Liliane knew in her heart that despite the but hanging in the air, his feelings toward Dillon mirrored hers toward Ariana.
“I know you want me to get a good education—I want that too—and getting a business degree makes sense, especially if I want to open my own restaurant one day, but it feels like serving dessert before the appetizer, so after I was accepted into business, I applied to a renowned culinary institute in France.” His chin tilted forward, Dillon held his father’s gaze. “I stumbled on the registration ad online and I knew it was a long shot, like light years long, but I figured all I had to lose was a hundred euros. When the institute invited me to attend the cooking test in Paris, I was shocked, but I couldn’t turn down the opportunity. I had to go. That’s the reason I concocted that three-week trip to Europe, and Ari, being my best friend in the world, volunteered to come with me.”
The bright smile on her daughter’s face accentuated her complicity. “I was waiting for him in the lobby of the institute when I overheard two old guys praising Dill’s creations in French. I didn’t understand every word of what they said, but after they repeated délicieux, magnifique, and brillant three times, I could tell the dishes Dill prepared totally impressed them.”
“I passed the test with flying colors and they accepted me into their program a week later.” Pride shone in the young man’s eyes. “I know you’re not crazy about me attending a culinary school and becoming a chef, Dad, but—”
“Hold on, son.” With his hands bracing forward against thin air, Jasper stared in confusion at his son. “Where did you get the idea I would ever stand between you and your dream?”
“Well...” A frown creased Dillon’s forehead as he narrowed his eyes. “No offense, but every time Mathias cooks a new meal and tells his mom he’s going fly to Paris and become the best chef, you laugh.”
Torrential laughter erupted from Jasper’s chest. “Of course I laugh. It’s a TV show and Mathias is like a monkey in an apron, but you—” His eyes stayed riveted on his son’s face as he placed his large hands on Dillon’s shoulders. “You are gifted with an incredible talent, Dill. You can transform an ordinary meal into a delightful feast. It will be a pleasure, and an honor, to go visit you in Paris. Now get cracking. You can share every detail while you work your magic on those omelets. I’d like mine without mushrooms.”
Dillon rolled his eyes as his father hugged him.
“You’re such a drama pickle,” teased Ariana. “I knew your father would be thrilled. You better not make me sleep on the sofa when I go see you.”
“So you two are not dating?” The fear that Ariana and Dillon had developed a romantic relationship that could impact hers and Jasper’s and hurt their children should it end badly had wreaked havoc with her mind—and prompted Liliane to play it safe by keeping their affair secret.
“Me dating him?” The horrifying intonation in Ariana’s voice annihilated Liliane’s concerns. “He’s like an exasperating big brother.”
The door of the fridge closed with a bang.
“I so heard that, baby sister.” Looking and sounding not the least offended, Dillon placed an egg carton and an armload of vegetables on the counter. “You can sleep in the bathtub.”
“Bathtub? What bathtub? We didn’t see a single bathtub the entire time we traveled through France.” The affection Ariana shared for Dillon shone through in their sibling-like squabble. “Talking about bathtub, Mr. O, did Mom forget to tell you the main bathroom is mine?”
With his eyes wide open, his elbows bent, and both hands gripping the edge of the counter behind him, Jasper resembled an owl awoken in the middle of the day by an eagle eager to extend his territory. “I beg your pardon?”
Her daughter served Jasper one of her no-nonsense teacher looks. A riveting future teacher look. “Just so you know, I moved a blue toothbrush into Mom’s bathroom—in case someone is looking for it.”
Dumbstruck, Liliane stared at her lover. She had never seen him blush, never thought she would, but at this precise moment, he proved her wrong.
“Nice shade of red, Dad.” The amusement on Dillon’s face matched her daughter’s. “I may have been wrong about your feelings toward culinary school, but Ari and I are bang on about you and her mom, aren’t we?”
Heat scorched Liliane’s flushing cheeks. They had been careful to maintain a cordial distance in public but they obviously hadn’t fooled their children.
Ariana moved behind her chair then wrapped her arms around Liliane’s neck. “You didn’t fool us, you know.” Her daughter’s warm breath tickled her ear. “You and Mr. O could go see Dill in Paris during...your honeymoon?”
“Yeah, Dad, Ari and I wouldn’t mind becoming real siblings.” His son sounded as excited about their relationship as her daughter.
Neither Jasper nor she had mentioned marriage or blending their family yet, but the last few weeks had given them a preview of how it felt to live together—and it felt amazing.
A mischievous gri
n swept away Jasper’s stupefaction as he approached her.
“Liliane...” Kneeling in front of her, he took both her hands into his and gazed into her soul. “I fell in love with you months ago, but I didn’t realize how much I love you until the morning I almost lost you. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me, Liliane Irwin?”
Her daughter yelped in her ear then the pressure on her shoulders faded. Drawn into Jasper’s eyes, Liliane marveled at the love swirling in their depth.
“I love you, Jasper O’Neil.” She glanced at Ariana and Dillon hugging in tangible anticipation near the sink. “With the blessing of our children, I will marry you.”
Cheers erupted in the kitchen as the man who had captured her heart sealed their wonderful future with a passionate kiss.
The End
JS Marlo spent her childhood in a small French Canadian town, reading and daydreaming stories. One day she met her hero, a dashing young officer, and followed him back and forth across the country.
The memorable adventures she experienced with her young family fueled her imagination and kindled the dream of one day becoming a published author. When her three spirited children left the nest in pursuit of their own adventures, JS gave writing a chance.
JS lives in Alberta with her hubby, and when she’s not visiting her children and her little granddaughter, she’s working on her next novel under the northern lights.
Links
https://sites.google.com/site/jsmarloauthor/
http://bwlpublishing.ca/authors/marlo-js-romantic-suspense/