Darker The Forbidden Berry

After all, that was not how trust worked. It was earned over time. She was happy to let Linda get to know her, but Linda had to give her a chance.

“I’m not here to take his money, Mrs. Somerset.”

“I am aware that people can lie, you know,” Linda said, her eyes darting over towards Aja. “Besides, I am not talking to you right now. I am talking to my son.”

Finn slammed his fist down on the arm of the couch and stood up, eyes wild with rage.

“Show her some decency, Linda!”

Linda’s eyes widened and she brought a hand up to clutch her invisible pearls.

“I am your mother! Do not address me by my first name!”

“Then start acting like a mom!” He snapped, staring her down. “I love you and I respect you, but it’s about time you start showing me the same decency! You treat me like I’m your employee.”

She raised an overly plucked, drawn in brow at the comment.

“I am the reason you have a career.”

“And I’m the reason your businesses in America haven’t flopped! I deserve respect and I deserve to be treated like an adult!”

Richard stood up and walked over to the couch, offering a hand to Aja.

“If you two are going to sit here and bicker for the rest of the time we’re together, I’m going to take Aja and go somewhere else. This isn’t polite and it isn’t how she should have to spend her time with us.”

Aja was surprised at how readily she took the man’s hand, hoisting herself up to her feet, following him out of the room. The doors slammed closed behind them and the stunned silence quickly erupted into more screaming.

“Should we leave them alone?” Aja asked, glancing over her shoulder as they wandered down the hallway.

“They’ll scream at each other until they’re both too tired to keep going,” he said with a shrug. “Unfortunately this is just how things go with our family.”

They walked out of the house and made their way across a thin strip of concrete that served as a sidewalk between the house and a large, multi-car garage. They stepped inside and their voices bounced and echoed on the metal interior.

“Has it always been like this?” Aja asked, admiring the vintage sports cars.

“No. Finn and Linda used to be very close. Believe it or not, he was a total momma’s boy when he was a kid.”

Aja’s large, honey eyes widened in response.

“No way,” she said, a small smile pulling at her lips.

“Absolutely. I wouldn’t lie about this,” Richard said with a chuckle. “He and Linda were very close until Finn started going through his rebellious teen years. He started pushing boundaries and I tried telling her we just needed to let him do his thing.” Richard sighed as he picked up a cloth and started to shine one of his headlights. “She was so used to him being her little man and following her around that she just could not let him grow up. I think that there is a part of her that just wants what they had.”

Aja frowned and settled on a round work stool, shaking her head a little.

“I never would have guessed any of that. Finn doesn’t really talk about their relationship.”

“I’m not surprised. It’s been very toxic over the years.”

Richard was a kind man and it was obvious to Aja that he was just trying to keep his family together. He sounded sad but resigned.

“Do you think they’ll ever go back to being close again?” Aja asked.

“Who knows,” he said with a shrug, pulling down a socket set and putting it in Aja’s lap. “They both need to decide that they’re ready to heal before anything can really get better. Hand me a three-eighths socket, will you?”

Aja ran her fingers along the raised numbers and found the right one before handing it over. Being in the garage with Richard made her feel better. She was raised by a close-knit group of women.

Her father died when she was just a baby and so she never really had a male role model in her life. She was not ever able to sit in the garage with her dad while he tinkered on his cars. This was certainly preferable to all the screaming she was sure was going on inside the house.

They both talked about their love of Detroit. She learned that Richard was fond of the casino’s and riverwalk. She told him about her college and all of her favorite restaurants and they shared a few good laughs. The conversations made Aja hope that Finn and his mother could figure out their differences. She did not want her baby to be deprived of such a wonderful grandfather.

Aja was pulled from her warm thoughts when the door creaked open and Finn wandered in, his lips pulled into a tight line.

“We’re going to head out, dad.”

“You and your mom done screaming for now?”

“Well, hopefully, I won’t be seeing her for a while, so, yeah…We’re done.”

Richard wiped dark smears of grease on a hand towel. He looked between Aja and Finn and hummed.

“Let’s get together for dinner.”

“I’m not going to dinner with mom,” Finn said firmly.

“Did I say she was invited? We’ll make it just the three of us, alright?” He assured, clapping Finn on the shoulder.

Finn nodded and put his hand over Richard’s for a brief moment. They shared a knowing look before Finn walked over to Aja and offered his arm. Aja took it and rested her head on his shoulder, taking a deep breath.

“I feel like that went about as badly as it could have gone,” she murmured, ducking into the car.

Finn shrugged a little and sighed. “I’m still in the will so it’s not all bad.”

Aja turned to look at him, her brows furrowed.

“Are we really going to be able to do this?” She asked softly, worry shaking her voice.

“Do what?”

“Are we really going to be able to be together?”

“Of course we are,” he said, reaching out and taking her hand gently. “Listen. She’s pissed at us and she’s probably going to be pissed for a really long time, but I don’t care enough to change anything I’m doing, okay?” He said, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it tenderly.

She practically melted into that touch, smiling and nodding.

“And you’re sure it’s worth the fight?” She asked.

“I would fight Muhamad Ali for you.”

“Please don’t. You have such a nice face,” she teased, leaning in and kissing him. “As long as you’re okay with it…..”

“I mean… It upsets me for sure, but I also know there’s nothing I can do about it, you know?” He said with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Did you tell her about the baby?”

Finn paused and shook his head.

“I want her to be happy about the baby,” he said softly. “I did not want to tell her while we were fighting.”