Chapter Nineteen
Annie
“Annie?” Mum’s voice cuts through the moment, and I quickly pull away from Aston, sliding off his lap as she walks toward us beneath the willow tree.
I glance at him.
He’s smirking.
Busted.
I shift to sit beside him as Mum approaches, smiling. “Hey, Mum.”
“Hi, sweetheart. Your father’s ready to start again. I thought I’d come get you before he decided to himself.”
I bite my lip at that. Yeah… definitely better this way.
“Thanks, Mum.”
Aston nods. “Yeah, thanks.”
We both stand, brushing ourselves off.
Mum reaches for my arm. “Can we have a quick chat?”
Aston leans in and kisses my cheek. “I’ll see you inside.”
I hand him my notebook as Mum smiles at him. “Thanks, honey.”
“No worries,” he says, giving me a wink before heading back toward the manor.
Mum slips her arm around my shoulders, steering me toward the lake. “So… you and Aston, huh?” she says lightly.
I nod, unable to stop the smile spreading across my face.
“How serious are we talking?”
“We just decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend,” I admit. “But we’re taking it slow. We were best friends first, and we don’t want to mess that up.”
She nods thoughtfully. “I was friends with one of my exes before we got together. It didn’t work out, but we’re still close.”
I frown, trying to piece that together. Mum doesn’t exactly have a long list of male friends.
Then it clicks. “Wait… you mean you and Uncle Joseph?”
She smiles. “Yep. Four years.”
My brain stalls. “But… Uncle Joseph is…”
“You can say it, honey. He’s gay,” she says gently. “He didn’t realize at first. Not properly. Then he met Danny.”
I blink, trying to follow. “But you said four years…”
She presses her lips together briefly. “He was figuring himself out. Didn’t want to hurt me. But eventually… he had to choose. And he chose Danny.” I wince slightly. “Anyway…” she adds, waving it off, “… that’s not the point.”
We stop near the lake, ducks gliding across the water.
She hesitates. “Do I need to talk to you about…” I tense. “Sex?” she finishes, clearly uncomfortable.
I burst out laughing. “No, Mum. We’re nowhere near that. We’ve only really been kissing, and we’re taking things slow. We don’t want to fuck this up.”
She gives me a look. “Language.”
“Sorry.”
She softens. “Just know you can come to me… about anything. I don’t want you figuring this stuff out on your own.”
I nod. “I won’t.”
“I’ve known for years this would happen between you two,” she adds with a small smile.
I groan. “Seriously? Everyone knew except me.”
She laughs.
“He wrote me a song,” I say quietly, the smile slipping back onto my face.
Her brows lift. “Oh really? It better be good.”
“It’s… amazing,” I whisper. “I didn’t know someone could feel like that about me. It just feels… right.”
She turns me to face her, her expression serious but warm. “Then, as long as it keeps feeling right, I’m all for it. But the second it doesn’t, you come to me. Promise?”
“I promise.” And I mean it.
“What about Dad, though?” I add. “He barely lets Aston look at me without glaring.”
She tries, and fails, not to laugh. “Your father still sees you as his little girl. Pigtails, scraped knees… not this version of you.”
“But you can see it.”
“I can,” she says gently. “He will too. He just needs time.”
I sigh. “He’s going to be unbearable when I move out.”
She laughs. “Oh, sweetheart… just wait until you get married.” I groan.
Her tone softens again. “He’s scared. Not of you growing up, but of you getting hurt.
And that’s going to happen at some point, no matter what.
” My chest tightens slightly. “But you and Aston know each other,” she continues.
“That gives you a better chance than most. Just remember… fame brings attention. And not all of it will be easy to deal with.” I nod slowly.
“And please…” she adds with a teasing smile, “… don’t land yourself in an international prison for punching a fan as I did. ”
I laugh. “Wow. Supportive.”
She nudges me. “I’m always on your side. So is your dad, even if he shows it badly.”
“Yeah… I guess.”
“Well,” she says, glancing back toward the house. “We should get you inside before he comes looking for us both.”
“Is he going to yell?” I ask, wincing slightly.
“No, sweetheart,” she says quickly. “I was teasing. But I will talk to him about Aston.” Relief washes through me. “He might still be a bit strict,” she adds. “But I’ll work on him. On one condition.”
I look at her. “Okay… what?”
“Promise me you’ll talk to me before you even think about having sex with Aston—”
“Mum—”
“No,” she cuts in firmly. “I’m serious, Annie. You need to make the right choices, and I need to know you’re protected. Promise me.”
I sigh, but smile. “I promise. But as I said, that won’t be for a long time.”
She raises a brow. “Your version of ‘a long time’ and mine might be very different. A month isn’t a long time.”
I roll my eyes. “Relax. I’m thinking more like a year.”
Her shoulders visibly drop in relief. “Well… that’s sensible,” she says. “I just want what’s best for you. You know that, right?”
“I know, Mum. Thanks.”
She smiles. “All right, let’s get back so you can practice before lunch.”
My eyes widen. “Practice sex before lunch?”
She bursts out laughing. “Oh my God, no. Practice music, Annie.”
I huff. “Well, you were talking about sex and then suddenly switched topics. What was I supposed to think?”
She laughs, kissing the top of my head as we head back toward the house. By the time we reach the kitchen, we’re both still laughing, mainly about Ella and her nervous eating, when Dad walks in, already looking annoyed.
“Where have you been? We’ve been waiting,” he says.
I glance at Mum. “She was with me, babe. Just having some girl time,” Mum says easily.
I hug her quickly before stepping back.
“Well, break time ended fifteen minutes ago. Let’s go,” Dad says, already turning.
I head toward the hallway, but Mum stops him.
“Babe, can I have a quick word?”
I glance back, and she winks.
Oh… this is going to be interesting.
I slip out into the hallway but don’t go far, just lean against the wall, listening.
“What is it, Dee? I need to get them ready for the next gig,” Dad says, all business.
“Colt, relax,” Mum replies calmly. “They’re doing great. Pushing them harder won’t help. It’ll just stress them out.”
There’s a pause.
“Yeah… I know,” Dad exhales. “I just want this for them. They deserve it.”
“Well… that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”
My stomach tightens.
“Oh? What’s going on?”
“Aston and Annie are dating—”
“What?”
I wince at the volume.
“Colt, calm down—”
“Calm down? He’s going to defile my daughter! Where is he? I’ll kill him.”
Oh God.
“Babe, stop!”
“Why? I told that little shit not to touch her—”
“Colt!” Mum snaps. “Listen to yourself.”
There’s a beat.
Then the scrape of chairs.
“Sit down.”
“I don’t want to sit down—”
“Sit. Down.”
Yep… that tone.
I press my lips together, trying not to laugh even as my heart races. This is either going to go very, very badly… or surprisingly well.
“Sit. The fuck. Down!” Mum says even more forcefully, and I smile, knowing she’s taking charge, which is something Dad hates. I hear the chair scrape along the floor, so I’m pretty sure he’s just sat down.
“How is this a good thing?” Dad demands.
“Because, babe, Annie is talking to me about it. As long as she keeps talking to me, I know where they’re at—”
“A relationship?” he cuts in. “It’s a fucking crush, that’s all this is.”
I frown, my stomach dipping slightly.
A crush?
“Colt,” Mum says calmly. “It’s not a crush. You’ve seen them grow up together. We both knew, even when they were five, this was coming.”
“Well, I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to like it,” she replies evenly. “But you do have to let them figure it out.”
“They’re kids—”
“They’re not,” she interrupts.
“Bullshit. He’s a teenage boy. He’s going to try something because she’s young and na?ve and—”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mum snaps. “You’ve known Aston his entire life. Do you really think he’d throw away their friendship, and the band, just to get his end in?”
I bite back a smile.
Go Mum.
Dad exhales sharply.
“Now listen,” she continues, softer but firm. “If you try to keep them apart, they’ll just sneak around. Then Annie won’t tell me anything, and we’ll have no idea what’s going on. They should be together where we can see them.”
Silence.
Then…
“What do you mean, ‘sneak around’?” Dad asks cautiously.
Oh God…
“If you push them, they’ll push back,” Mum says. “They’ll rush things. Make decisions too quickly. Is that what you want?”
I wince.
“No,” Dad mutters. “There’s no way they’re doing anything like that. I’ll—”
“Colt.” He stops. “Wouldn’t you rather she be with someone she knows and trusts?” Mum presses. “Someone who actually cares about her?”
I smirk.
Checkmate.
There’s a long pause.
“You really think I’ll make it worse if I push them apart?” Dad asks.
“Yes,” Mum answers simply. “If you want Annie to respect you, you need to respect her. Right now, she wants her music… and her boyfriend.”
“Ugh. Don’t say that.”
“What? Boyfriend?” she teases.
“She’s too young.”
“She’s seventeen, Colt. How old were you when you had your first girlfriend?”
“Shut up.”
I clap a hand over my mouth to stop from laughing.
“Fifteen,” Mum says sweetly. “Two years younger than Annie.” Dad groans. “I know this is hard,” she continues gently. “But she’s growing up. You either grow with her… or you push her away.”
Silence stretches between them.
“Fuck,” Dad mutters.
I grin.
“I know,” Mum says softly. “But it’s for the best. And for God’s sake, stop glaring at Aston every time he looks at her.”
“He better not—”
“Colt.”
“Right. Be respectful,” he grumbles. “This is going to take some getting used to.”
“It will,” Mum agrees. “But you’ll get there.”
“I will never be fine with anyone handling my daughter—”
“Colt.”
“Okay. I’ll try. For now.”
That’s basically a win, isn’t it?
“But if I see anything I don’t like—”
“No, you won’t.”
“Dee—”
“Colt.”
He hesitates, then… “Dammit! I hate it when you’re right.”
“You love it,” she teases.
I hear him sigh. “Yeah… I do. And you know what your swearing does to me.”
“Colt, that was five minutes ago.” She giggles.
Nope. Time to leave them to it.
I slip away from the wall, making a beeline for the music room before things get… too reconciliatory.
When I walk in, Aston’s already there. He’s got my notebook open, showing Caleb something, who’s listening intently with a grin.
Looks like he likes it.
My heart lifts.
Yes.
I can’t wait to hear us play it.