Starbright (24 page)

“Papa.” Her voice shook, but nothing compared to how Aidan’s entire body did next to her. “Would you like some more shepherd’s pie?”

“Marie, I asked the young man a question.”

“Yes, but—”

“It’s okay.” Aidan’s voice was like that of a small boy. “My mother…” His Adam’s apple yo-yoed in his throat. “My mother passed away when I was ten years old.”

Mrs. Bates’ hand flew to her mouth.

“Oh,” was all Mr. Bates said.

Tears pricked Beth’s eyes. How sad Aidan must feel. It had taken him a long time to talk about his mother to her, and now he was forced to open up to strangers.

“So your father raised you, then?” Mr. Bates prompted.

Beth stared at her father imploringly, trying to communicate that the only way to help the situation was the leave the matter of Aidan’s parents alone entirely. Deep down, however, she knew the damage had already been done.

“My father and I don’t speak.”

Beth took Aidan’s hand again, letting him know she was here for him. His palm felt hot and sweaty. Worst of all, his grip remained lax.

Her father cleared his throat. “Right, then. Well, I’d like some dessert.” He looked at Beth pointedly. “Marie, would you please?”

“Yes, Papa.” She tossed her napkin onto the table and scrambled to her feet, reluctantly letting go of Aidan’s hand. She made quick retrieval of the caramel pudding from the kitchen, not wanting to leave him alone with her parents for too long.

Aidan barely touched his dessert and neither did she. The knots in her stomach prevented her from thinking she could keep anything down. Never once did Aidan’s composure crumble, though. It pained her to see him bottle up his emotions like he did for years prior to meeting her, but she knew the situation required such a reaction.

Thankfully, her mother once again carried the conversation, avoiding additional awkward silences. She asked if Beth knew what film she would work on next, which led to a discussion on Aidan’s new film. He seemed more at ease as he shared opinions on his character, and how grateful he was to work with Kazan.

When the conversation fizzled, Beth and her mother cleared the table, and her father lit a cigarette. Aidan accepted one as well. He looked considerably more relaxed by the time he finished smoking it.

After the last dish was put away, Mrs. Bates surveyed the table enthusiastically. “Is anyone up for a game of charades?”

Aidan cleared his throat. “Thank you, but I should go.”

Mrs. Bates looked at the dining room clock. “Oh, goodness, it is late, isn’t it? Time flies when you’re having fun.”

Aidan draped his napkin over the table and stood from his chair. Beth couldn’t help but feel he was putting his tremendous acting talent to good use as he shook her father’s hand, kissed her mother’s cheek, and thanked them for a wonderful evening. She offered to walk him out, eager to talk to him in private, and was relieved when he accepted.

In the front foyer, Beth could no longer hold back her tears.

“I’m so sorry.” Her apology fell from trembling lips. She clenched her eyes shut, incapacitated by the agony she brought upon him tonight.

“Baby, please don’t cry.” Aidan took her face in his hands and wiped his thumbs across her wet cheeks. “Tonight was great.”

Beth gazed at him through her tears. “I let you down.”

He shook his head. “You didn’t. I’m honored you let me meet your folks.”

A small sob escaped her throat. “But I should have warned them.”

Aidan dipped his head, fixing her with a determined stare. “Listen to me, it’s no one’s fault. Your father asked a simple, normal question, and if my past was simple and normal, it would’ve been fine.” He brushed his hand to her hair. “He cares about you very much, and he’s only trying to make sure I’m good enough for you. I just hope I didn’t mess up too badly.”

“You didn’t at all,” Beth replied, knowing it wouldn’t matter to her if he had. “I just wish my father wasn’t so hard on you. It’s not fair.”

“It’s fine,” Aidan said, though his eyes communicated the opposite. “We got through it.”

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Beth worried about him driving off and doing something rash, or falling into a sleep riddled with nightmares.

“I’m okay. I promise.” A sly grin stretched across Aidan’s face as looked to the ceiling. “Well, what do you know…?”

Beth followed his gaze to the mistletoe.

Aidan glanced over her shoulder. She could tell by the twinkle in his eyes that the coast was clear. Softly, patiently, he took her in his arms and brought their lips together. Beth’s body responded immediately by humming with pleasure. She weaved her hands into his hair and pressed against him, desperate to feel as much of him as possible after restraining herself in front of her parents.

Aidan pulled away first. “I should go before your parents wonder what’s taking you so long.”

Beth nodded reluctantly.

They exchanged
I love yous
, and then he was gone.

Beth tidied her appearance and returned to the living room.

“What a nice young man,” her mother said from near the Christmas tree.

Her father was busy starting a fire in the hearth.

“Really, Mama? You liked him?” Beth couldn’t hide the hopefulness in her reply.

Her mother nodded. “Yes, dear.”

Her father turned away from the fireplace.

Beth looked at him with wide eyes. “What about you, Papa?”

If not for the crackling fire, the house would’ve been silent. Her heart lurched.

Mrs. Bates looked back and forth between them. “Goodness, I’m bushed. It’s time for me to retire for the night.” She smiled at Beth. “Thank you for such a pleasant day.”

“I’m so glad you’re here, Mama.” Beth captured her lip between her teeth to combat its quivering.

“Me, too, sweetie.” Mrs. Bates touched her husband’s forearm. “I’ll see you in a little while, John.”

He kissed her cheek and she left the room, allowing Beth to speak with him privately.

“Would you like a drink, Papa?” She figured that was a good place to start.

He nodded. “Another root beer, if you don’t mind.”

Beth retrieved his beverage from the kitchen. When she returned to the living room, she discovered him standing in the glow of the Christmas tree. The colored lights softened his face, erasing the weariness that had crept in over the last few years. She took a minute to commit the image to memory. Where had the time gone? It seemed like only yesterday she was a little girl, sitting on his knee and listening to bedtime stories. Now he was meeting her steady beau in a house she bought with her own money, and they shared many of the same adult responsibilities.

She approached him quietly. “Here’s your drink, Papa.”

“Thank you.” He took the glass and walked toward the couch she and Aidan slept on last night.

Beth gestured to the opposite sofa. “How about we sit over here?”

Her father set his root beer down on the coffee table and took a seat on the couch she had suggested. He pulled his Chesterfields from his pocket.

Beth sat down, too, leaving a cushion of space between them. “Did you enjoy today?”

Leaning back in his seat, her father lit a cigarette. “It was a wonderful day.” He tucked away his matchbook and took a long drag. “I’ve missed you, Marie.”

“I’ve missed you, too.” Beth blinked a few times, hoping to maintain her composure. “Was dinner to your liking?”

“It was delicious.” His gaze drifted in the direction of the tree, reflecting a rainbow of colors and uncharacteristic vulnerability.

“And what about Aidan?” she said quietly.

Her father took another pull on his cigarette. On the exhale, he turned to her, enveloped in a transparent veil of smoke and fiery light. “Marie, are you comfortable being in a relationship with someone who isn’t close with his family? The fact that Aidan doesn’t speak to his father makes me question his character and moral standing.”

Beth wanted to respond that she was Aidan’s family, as was Nathan, Olivia, Matthew, and Kazan, but her father wouldn’t understand.

“It’s not his fault,” she said.

Her father sipped his root beer. “I want to make sure you’re looking at the situation clearly.”

“I’m grateful for your concern, Papa. Really, I am.”

“Aidan’s reaction to my questions about his parents was also unnerving.” Her father brought his cigarette to his lips. “Are you sure he isn’t hiding something?”

Beth’s hand gravitated to her angel pendant. “Aidan has been nothing but open and truthful with me. I trust him, and I want nothing more than for you to have faith in him, too.”

“You’re seeing this fellow exclusively, yet he doesn’t even call you by your real name.”

The significance behind Aidan’s ring came to Beth’s mind. “I know it’s difficult for you to comprehend, Papa, but I’m both Marie and Elizabeth now.” By the grace of the Christmas tree and fire, she saw the attentiveness in her father’s eyes. She was glad he was taking her seriously. “Aidan is well aware of who I was before I came to Los Angeles, and the woman I’ve become since moving here. Our relationship isn’t based on any falsehoods.”

Her father didn’t say anything.

Beth’s voice took on a pleading tone. “I promise he treats me well, Papa.”

Her father extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray on the coffee table, even though he’d only smoked half of it. “Marie, I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t wish for you to meet a doctor or a lawyer, someone in a secure, respectable profession who could take care of you.” He gestured to the room. “But seeing firsthand all you’ve accomplished out here, I now realize you can take care of yourself, and that acting is a fine career choice.”

“These are different times from when you courted mother,” Beth said, ensuring her defense remained courteous. “Aidan respects me, and we work together in our relationship. I don’t need to rely on him financially.”

“Yes, I suppose I’m old-fashioned in that way. I assumed you would attend college, teach until you got married, and then settle down as a housewife and mother. Deep down, though, it was clear to me that was never your ideal life. That was why, no matter how hard it was, I didn’t prevent your move to Los Angeles. Ultimately, I knew how important it was for you to find your own way.” He gave Beth a look so loving she was moved to tears. “Tell me, Marie, are you happy with your life here in California?”

In an effort to find her voice, she cleared her throat softly. “Very much so.”

“You’re nineteen years old, an adult. I know I cannot tell you who to date—”

“I need your approval, Papa.” Beth’s voice cracked. “It matters dearly to me.”

He trained his eyes on the fireplace. “No one will ever be good enough for you, pumpkin.”

“You don’t see how much Aidan cares for me?”

“Oh, I see it, all right.” Her father’s face took on a pensive quality. “While you and your mother were in the kitchen putting the flowers in water and fetching our drinks, I asked Aidan about fishing, and he said he doesn’t like fishing. I asked him about baseball. He said he doesn’t watch baseball. I asked him what he does like, then. And do you know what he replied?”

Beth shook her head.

“Your daughter.”

The words suspended like a dense cloud of smoke in the quiet room.

“Then I brought up his car racing, which I remember reading about in paper. I said if he cared about you, he wouldn’t be so reckless—”

“I wish you hadn’t said anything.” Beth frowned. “If he wants to race, he can race.”

Her father shook his head. “Women and children can be careless, but not men. We have a responsibility to our family, or future family, as they case may be here.”

Beth opened her mouth to speak. He raised his hand, indicating he wasn’t finished. “In response, Aidan told me he’d quit racing, even get rid of his motorcycle, if it would prove to me how much he cares for you.”

Her father’s eyes met hers, inquisitive yet kind. “I just hope if he’s as serious about you as he says he is that he knows the importance of making an honest woman out of you. Has he discussed with you his views on marriage?”

Warmth fanned across Beth’s face, and it wasn’t on account of the fire. “Not directly, but we’ve discussed the future in general.”

Displeasure sharpened her father’s features. “There cannot be a future without marriage, Marie. It isn’t right. Not that I want you rushing into things, but I also don’t want you wasting your time if he has no intentions of committing to you fully.”

“We may not have discussed marriage yet, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.”

Her father looked to his lap. “I don’t know where I would’ve ended up had your mother not taken a chance on me.”

Beth regarded at him curiously.

“I was not her father’s first choice, you know. I’m not a wealthy man, nor am I the smartest—”

“Oh, Papa!” Beth’s poise disintegrated. “Don’t speak about yourself that way.”

“You and your mother are the most important people in my life,” he continued, as though she hadn’t spoken. “I took care of you both to the best of my abilities and always put your needs before my own. I’m just sorry I couldn’t give you more when you were growing up. The two of you deserve the world, but a small town shoe repair business doesn’t have the potential to be a fruitful venture. I did all I could, though, to make it as successful as possible.”

“I never did without, Papa. Your love and Mama’s were more than enough. I wouldn’t trade my childhood for anything.”

To her surprise, her father leaned over the cushion between them and took her hand. “Sometimes I feel like I held your mother back from achieving her dreams. We married when she was just eighteen, and we had you a year later. She had an interest in science and wanted to become a nurse, but she gave it all up for me.”

Beth squeezed his hand. “You didn’t hold her back. I can see in her eyes when she looks at you that she’s exactly where she wants to be.”

“I hope so.” Her father withdrew his hand. “Marie, I want you to know I’m proud that you’re living the life you want to live out here, and that you were able to attain your independence before Aidan came along.”

“I love him, Papa,” she said softly. “And he loves me.”