Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

***THEO***

M ax met them at the front door. "Thanks for letting us use your cabin for this," he said. "I thought one public screaming match was enough, and I'm sure there will be some screaming."

"Dr. Bishop has recovered from her health incident, as she's calling it. I believe her lungs are in good shape," Max said, shaking his head. "And your mother has been dropping names of lawyers who might be willing to represent her when she sues me, although I haven't quite figured out what she's suing me for."

"I'm sure she doesn't even know," he said. "Ignore her threats, they don't mean a thing."

"That was my plan," he said. "Come on, they're all out on the deck, staring daggers at each other. I thought there was going to be a fight at one point."

When they stepped out of the cabin, his mother saw him first and jumped to her feet. "Oh, Theo, thank God," she said. "We're getting out of here right this instant."

"Sit down Mother, you're not going anywhere, at least not until you've listened to what we have to say," he said, then looked around the table. "For the next few minutes, no one is going to say a word. You're going to keep completely silent, or this meeting will be over."

He waited until they all nodded their heads, then put his arm around Eden, making her mother let out a hiss, and he stared at her until she looked away. "Eden and I are both grown adults, and as such, perfectly capable of making our own choices," he said. "And we've chosen each other. We were married yesterday in a very small, very private ceremony."

Max emerged from the shadows and placed their marriage certificate on the table. He reached over and slid it across to his mother. "As you can see, it's all nice and legal," he said. "There's nothing you can do about it now, so it's time for you to make a choice."

"You can either support us or fight us, but the one thing you won't do is break us up," she said. "We want you all to be a part of our lives but only on our terms. This is the life we've chosen to live, and we hope you can be happy for us."

There was a long silence, then his mother got to her feet. "I will not be happy for you. You've married below yourself, Theo, and I'm ashamed," she said. "I'll never be able to show my face at the club when this gets around. I gave birth to you. How could you do this to me? I'll never forgive you for this. Come along, Steve; I'm not going to listen to any more of this. Our youngest son has turned his back on our family. I can't bear to be around him a second longer."

He couldn't help but be disappointed, but Eden looked up at him and squeezed his hand. Then, to his surprise, his father got up and walked over to him. "I'm happy for you, son," he said. "I heard you might be giving spearfishing lessons. I don't suppose there's room for one more? "

"You bet," he said, a smile spreading across his face. "I'd love to have you there, Dad."

***Eden***

Tears rolled down Eden's cheeks as she watched Theo and his dad hug, her heart filling with joy for both of them, but the feeling was short-lived. "Eden, we're leaving," her mother said. "Go pack your things. This was a huge mistake, and you'll feel better when we get you home. I'm sure we can have the marriage annulled. After all, you're having a breakdown, you're not yourself."

She let out a long sigh. "Mother, stop talking nonsense. No matter how much you want to believe differently, I'm a married woman now," she said. "I love Theo, and we're going to have a wonderful life together. It's time to move on; time to see me for the grown woman that I am."

"You are nothing but a child," her mother said, rising to her feet. "You don't know what's good for you, only I do. Now get over here, and let's go."

"No, Mother, you're leaving, but not with me," she said. "I'm sorry it has to be this way, but I don't have room in my life for you if you can't let go. It's over, Mother, you've smothered me for the last time."

Her mother let out a big huff, then turned to look at her father. "Aren't you going to do anything?" she demanded. "Are you just going to let your daughter talk to me that way?"

"It's long past time she talked to you that way," her father said, getting to his feet and walking over to them and giving her a hug. "It's over, Gwen. You pushed her away, but I'm not about to make that mistake. Besides, Theo promised me a spearfishing lesson, and I'm going to make him keep his promise. I'll see you at home next week sometime, I'll let you know when."

Her mother let out another huff, then followed Theo's mother into the house, muttering to herself the whole way. "Well, I better see about getting those two back over to the big island," Max said. "I already booked them seats on the next flight back to the States, economy, of course."

They all started laughing, then Theo crushed her to him. "I love you, Eden," he said. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I guess Heart of the Ocean knew what it was doing when it pushed us together. We owe this island a debt of gratitude."

"I love you too, Theo," she said, then looked out at the jungle around them. "I think the island is as happy as we are that we're together. We'll have to come here every year for our anniversary."

"Just as long as we stay in the present," he said. "I've had enough time travel to last me a lifetime."