“For the talk.” Rory smiled appreciatively at her mother, and Andrea returned the smile. She turned to finish plating the food.
Rory reached up to remove the breakfast dishes and headed for the dining room.Andrea turned to watch her go, a wave of concern washing over her. She was certain that Rory was keeping something back, something more disconcerting than just where the wedding was being held.
ChapterSix
Rory stretched her hands up, allowing her fingers to brush the headboard of her bed as she released a tired yawn. Her body ached all over. It would have been easy to accept that it was still dark out if not for the sliver of yellow light that streamed into the room and fell on her face from the slight shift in the heavy curtains covering the French window across from the bed. She struggled to lift her eyelids. They felt like they were secured in place with strips of adhesive, but she quickly closed them again— the brightness of the light was an offense to her irises, she released a low grunt. It felt like she’d been running a marathon instead of sleeping for the last eight hours. But then again, she hadn’t gotten much sleep on account of her mind being flooded with questions about her and James and their future.
“What about our wedding? Are your thoughts any clearer about us walking down that aisle come December 23?”
James’ question kept repeating in her mind. Were her thoughts any clearer? Was she sure that there would be an aisle to walk down come the time? No.she wasn’t. It scared her. Just over a month and a half ago, she had been ecstatic, impatient even to become Mrs. James Davis. Now she was undecided. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was a mistake. The fact that she couldn’t voice her concerns to her mother or tell her everything that was currently happening with her, James, and his parents was a red flag to her.
Rory sighed as she thought about the situation deeper.
She knew without a doubt that she loved James, and she was confident that he loved her and wanted a future with her. What she also knew was how easily he caved to his parents’ demands, especially Lenora’s. She knew he hadn’t wanted to work at his father’s best friend’s law firm as a corporate lawyer but had relented even though his passion was environmental law. It’s the same way she knew he hadn’t wanted to play lacrosse back in high school, but because his father had been captain of his lacrosse team and his father before him and so on, it had been expected of him, and so he fell in line. He loved to point out that he chose her over everyone his mother picked for him, but she wasn’t sure that was enough. In every other way, it felt like he was choosing his parents, specifically his mother over her.
Her mother’s words came back to her in that instant,“You are two people from different worlds…”
“The expectations that she grew up with in a single-parent home with a mother who struggled for more than half of her life to take care of her was at one end of the spectrum and those for James at the next end as he was born into wealth and protocol. It would definitely be difficult for him just to break away from it all at once.
However, the question remained unanswered in her mind. She didn’t know if she still wanted to go through with the wedding.
Warm water flowed over Rory’s head, flattening her ginger hair against her face as it cascaded down her body. She massaged her sore shoulders, sighing in relief as some of the tension eased away from her. A relieved sigh left her lips as she spent a few more minutes under the showerhead soaking up the warmth. After turning off the water, she stepped out of the shower and left the bathroom. After getting dressed, she headed downstairs.
The smell of bacon wafted to Rory’s nostrils the moment she hit the bottom of the stairs. The sound of laughter floated to her ears the closer she got to the kitchen.
“Mmm. It smells great in here,” Rory said appreciatively as she walked into the kitchen, where her family sat around the island enjoying breakfast.
“Good morning, Rory,” her aunts greeted.
“Hi, honey,” Andrea said, her face bright with a smile.
“Hi, Mom.” She gave her mother a loving upper arm rub. “Hi, Grandma,” she greeted the small woman that looked even frailer than when she’d arrived over a week ago. Becky simply smiled in acknowledgment. She walked over and bent to kiss her temple affectionately before taking a seat.
“How’d you sleep?” her mother asked as she helped herself to the bacon and eggs before swiping a bread roll from the basket.
“I slept well,” Rory lied. “Where’s Jules?” she asked, noticing that her cousin was missing.
“She wasn’t feeling well,” Cora expressed.
“Oh, okay.” She turned her attention to her plate and took a bite of bacon.
“I’m going to dinner this evening,”
Rory looked across the table at her mother, surprised.
“Let me guess, with a certain Firefighter who can’t seem to put the fire out that you’ve lit in his chest?” Jo smirked.
“Ha ha, very funny,” Andrea deadpanned. “And yes, it is Donnie. He invited me to have dinner with him, his sons, and daughter-in-law. He wants us to get to know each other better. Rory, you’re invited too.” Andrea turned expectant blue eyes on her daughter.
Rory’s eyes widened in surprise as her aunts also turned to look at her. “Um…” She felt like a kid caught off guard by her teacher waiting on her to give a bright answer to their unexpected question even though she didn’t raise her hand or ask to be put in that situation.
“Sure…okay,” she agreed slowly.
Andrea, as if sensing her hesitance, went on to say, “It’s fine if you don’t want to come. You don’t have to, sweetie.”
“No, I do,” Rory rushed out. “I want to come and be there for you, Mom. To support you.” She also wanted to observe Donny and see how he treated her mother.
Andrea gave her an appreciative smile.
