Landon steps forward, awkwardly kissing me on the cheek. “Welcome!”
“Thanks for having me.” I glance around the grounds. “This place is incredible.”
Selena bounces on her toes. “Isn’t it gorgeous? I thought about having the wedding here but decided, since it’s more intimate, it’s best for the engagement party.”
“My mom is the one who actually found it.” Landon nods. “She came here last year for a charity event.”
I picture a snooty mother with a cardigan wrapped around her shoulders, sipping wine while the aloof father reads a book. Somehow, I’m sure I’ve pegged Landon and his parents just right.
“So what’s on the agenda?” I’m fishing for a time when I can pull my sister aside and tell her she’s making a huge mistake.
“The guests should be arriving in twenty minutes, and then we’re going to party.”
“In fact”—Landon looks down at his phone like he’s reading a message—“my parents just arrived. I’ll go greet them and give you two time to catch up.” He leans in and kisses Selena softly. “I’ll miss you, mi amor.”
Mi amor?Something about the whitest guy I’ve ever seen trying to pull off Spanish rubs me the wrong way. It’s all I can do not to roll my eyes when Selena blushes like a thirteen-year-old.
She watches him tenderly as he walks away. “Isn’t he the sweetest?”
“An absolute gem.” Despite my efforts to seem genuine, Selena sees through to my sarcasm.
“You’re not fooling me, Cami.” She points to a table in the sun, but I nod to one in the shade of a large tree. “I know this engagement is killing you.”
I didn’t plan on bringing up my objections within five minutes of arriving, but since Selena opened the door, I might as well keep the conversation going.
“Of course it’s killing me.” We pull out the chairs and take a seat at the table. “You’re only twenty-one.”
“So if I were older, you’d be happy for me?”
“Not necessarily.”
She throws her arms up as she dramatically leans back into her chair. “Okay, give it to me.”
“Give you what?”
“The speech you’ve been preparing in your head about why I shouldn’t get married.”
Selena is smarter than I give her credit for.
“Fine.” I sigh. “Let’s start with the biggest red flag. You two barely know each other.”
“I know him better than I’ve ever known a man.”That’s not saying much.“We’ve spent every moment possible with each other for the last three months.”
“Three months? That’s not a relationship; that’s a trial period. You don’t even know if he gets seasonal depression or uses 3-in-1 shampoo.”
“Neither of those are deal breakers.”
“Okay, what about the fact that he can barely say Jiménez? Do you really want to legally bind yourself to someone who has to spellcheck your last name?”
A small smile forms as she shrugs. “I think it’s cute watching him try.”
“I won’t even get into the age-gap problem.”
“Age-gap problem?” It’s annoying how amused Selena seems by this conversation.
“Yes, the fact that he’s six years older than you. He’s even older than I am. But for the sake of arguing, let’s set that red flag aside and just focus on the fact that you guys come from completely different backgrounds.” I wave my arms around the venue. “He grew up dining at places like this, while our mom can’t even come to your engagement party because she couldn’t get time off from her sixteen-dollar-an-hour job. Do you not see how those differences could create a wedge in your relationship down the line?”
“Yeah, he’s rich and drives a car that probably costs more than our childhood home. I know that. I’m not pretending we’re the same. You think our differences make this marriage impossible. I think it’s part of what will make it work. He doesn’t make me feel small or less because of where I come from. He loves that I’ve worked hard for everything I have, and it’s made me grateful and down to earth. I’m different than the girls he grew up with in private school. You view our background as a weakness, while Landon sees it as a strength.”
