My mother looks me over. Her assessment, nakedly judgmental. I can almost hear her thoughts.Whatever game you’re playing, you will end up the loser.She plasters a smile. “Whatever you want. I’m just happy you’re here.”
“I thought the point of this impromptu memorial was to meet me and Damien.”
She chuckles. “Not everything is about you, sweet Ivy. It just so happened to clash with whatever is going on in your life. I just wish you’d told me, that’s all. I was scrambling around looking for a husband for you so you can get out of your… situation and here you were, eloping to Vegas.”
“We wanted to keep it a secret.”
“From your mother?” She shakes her head, her usual signal that the topic is done. “Anyway, I guess that means you’re in control of your shares?”
If only she knew. “Yes.” My voice is too low and I pray it doesn’t betray my deception, but she doesn’t seem to notice.
She clasps her hands. “Great! You must know, darling, that I never intended to sign that horrid document that put you in such a predicament. Your father did all that. He was very persuasive, and I thought he was doing what’s best for you.”
At this point. A healthy mother-daughter relationship would bookend this conversation with a hug or a shift in a topic about how Lake is. In my case, my mother chooses instead to add, “You’ve grown a little chubby around the waist.” If you continue eating those croissants you make, your love handles alone will be grounds for divorce.”
“Mom!” At a little above a hundred and twenty pounds, it is laughable to consider me fat or in danger of getting fat, but anything more than a size zero to my waif-thin mother is overweight. Size eight? That’s downright obese to her. Subconsciously, I clutch my stomach, feeling the extra pouch that never fully went away after Lake’s birth.
“I’m actually on a weight gain diet,” I say to irritate her. “I hope to add five more pounds to this belly by the end of the day.”
***
Carey and his wife have arrived by the time Mom and I leave the study. My heart hammers in my chest as I watch Carey and Damien talk. As I trace my way to them, I’m repeating a single mantra in my head. Don’t say anything about Lake. Don’t say anything about Lake.
“Wow, it’s been a long time since I saw you,” Carey says closing the distance between us and hugging me. He’s always been a hugger to the people he loves. I embrace him and sink into his warmth. It’s a very different vibe from the one my mother gave me and I receive it unashamedly. “What have you done, sister?” He whispers in my ear. His tone is friendly, but his face has a small frown of concern. He looks a little older than before. Stress lines are becoming more prominent on his forehead and he looks like he hasn’t been eating that much.
“I hope my antics haven’t hurt your campaign?”
He smiles, making his handsome boyish face even more heartwarming. “What campaign? I do not plan to run for District Attorney in the following election.”
“Yeah sure.” Even though he hasn’t officially announced, everyone knows Carey Hawthorne is going to run for District Attorney for Manhattan County. It’s the worst kept secret in town and everyone and their mother wants him to run. He’s just won a high-profile celebrity case and his good looks and charm in the courtroom has earned him a nickname on social media. LILF (Lawyer I would like to fuck). Every time he gives a press conference, #LILF trends. I wonder what Thalia thinks about it all now that her husband is one of the most desired men in the country.
“And how is your wife?” I ask, my gaze darting to Thalia, who’s in conversation with Damien. I immediately want to join them. My fear momentarily fades as I wonder if Carey relayed my message about Lake to her, but his sudden dark mood andthe way he says, “Good,” as if he had to drag the words out of his mouth. “What is going on between you two?”
Carey shakes his head slightly. “Marriage is… my marriage is fine.” His mood suddenly shifts and his coy boyish charm is back again. “I see your childish dream has come true. Were you two really seeing each other?”
“Yes. Why is it so hard to fathom?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because Damien Sinclair is family nemesis number one. I remember Nolan wanting to rip his head off after finding you two in the garden kissing.”
Kissing? Funny that he reduced that fateful encounter to simply kissing. My cheeks still go red at the thought of being found out early morning by Nolan and Dad. Both were angry, and both looked like they would rip Damien’s head off. “He’s Nolan’s nemesis, not mine.”
“Not to mention the history between you two. Does Damien know?”
I give a slight shake of my head just as Damien and Thalia come over to join us. “Does Damien know what?” he asks. My heart hammers against my chest. Did he hear our conversation? It’s not as if we said anything that could give my secret away. As I scramble for a plausible explanation, Carey jumps in to save me.
“I was asking if you know whether Nolan is coming or not.”
“Is he not here because he’s afraid of me?” Damien says.
“You are the fox in the henhouse here,” Carey drawls, “Aren’t you the one desperately trying to steal our company from under us?”
“I am merely doing business, Carey. Emotions,” Damien comes to stand beside me and draw me next to him, “have nothing to do with it.”
Carey, with his trademark charm, counters, “That’s a load of bull if I’ve ever heard some. But that’s not what I want to talkabout. I wanna know specifically why you eloped with my sister. A gunshot wedding with no relatives present? “
Damien’s gaze darts to me. “Ask her.” I scramble for something that won’t ring alarm bells in their minds. Thalia is looking at me with expectant curiosity. My mother has joined us and she has a glass of mimosa in her hand while practically smirking at me. Carey is a little skeptical, but curious, just like his wife.
“We met at um…” Damien and I walk in such different circles. Bumping into each other is not something likely to happen on an everyday occurrence.
