Page 55 of Hula Girl

His assurance inspires totally unwarranted confidence in me given what we’re going to do. Still, I take comfort in it and smile back at him.

This little reprieve doesn’t last long as we’re once more interrupted—this time by my cell phone. I recognize the ringtone as the one I’d assigned to my mom. It’s close to eleven o’clock. She should be asleep.

I don’t waste any time apologizing to Ford for taking the call. Instead, I answer with a breathless, “Mama?”

“Mija, everything is okay,” she says quickly, obviously aware of how this call will raise red flags for me.

I breathe easier and glance at Ford. He’s watching me with concern.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?” I ask my mother.

“I’m fine, really. Though, you could say I’m a little confused. See, I got a phone call earlier from a woman named Doris. She apologized for phoning, but said she couldn’t find my email address to forward the invitation to attend adinner party—that’s the expression she used—on Saturday in honor of my daughter’s engagement.”

I feel the color drain from my face. Admittedly, I haven’t given this whole bizarre scenario with Ford that much thought, but I never considered that my mother would be dragged into it.

“Hang on a second,” I tell her. “Ford, who is Doris and why is she calling my mother to invite her to your father’s dinner party?”

“Doris? That’s my father’s secretary.”

“Check your—” I stop when I realize his silly flip phone makes normal communication impossible. Instead, I check my work email for new messages but don’t find anything personal. My Gmail account, however, has a new email from a woman named Doris, cordially inviting me to attend a dinner party on Saturday at Ford McAvoy Senior’s house. The attendee list appears to include me and about fifty others, including, it now seems, my mother.

“Okay, I see the invitation,” I say, both for Mama’s and Ford’s benefit. “Um,” I say, “what did you tell her?”

“I told her I wouldn’t be able to reply until I checked my calendar,” she says with a laugh.

My mother responds with good humor to most things thrown her way. I’ve only ever seen her positive outlook on life shaken once, when my father passed away. She’d been broken by it. If I wasn’t there to pick up her pieces, I’m not sure what would have happened.

I’m especially glad she’s amused by the news traveling so fast to her that I’m engaged, but I’m just as alarmed by this all slipping out of our control.

“So, yeah,” I say. “Here’s the thing, remember the guy I told you I met in Maui?”

I see Ford raise his eyebrows as he winks at me, clearly delighted at this bit of news. His ego must be inflating by the second as he realizes I’d told my mother about him.

“Yes, of course. You were practically lovesick over him,” Mama says.

“Lovesickisn’t the word I’d use,” I say before I can think better of it.

Now Ford laughs. When I scowl at him, he blows me a kiss. I must be drunk because my first instinct is to think how sexy he looks when he’s being playful like that.

“What is this all about, Ava?” Mama asks. “Why did some strange woman call me at nine o’clock on a Wednesday night? I was ready to laugh it off and forget about it, but I just had to check with you.”

The fatigue in her voice snaps me back to reality. I owe her an explanation.

Taking a deep breath, I release it and say, “The man I met, his name is Ford. And it turns out that he’s a lawyer. He doesn’t practice anymore, but he’s in town. And we ran into each other. Things sort of got out of hand with people gossiping about us. So, we kind of joked about being engaged and now, well, it seems that everyone thinks we’re getting married.”

I close my eyes tight as I wait for a response.

Thankfully, my mama reacts with grace. “And should I be attending this dinner party,mija, with you and your fiancé?”

Opening my eyes, I relax. “Yes, let’s plan to attend. I promise, I’ll tell you what this is all about before then, okay? Just for now, trust me and roll with it?”

There’s only the briefest hesitation before she replies, “Yes, of course, I will. If this is what you want.”

“I do. And thank you. Get some rest now.Te quiero mucho, Mama.”

She tells me she loves me too before we disconnect.

I set down my phone and pick up my drink.

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