Page 36 of Hands off his Dudette

Chapter 16

"Anna dear, that's the fish fork, you want to use the one on your right for your salad."

Actually, she wanted to use the one on her right to stab Arabella Johnson in the eye, but she smiled, and switched her fork.

The restaurant was amazing—the single most stylish, fancy and opulent restaurant she'd ever stepped inside. She wasn't sure how Finn had managed a reservation on such short notice.

They'd been decorating the Christmas tree when Arabella had appeared in an elegant blue gown, pointedly staring at Anna, and demanding to know when she intended to get changed. For once, Anna had reason to thank the old crone's pushiness. Not that she would have gone out in her work clothes, but Anna was wearing one of her best dresses because of her—she would have felt uncomfortable in anything else, here.

Finn had booked them in for a tasting menu—they were eating eighteen courses; tiny little plates that look like art. On the first five, Anna had wished that the portions were bigger; now they were at the seventh, and she started to understand why they weren't. By the end of the eighteen courses, they'd have to carry her out of here with a wheelbarrow.

"Mom, have you told Trick you're attending the wedding?" Finn asked.

"Not yet, no," Arabella replied, to no-one's surprise. "I will call Lucinda tomorrow, and ask how I may be of assistance."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate it," Anna said.

What she meant was, she was sure Lucy would yell "why" and beg the gods to intervene.

"Is she starting to show?" Arabella asked.

Anna groaned. Finn sighed. "Lucy isn't pregnant, mom."

"Oh, well then her little friend, Cassie, is, right? Why, otherwise, would they inconvenience everyone and rush into a wedding?"

"Because they can. Besides, Lucy had a very hard childhood, and hasn't often celebrated Christmas. This is very special for them."

The subtext was, "please don't ruin it," but Anna doubted that Mrs. Johnson got that.

"Oh, well. I suppose it's understandable. But enough of them, I'll catch up soon enough. Tell me about this house of yours."

Arabella could be a good listener when she wanted to—and also a terrific story-teller. Her anecdotes about her travels never failed to make Anna long for a holiday. The woman could be pleasant, and tonight, she was just that.

"I'm very jealous, Arabella," she said when the woman was done showing pictures of her latest winter holiday.

"Envy is a pointless emotion. You can just visit Lapland yourself, you know."

And she truly believed that the world was her oyster.

"Not all of us have billions at their disposal."

"Make Finn take you; you know he will. From the very start, day one, you could make him do anything you wanted."

Anna blinked.

"Mom, Anna has never forced me into anything I didn't want to do," Finn said firmly.

Arabella shrugged. "That's my point, young man. She doesn't need to force you at all. You used to be so very undisciplined before you two started to associate."

"Mom."

Finn's tone held a warning. Anna was a little lost.

"Finn's never been undisciplined. That was Trick."

Arabella laughed harder now. "What a joke! Oh, Patrick had his little—well, tricks, with the computers and all that." She waved her hand dismissively, like she was considering it a minor incident, when Trick had hacked Homeland Security for fun as a teen. "But Finn? Finn was trouble. Fights at school, bad grades…"

"Mother, that's enough of a trip down memory lane, don't you think?"

"Then, in he came, with a pretty little girl in tow, telling us we had to let you stay because you weren't happy at home. You looked positively Romanesque, in your red dress and headband; I remember it well. So, Peter took him aside, and said, you be good, do your homework, stay out of trouble, and she can stay. Fast forward twenty-one years, and we have a successful Ivy League-educated lawyer. God knows what we would have made of him otherwise."

"I was nine," Finn reminded her. "Kids are stupid. Big deal."

"You were smitten, and she had you by the little finger. Still does. You two need to cut all that nonsense short and tie the knot soon. I won't live forever, you know. And if I miss your wedding, believe me when I say my ghost will haunt that pretty little penthouse of yours."

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