Page 28 of Love You, Mean It

“Marta. Nice to see you again.”

“Ohhh,”I said before I could catch myself. Marta was the stepmom—of recent vintage, and off social media, so I hadn’t had a “cheat sheet” photo to work from. Theo hadn’t said much about her—it was clear from his clipped tone when he mentioned her that he wasn’t her biggest fan—and one of the extremely pertinent details he’d left out was that she couldn’t have been older than thirty-five (and if shewasthirty-five, it was an extremely-well-maintained plumped-and-Botoxed thirty-five).

Marta turned to me, a questioning look on her face.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yes, definitely, I just…” My eyes darted sideways to Theo. His amiable expression hadn’t slipped but his entire body had tensed. “…really love your dress. I’m not sure if Theo told you, I design clothing myself. Not professionally, but…well, I know enough to appreciate something that well made.”

“Oh, thank you so much!” I exhaled as she smiled widely, eyes flicking over my own outfit, visible through my open coat. I’d opted for a vintage mod dress I’d picked up at Lauren’s store, navy velvet with white rickrack trim. Even with tailoring to move the shoulders in, so that it draped better over myeven-too-flat-chested-for-the-mods figure, it didn’t fit me anywhere near as well as Marta’s dress fit her. “It’s McQueen.”

“Of course.” As though I had any idea what a McQueen dress looked like in real life.

“But come in, come in,” she said, voice warmer as she held the door open. “Ted will be so excited to see you.”

We followed her inside, leaving our coats in the capacious entryway closet before heading into the room to the left.

Unsurprisingly, it was stunning, andmassive. On the far wall, a gigantic fireplace with a picture-perfect blaze crackling inside was surrounded by a carved-wood mantel, shelves on either side filled with a handful of books and the sorts ofobjetsthat clearly cost a mint—slightly abstract bronze statues; a gigantic, weathered buoy with the name of some ancient vessel hand-painted along its side; a smattering of photos in elegant frames. The display was eclectic but tasteful, in a way that felt slightly staged…which shouldn’t have been surprising, considering how long the Taylors had been in commercial real estate.

The furniture was festooned with ornate Empire-style swoops and curls, the printed satin, brocade, and velvet upholsteries absolutely pristine. The only out-of-place piece was a single deep leather chair just next to the bar cart, its crystal decanters all filled with brown spirits.

Sitting comfortably in said chair with one leg thrown over his knee, lowball glass in hand, was a man who could only be Theo’s father—he was older, the skin on his face creased and browned by years on a golf course (I assumed), but the resemblance was striking. And next to him, perched prettily on the edge of what Ithinkcounted as a “settee,” was…

“Sam?” Theo’s voice betrayed genuine surprise. This wehadn’tplanned for.

“Theo. Ellie. Nice to see you again.” She smiled at each of us in turn. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude on your family dinner.”

“That’s no problem, you’re practically family.” Ted’s avuncular tone sat awkwardly on his crisp, suited shoulders. Theo’s grip on myhand tightened. “And I’ll gladly let you go if you’ll give me a decision…”

“I haven’t decided, but you’ve given me a lot to think about,” she said, a professionally noncommittal smile on her red lips.

“What are you two scheming about?” Theo said.

Sam gave him a long, assessing look, then turned it on me ever so briefly before replying.

“Until I’ve thought about it, I’d rather keep it under wraps. Either way, I really should get going.” Before Ted could stop her again, she rose, flashing me a “Thatwas awkward” grimace as she passed. From the entryway she called out, “Ellie, I’d been meaning to ask about next weekend, do you have a sec?” Smiling apologetically at Ted, I hurried after her.

“What about next weekend?” I said as she shrugged into her coat.

“There is no next weekend, I just wanted to check how Theo’s doing. I doubt he’d appreciate my calling it out in front of Ted,” she said with an amused smirk. It was too bad my entire relationship with Sam was premised on a lie—I legitimatelylikedher.

“Better, though he’s still getting headaches. The doctors want him to take it easy, but his memory’s back at least.”

“That’s great.” Her gaze went distant as she nibbled at her lower lip. “Does that mean he’ll have to drop out of the sailing regatta this year? Seems risky, especially if there’s any weather.”

“Oh, umm…TBD. The doctors aren’t keen on it, but you know how Theo can be when he’s set on something,” I said with a loving eye roll. Thank god she’d specifiedsailingregattas. For all I knew, Theo might be the type who rowed competitively. It felt like lacrosse’s natural counterpart. Sensing a chance to make up some lost ground, I decided to lean in a little harder. “Though I will be sad if we can’t get out on the water atallthis summer.”

“Do you two sail a lot?”

“I wish. By the time we got serious, it was way too cold. But hepromisedhe’d take me out as often as I want come summer.”

The sound of my name briefly drew my attention to the otherroom. When I turned back, Sam was staring at me, something indefinable flickering behind her eyes.Hurt, probably. Because whatever Theo might say, youknowthis woman cares about him in the present, not the past.But I couldn’t let guilt derail me, tonight was too important. She wasn’t my responsibility, and it was too late to turn back regardless.

“You should probably get in there.” She tilted her head toward Ted.

“Right…” I grimaced. Sam smirked knowingly.

“Don’t worry, you’ve got this. Just…be yourself.” She held my gaze a moment longer, then turned to call out. “Thanks again for the drink, Ted. We’ll talk soon.”

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