Page 25 of Carnal Desire

I suppressed a sigh. “Mom, Dad, this is my, uh, this is Sadie. Sadie, these are my parents, Evelyn and Diego Hernandez.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Sadie said politely. She looked nervous, her fingers playing with the hem of her shorts.

“Are you two dating or something?” Mom asked.

I grabbed Sadie’s hand and gave her a little squeeze. “Yes we are.”

Mom nodded, her face carefully blank although her tone was haughty.

“Do you work in real estate too, Sadie?”

Sadie shook her head. “No, I’m a house cleaner.”

Mom’s mask dropped along with her jaw, but a lifetime of worrying about manners and appearances meant that she caught herself quickly.

“Oh, isn’t that nice.” Her tone clearly conveyed it was anything but nice. “How did you two even meet?”

“Sadie works for me, Mom.”

Dad’s eyebrows rose to his hairline, but he didn’t say anything. Since I’d stood up to him about wanting to go into business instead of becoming a lawyer he mostly left the meddling to my mother.

“You’re dating yourhousekeeper?” Mom asked incredulously. “Are you serious?”

She gave Sadie the same look she used when homeless people asked her for a dollar on the street corner. I could feel Sadie becoming smaller next to me, her shoulders hunching in.

“I’m sure you’re a very nice girl Sadie, but our family has a reputation to uphold,” Mom continued.

“Mom!” I said loudly. “That’s enough.”

“But…”

“Well it’s been great seeing you two, but we don’t want to keep you from your run,” I said pointedly. “It’d be a shame to let your heartrate drop too much.”

Mom didn’t look like she was going to budge, but Dad touched her arm. He’d always known the value of a strategic retreat.

“Come on Evelyn, you know I hate to prolong these runs.” He sent me an apologetic look over Mom’s shoulder. “Let’s hit the road before my muscles get tight.”

“Fine,” Mom replied, looking like she was trying to decide if she should argue.

I had no doubt she’d be burning up my phone as soon as she got home. I also had no doubt that I’d be hearing from my sister soon too, wanting to know what was going on. Ashley was always on my side, but she loved to hear the gossip.

“Nice to meet you Sadie,” Dad said stiffly. “Enjoy your dinner.”

Then he pulled my mother away and they jogged off. Sadie and I dropped back on the bench, our food forgotten.

“Well that was awkward,” Sadie said, looking like she wanted to throw up.

I knew that the encounter with my parents, as brief as it was, just reinforced for her that we didn’t belong together. And while it was true that we came from different worlds, I was determined to figure out a way to be with the woman I loved.

“Are you done with your food?” I asked.

Sadie nodded, avoiding eye contact. “Yeah.”

“Do you want to grab a cone from the ice cream cart?” I asked, pointing to the cart across the way.

“I’m not really hungry anymore,” she said quietly.

I knew she was really upset then. Sadie loved ice cream more than she loved breathing air. I’d never been a big fan, but now my freezer was stocked with pints of her favorite flavor.

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