Page 27 of The Promposal

“Breaks up with him?” Ella finished. “It’s okay, Tilly. You can say it. I’m not made of glass. I won’t shatter if you bring Trent up.”

We pulled into Kenyetta’s semicircle brick driveway. She lived in a huge Mediterranean-style ranch home with a pink terra-cotta roof. Like somebody had picked it up out of the middle of Tuscany and dropped it into Malibu.

She must have been waiting for us, because as soon as I got out of the car, she came running over and threw her arms around me.

“Mattie! I’m so glad you’re here!” she said, and her normally dazzling smile seemed even brighter. She wore a pale pink sundress that popped against her darker skin tone.

“Me too!”

She pulled away and looked around. “Where’s Jake? I told everyone he was coming and how fine he is. They think I photoshopped the picture I have of him on my phone.”

Some part of me briefly wondered if I should be worried that she had a picture of him on her phone, but I focused on the bad news I had to deliver. “He had something come up. He’s not going to be able to make it,” I said apologetically. Her big brown eyes were so forlorn it broke my heart.

“Oh. Okay.”

“But I brought my sister Ella instead. I think you two will get along really well.”

Ella came over and introduced herself, but Kenyetta was unenthusiastic.

“Come say hi to my dad.” She paused, as if she didn’t want to add on the next part. “And Bahati.”

Oh, interesting. The infamous Bahati, huh? Kenyetta had talked about her for the last few months. Bahati was her dad’s new girlfriend, and from what I had gathered, Kenyetta was not a fan. I was looking forward to finally meeting her and finding out whether she was as bad as Kenyetta kept telling me.

We followed behind her, weaving in between the parked luxury cars. I hated that Jake had canceled, leaving me to deal with Kenyetta’s disappointment alone. For the millionth time, I wondered what was going on with him. I worried it wasn’t good.

Sometimes I would get a tickle at the back of my throat. It was like an early warning system that I was about to get really sick.

Right now I had a tickle at the back of my soul that made me think bad things were about to happen with my boyfriend.

I didn’t have time to think about him, though. I needed to cheer up my sister and console a twelve-year-old because her crush hadn’t shown up.

That wouldn’t be too hard to manage, right?

CHAPTER NINE

We said hello to Dr. Drummond, who was surrounded by a bunch of laughing adults. He stepped away from the circle to talk to us, holding hands with a tall woman with dark hair in tight ringlets and dark eyes. She smiled kindly at us, and I liked her immediately. I again introduced Ella, and he shook Ella’s hand. “Any family member of Mattie’s is always welcome in my home,” he said in his deep and booming voice.

Ha. He said that now, but he hadn’t met my mother. He’d rethink that open-door policy then. Instead of telling him as much, I just enjoyed his infectious smile that made me think he probably had an excellent bedside manner.

“Let me introduce my girlfriend, Dr. Bahati Okafor.” I mentally ran through the things Kenyetta had told me. Dr. Okafor had moved here from Africa about ten years ago to finish up medical school and do her training. She’d met Dr. Drummond at the hospital where they both currently worked. She was training to become an oncologist.

It was her father’s first serious relationship since Kenyetta’s mother had died.

“Nice to meet you, Dr. Okafor.”

“And you as well, Mattie and Ella. But you must call me Bahati.”

“Thanks so much for having us. You have a gorgeous home,” Ella said, and Dr. Drummond shot her one of those “I approve of Ella” looks that adults were always giving her.

“Thank you for coming,” he countered. “I know Kenyetta is especially thrilled to have you here, Mattie.”

“I’m thrilled to be here,” I said in my best Ella imitation.

Dr. Drummond and Bahati both smiled again and told us to make ourselves at home.

“The party’s this way,” Kenyetta said, tugging on our hands. We followed her out to the backyard. She was having a glamour/spa day party. The other girls were getting their nails, hair, and makeup done by professionals at different stations, and the entire backyard was decorated in sparkles, pink tulle, and white flowers.

Kenyetta seemed a little lost, even though it was her party. I wondered whether it was just Jake not showing up, whether she was upset that Bahati was there, or if something else was going on. I was about to ask her when Ella spoke.

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