Page 69 of The Hookup
“I’m looking forward to meeting your mom and your family at the wedding.”
“My mother’s dead.”
She rushed her hand to her mouth, to stifle the shock. “I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.”
He shrugged, looking straight ahead, not making eye contact with her. She had questions, a million of them, and wanted to ask him but he looked faraway, his expression hard to read.
She couldn’t ask him. Couldn’t go there, because even if she dared to, she knew that he would close up and not give her the answers she sought. Worse, he would remind her that these things weren’t part of their arrangement. She felt together yet apart, sitting with him here, most of the time, except when they were making love.
This was not what she wanted.
Yet to anyone sitting here in the bar, seeing her and Luke at the table together, they might be forgiven for thinking here was a normal couple, in love, together.
How different the truth was in comparison.
“You can meet my father and my sister, though,” he said, turning to face her. His expression was still hard, and even the smile that he forced on for her benefit—the smile she could see right through—didn’t fool her.
“I’m looking forward to it. What about a wedding gift?” she asked, knowing how lousy he was with gifts. “Have you got any ideas about a wedding gift? I’ll contribute my share—”
“It’s taken care of.”
“Oh.” That was the end of that. She didn’t bother asking him what it was, or whether he would buy and sign the card. He’d deal with it.
The wedding was two weeks away, and he hadn’t said a thing. She had no idea where it was, how long they were going for, what to wear. “It’s only a few weeks away,” she said, touching on the subject. “What should I pack?”
“Nothing. We’re driving up for the day only.”
It was just as well that she had asked. “So I only need to take one day off work?” Remington wouldn’t give her such a hard time over one day.
“Yes.”
“That’s good to know. I’m glad I asked you,” she said. And there would be no overnight stay. As jovial and as easy-going as he had been moments ago, while Marie was here, he’d turned in an instant. All of a sudden she wasn’t so excited about the wedding. Luke seemed to want it over and done with and if this conversation was any indication of what she could expect, she was already beginning to dread it. “Where is it?”
“New Haven.”
A couple of hours drive there and back. She braced herself. “And it’s formal wear, I presume?”
“It’s a church wedding, with the usual wedding reception after.”
She gritted her teeth together. “Why don’t you show me the invite? Then I wouldn’t have to interrogate you about something so simple.”
His brows pushed together. “I threw it away.”
Shock swept over her like a gust of wind, forcing her to close her eyes as she absorbed his words. She opened them again, and blinked. “You threw away your sister’s wedding invitation?”
What kind of a man did that? And his sister was the one member of his family he claimed to like.
“I have the address, I know the time. I know where we have to be.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He was insane. Talk about totally dysfunctional. This was going to be a family gathering from hell.
“It will be nice to meet your sister,” she said, being sincere, meaning it. But also because she didn’t know what else to say. Surely his sister would be normal? How much more dysfunctional could she be?
His expression seemed to relax then. “Amanda’s not so bad. I’ve never met the guy she’s marrying, so I can’t comment on him but I hope this marriage will last longer that her last one did.”
“She’s been married before?”
“This is her second wedding.”
