Page 40 of The Fiancée Farce
“Would you like a ride?”
“Oh, yes. Please. That would be great. Thank you.”
“No problem. I’ll text you.”
“Sounds good. Sounds great, actually,” Tansy said. “I’m, uh, looking forward to it.”
That made one of them.
“Bye, Tansy.” Gemma ended the call.
Tansy wasn’t wrong; a courthouse wedding had been poor planning on Gemma’s part, hasty. But Tansy also didn’t know Gemma’s family. She knew Tucker, knew what he was capable of, but Gemma’s father...
He made Tucker’s worst look like child’s play.
Chapter Eight
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Tansy frowned from the passenger seat.
“I’m fine.” Gemma took the exit onto 84th Avenue NE. “Don’t I seem fine?”
“You, um, hit ninety on the bridge back there.”
Gemma eased off the accelerator and threw Tansy a grimace. “It’s too easy to get up to speed in this thing.”
Aston Martins weren’t made for going sixty.
“It’s fine. I was only asking because you seem a little... on edge.”
That was one way of putting it.
“My family isn’t like most families,” Gemma warned, telling Tansy what she already knew. Underscoring it in bold black ink couldn’t hurt. “They aren’t nice.”
“Aremost families nice?” Tansy asked, making Gemma laugh.
“Touché. I’ll put it this way. My family makes the Carringtons look close-knit, the Bluths functional, the Drapers devoted, and the Bundys touchy-feely.”
“TheBundys?” Tansy’s jaw went slack. “As in, Ted Bundy?”
Gemma snickered. “No,Married... with ChildrenBundys.But hey, who am I to say what skeletons are lurking in the Van Dalen family closet?”
Tansy gulped.
“I’m kidding.” Mostly. “They’re not affectionate people, and if they don’t like you—which they won’t—they won’t pretend otherwise.”
Not unless they thought there was something in it for them, something to gain from putting on airs.
“Okay.” Tansy nodded, taking a bracing breath. “Is there anything I should know before I walk into the lion’s den?”
Lion’s den.Ha. More like a pit of vipers.
Gemma took a right at the stoplight, officially entering Medina, home to some of Washington State’s wealthiest.
“Watch your back,” she warned. “Thus far, you’ve proven yourself to be a relatively discerning person. I have faith in you to learn as you go.”
“Thanks,” Tansy said drolly. “Appreciate it.”
Gemma laughed, shoulders easing. “You’ll be fine. I won’t let anyone lay a finger on you. Figuratively or otherwise.”
