Page 43 of Hail Marry
Luca
Okay, let’s talk details tomorrow. I get the impression Zach has figured it out for us, though.
I wait for a response, but it never comes, so I start making a late dinner with tortillas and the leftover ground beef I made the other night.
I’ve just sat down to enjoy the fruits of my labors when my phone starts ringing. It’s Victoria.
I set down my burrito and answer. “Hey.”
“Hey, babe,” comes the response in a high-pitched tone.
My brow furrows. “Hi…”
“Are you almost home?”
Mouth open, I stay quiet for a couple seconds. “Iamhome.”
“Okay, hurry, though, because I miss you.” A man’s voice sounds in the background, but I can’t hear what it says. “Okay, yes, Austin. Because I miss youandbecause my brother and his wife surprised us with a visit. You’ve been saying how excited you are to meet them, and here’s your chance!”
I sit up straighter, starting to understand the situation. “Your brother’s really there?”
“Yep! He and Mia are dying to meet you, so be quick.” Her voice is upbeat, but there’s an underlying tension there that’s impossible to miss.
Muffled in the background comes a “Hey, Luca!”
“Oh,” Victoria says, “and don’t forget to pick up tomato sauce on your way home.”
My confusion is multiplying by the second, but I’m not about to get anything helpful out of her while her brother’s right there. “Okay…”
“See you soon, babe. Love you too! Okay, bye.”
The line clicks off, but I keep the phone to my ear, trying to process the blitz I just experienced.
The text tone sounds, and I pull my phone away from my ear and look at the screen.
Victoria
SOS! Please get here quickly!
I shoot to my feet, and the chair falls backward, clattering to the floor. I jog toward the front door, grab my keys from the entry table, and head to my car, my mind spinning. I replay the conversation in my head, dissecting it phrase by phrase for any clues of what exactly I’m getting into.
Meeting her brother and sister-in-law, apparently. I’m so not prepared for this.
I’m most of the way to her house when I remember her saying not to forget the tomato sauce. Does she really want me to get some, or was that just part of the domestically-blissful-wife-calling-her-husband act?
Better safe than sorry.
I flip a U-turn and make the world’s fastest grocery trip to pick up three different types of tomato sauce, then drive the last few minutes to her house. Sure enough, there’s a car I don’t recognize parked out front.
I blow out a breath. It’s normal to be nervous to meet a woman’s family, but usually, you’re meeting them as a boyfriend, not as a husband. A husband who’s only known his wife for eight days.
I’m walking into a minefield here. But Victoria’s already in it, so…in I go.
I get to the front door and lift my hand to knock, only to pause just in time. Husbands don’t knock.
Feeling like a common burglar, I turn the knob and open the front door. Victoria and two other people are standing in the kitchen. I recognize the man. Most people around my age would.
How did I not realize Victoria Sheppard’s brother was Austin Sheppard, the popstar? And why did she not mention it?
