“She’s teasing me, Mom,” he says, playfully jabbing the side of my arm in slow motion. “It’s what she does, this one. She’s spirited. It’s one of the things that initially drew me to her.”
And that point goes to Cortland.
“Ah. So you two are perfect together.” Judy looks at her son like he’s truly God’s gift, but I’m dying for her to elaborate since she clearly deemed him spirited as well.
What does she know?
“Hey, hey.” Cortland’s father comes up behind Judy and places his hand on her shoulder. She covers it with her own and brushes her cheek against it. How could two sweet human beings give birth to such a monster? “Your dad went to check on the burgers, but I thought I’d steal you away for a bit if I could.”
My phone buzzes in my pocket, sending my heart into a state of arrhythmia. My fingers twitch, resisting the urge to whip it out right here and now to see what Dane wants. He’s probably reminding me about tonight.
Like I could possibly forget.
Or maybe he sent a special message to amp me up a bit.
Because I’m not already buzzing with anticipation.
I flatten my hand against the rectangular outline in my pocket and then nod. “I’m so sorry. I just need to check this quick. It’s probably my boss. I’ll be right back.”
I bite away the stupid grin on my face and yank the phone out, carrying it over to a secluded corner of the backyard. It fumbles out of my hand and lands into the grass face down, and I curse its slickness. I need to get a cover for this thing.
When I bend down to grab it out of the grass, a Sperry-covered foot appears out of nowhere and lands right on top of it. I glance up, squinting through the bright sun to see my beloved tormentor.
“Really, Bellamy?” Cortland says, his arms folded.
I push his calf until he steps off my phone, and I quickly jam it into my pocket before he has a chance to see anything on the screen.
“Don’t you think that’s a bit rude?” he asks. “My father asked to talk to you, and you ran off the second your phone went off.”
Yes, it was extremely rude. I will absolutely own that. But he doesn’t understand the consequences I might face if I don’t respond to Dane promptly.
“My boss is pretty demanding.” I roll my eyes and huff as if Dane texting me is an unfortunate burden.
“It’s a Saturday.”
“Exactly. He’s such a slave-driver, that guy.”
“What could he possibly want from you?”
“He was gone the last couple days. Maybe he has a question about a report I did?” My brows meet in the middle. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
“I think he can spare you for the next few hours.” Cortland uncrosses his arms before resting his hands on his hips and blowing his sandy hair from his eyes. “Come on. Stick with me. Let’s show our families how perfect we are together. And go apologize to my father. Don’t ever pull that stunt again.”
If he were Dane he’d yank me inside, give me thirty whacks, and then fuck me in the mouth.
I curse Cortland with every step I take toward Walter and Judy, and I don’t need eyes in the back of my head to know he’s burning holes into my back with his stare.
“I’m so sorry about that, Walter,” I say. “I just started a new job, and I’m still trying to get a good grasp on that work-life balance.”
It’s a term I’d only ever read about in psychology and human development classes. It’d been mentioned briefly in random chapters when discussing modern day stressors working adults faced.
“Oh, my Walter knows all about that, don’t you honey?” Judy pats him on the arm. “You’re talking to a man who doesn’t know how to take a day off.”
“Vacation days are for corporate drones,” Walter says. “When you own your own business, you don’t get things like holidays and paid vacation days.”
Judy laughs and stares up into a carefree, cloudless sky.
“Good thing this job is only temporary.” Cortland stands so close behind me I sense the heat of his breath on the back of my neck. We aren’t touching, but we’re damn close. He’s doing it on purpose. “As soon as we’re married, you’ll be too busy keeping house and chasing after kids, you’ll forget you ever even had a job in the city.”
My phone vibrates again. I’m not sure how long its been, but I can only imagine Dane getting stirred up thinking I’m ignoring him.
“Oh, Cort, she’s got plenty of time before she has to start popping out babies,” Judy says.
Thank you, Judy.
“Wait a year or two, sweetie. If you’re anything like me, once you start, you won’t be able to stop!” She chuckles. “Babies were like potato chips for me. I couldn’t have just one. And as cute as little Cort was as a baby? You’re in for a real treat.”
Gag me.
“Marcy!” Judy yells over toward another sister wife. “Wasn’t Cort just the cutest baby?”
“Sure was,” she yells back. “He won first place in the cutest baby contest at the Woodfield County Fair.”
Cortland blushes, smiling wide and showing off his camera-ready smile. There’s no denying he’s an attractive man, and I believe his mothers when they say he was a cute baby, but there’s no way on God’s green earth I’ll ever incubate anything of his.
“So have you always lived in Whispering Hills?” I have to change the subject. It’s way too early to be discussing babies, especially when we’ve only been courting for a couple months, and there’s not even a set wedding date yet. And because it’s just not going to happen. “I don’t recall seeing Cort at the high school, and he would’ve been a couple grades above me, right?”
“We homeschooled, Bellamy,” Walter says, his thumb hooking through the belt of his dad jeans. “That’s the McGregor way.”
“We’ll do the same,” Cortland says. “Our children will never see the inside of some government funded, institutionalized, Godless public school.”
I’m sure his parents put those words in his mouth.
“I loved attending public school.” I shrug, my eyes darting from Walter’s to Judy’s. “I think I turned out all right. You should see my sister, Waverly. Little Miss 4.0. Never so much as a tardy on her record. Gets to school early every single day. Epitome of responsible and intelligent.”
I wish my sister were here, or one of my mothers. Someone who could back me up.
“I’m going to stir the punch,” I say, stepping away and realizing Walter never did pull me aside like he wanted to. No telling what he was going to say to me, but I can only imagine it wasn’t going to be anything that might make me feel any better about the direction this situation is headed. “Be back in a bit.”
Offering a wave, I slip out of their little circle and make a beeline for the food table where Waverly’s already stirring the murky contents of the punch bowl.
“Scoot over,” I whisper, taking the ladle out of her hands.
“Huh?” She scrunches her nose but steps aside.
I glance around to make sure our immediate vicinity is clear. Dad’s several feet away, but the sizzle of the grill and the carefree shrieks of children should drown out anything I might say right now.
“I had to get out of there,” I mutter.
“Must be pretty nerve-wracking.” She nods, watching me carefully, “wanting your in-laws to like you and all.”
I laugh, tucking my chin against my chest. “I don’t care about that.”
“Cortland being too clingy today?”
“That’s everyday.”
“You don’t even act like you like him half the time.” Waverly’s statement sends a shock to my heart. I’ve been trying my damnedest to act like I like him, but if she sees through me, I’m a goner. “I mean, you act like it around them. But with me, you’re a totally different person when you talk about him.”
Thank God.
I release a harbored breath and nod. “It’s just not all raindrops on roses all the time. Relationships are challenging. They’re a lot of work. I just don’t want to give our parents any reason to worry about any of this.”