“Mother, as much as I’m grateful for your…help… I don’t think Mrs. Richardson’s son is right for me.” She chewed on her beef pretending to give the idea some serious consideration. “I would hate to waste their time.”
“Why are you so insistent on being single, Gracelyn? You’re not getting any younger, you know.”
“I’m not insistent on being single, but I don’t want to date someone when I know it’s not going to work out.”
Wasn’t that the exact reason she was avoiding Des?
There was no way she could put him through the torture of the weekly Greene Family Luncheon. There was no way she could force him to endure a lifetime of her mother’s judgement. And her mother would judge him. He didn’t deserve that.
Gracie also didn’t deserve to be dumped because of it…again.
“How do you know it’s not going to work out? He’s an investment banker, you know. He has a good job.”
“So?”
Another kick under the table from Emmaline. Arguing with her mother was a fruitless endeavor, but Gracie was too miserable and too frustrated to put up with the constant attacks. She was sick of playing nice and doing what her mother wanted.
“Henry Richardson is a bore,” Gracie continued. “I’m not interested in dating him.”
Silence descended over the Greene family. Knives and forks hovered mid-air, breaths were held in. Cecilia lowered her cutlery slowly and patted her cement-like coiffed ice-blond hair. Gracie bit back a smile. It was the smallest of rebellions but she needed it. It made her feel like she wasn’t her family’s doormat.
“You can’t spend your whole life flitting about without responsibility. By the time you’re ready to settle down no man will be interested in you.” Cecilia tilted her chin, daring Gracie to argue otherwise.
“This is ridiculous. I pay my bills and my mortgage, I contribute to society. I am not flitting about.” She sighed, forcing down the anger bubbling in her stomach like toxic lava. “We’re not living in the dark ages anymore. I’m not going to date someone because you think he’s a suitable option.”
“Why can’t you be more like your sister?” Cecilia muttered, reaching for her wine. “She’s far more sensible.”
“Mother, that’s not fair—” Emmaline protested.
“Don’t get involved, Em.” Conrad cut her off, placing a hand on her shoulder as if to silence her. His cold stare unsettled Gracie. She never could understand how her sister had married such an asshole. “Let Gracelyn dig her own hole.”
Gracie closed her eyes and willed the thumping in her head to go away. Her family was seriously dysfunctional, and without her father to balance out her mother’s controlling ways, Gracie was more disconnected from them than ever.
She missed him so much. Shutting her eyes, Gracie willed the tears away. Her promise to her father swirled in her mind, warring with her feelings for Des.
“Gracie, why don’t you give me a hand with the dessert?” Emmaline pushed up from her seat and gathered the empty plates closest to her, motioning for Gracie to follow. In the kitchen, Emmaline put the dishes by the sink and placed her hands on Gracie’s shoulders. “Deep breath, honey. She doesn’t mean to be cruel.”
“But she is,” Gracie said, staring up into her sister’s face. Emmaline had the same coloring as their mother—platinum blond hair and baby blue eyes—but she exuded a warmth and calm that was all their father’s.
“She’s lonely. That’s why she insists on these weekly lunches. I think she believes that you’ll come around more if you were married, though I don’t know why. I swear I am busier now than when I was single.”
“I’d come around more if she didn’t treat me like I was a failure.”
“You’re not a failure.” Emmaline wrapped her long, slender arms around Gracie and drew her into a hug. “Though, if we don’t get you married off soon, Mother’s likely to take it into her own hands. Who knows what would happen then.”
Her tone was joking but there was truth behind the words. Gracie rolled her eyes. She’d only turned twenty-seven a few months ago and Cecilia Greene was acting like Gracie was going past her use-by date.
She fought back the emotions. It was pointless letting her mother affect her in such a way, but she didn’t have the strength to fight it. She hugged her sister back. Emmaline was the only one who had the ability to instantly take Gracie’s anger down a notch with one simple gesture.
Gracie breathed in her sister’s familiar, comforting scent and the pounding in her head eased. “I wish Dad was still alive.”
“Me, too.” Emmaline released her, a sad smile on her pale pink lips. “I know Mother’s crazy, but she loved Dad more than anything. I believe deep down she wants the same for us.”
“You think?”
“I hope so.” Emmaline paused, studying her. “You’re still thinking about that guy. I can practically hear the cogs turning in your head.”
“Why?” Gracie moaned into her hands. “Why did I have to kiss him?”
Emmaline smiled. “I thought you said that he kissed you.”
“He did.” She sighed. “But I kissed him back.”
“That makes all the difference.”
“It does. If I hadn’t kissed him back then I could brush it off as his mistake, not mine. But there was definite reciprocation of the kiss.”
“Was he good?”
“The best.” Gracie sighed. “What’s wrong with me, Ems? Why do I do this to myself?”
“Because you have an eye for trouble?” Emmaline smiled and patted Gracie on the arm. “Because you know he’d make Mother flip out?”
“That’s precisely why I shouldn’t go out with him.”
“Do you think there’s something in a relationship with this guy?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Maybe. I don’t know. He wouldn’t fit in with the family, that’s for sure.”
“And you’re not interested unless it’s long term?”
“If I go there, there’ll be no coming back.” Gracie sighed. “He’s intense, gorgeous, and perfectly imperfect.”
“How so?”
Gracie was unable to wipe the grin that formed on her lips every time she imagined Des. “He’s tattooed and permanently unshaven. He doesn’t do airs and graces, he’s funny, sexy…”
“He sounds pretty good to me.”
“What would Mother say if I brought home a guy who looks like you wouldn’t want to cross him in a dark alley?”
“I’m sure she thinks most guys these days fit that description.”
“He wouldn’t fit in at the hospital charity functions or the golf days. Mother would probably torture him until he left.”
Just like the last one…
Gracie leaned against the kitchen counter and dropped her head into her hands. It was hopeless. She’d been down this route before and it hadn’t ended well. She could still remember the look on her ex’s face when he’d finally given up and left. No one could take years of Cecilia Greene’s emotional battering…no one except Gracie and Emmaline.
“Does it really matter what mother thinks?” Emmaline asked, as if reading Gracie’s mind.
“How can you even ask that?” Gracie shook her head and went to the fridge to retrieve the cheesecake her sister had baked. “You know what she’s like.”
“I think there’s more to it than that.” Emmaline peered at her with shrewd eyes. “You’ve gone against her plenty of times in the past. Why is this different?”
“You mean apart from the fact that I’ve already lost one guy that I cared about because of her?”
“I know you thought you loved Ben, but you were both so young. No, there’s something else you’re not telling me.”