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“Get ready. The show is about to start.”
“I can handle them,” he says as we reach the table.
He pulls out the empty seat beside my sister and waits for me to sit.
Christian plants a kiss on top of my head and tucks the chair in before sitting beside me.
“It’s good that the two of you could join us,” Dad says, his voice warm as he looks at me with a smile. “I’ve missed you, Zoe. How is married life treating you? I wish that we could have been there. I never thought that I would miss your wedding.”
“It was nice.” I take my napkin and drape it over my lap. “It was small and quiet.”
Dad’s jaw clenches while Mom scoffs. “And that is what you really wanted? You know that you’re welcome to come home at any time. We would be waiting for you with open arms. The last thing I want is my daughter trapped in a loveless marriage.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Ava says before she can stop herself.
I nudge her leg under the table, but she shakes her head and glares at our father. “You were going to marry her off to solve your problems and now you’re sitting here talking about what a shame it is that she’s in a loveless marriage?”
“Ava,” Mom says, her tone sharp. “Lower your voice. What was to happen is none of your business. Zoe knew what she was going to be doing for her family. At least one of my daughters has a sense of duty.”
I put my hands in my lap, my nails curling into my palms. “We don’t need to do this right now. We could have a good time together without fighting. Dad, how is work?”
“Good evening.” The waiter stops at the table beside my father’s elbow. “I’m Shane, and I’ll be your server tonight. Has everyone had a chance to look at the menu yet?”
“No need,” Dad says, handing the stack of menus to the waiter. “We will have the lobster and steak. As well as your finest bottles of red and white wine.”
Ava scowls. “I’m allergic to lobster. You know this. I’ll have the truffle pasta please.”
“No. She won’t.” Dad waves a dismissive hand at Ava. “You’ve been over your lobster allergy for years.”
The waiter scurries away before he gets trapped in the fight.
I look over at Christian like a deer caught in the headlights.
I thought that dinner would go a little better than this. Most nights, my family can control themselves if we’re out at a family dinner.
Mom looks between me and Christian. “Are the two of you planning on having children? I think it would be a mistake given the nature of his job. You don’t want to have criminal children.”
I see red as I look at her. I don’t know what to say at first.
Mom has always been a difficult woman. I can’t remember a single day where she went without talking down to at least one person.
This time feels different, though. I don’t like the way not a single one of them has bothered to address Christian while talking.
They speak as if he isn’t here. It bothers me far more than their rude behavior ever has.
Dad nods along. “Children is a bad idea. Especially where you don’t have a real career lined up, and your husband is known to skirt the edges of the law. That’s not the kind of environment you want to raise a child in.”
Christian’s jaw tightens, but he says nothing.
I feel as if I’ve been punched in the stomach. I don’t know what to say about any of this. Even though we’re seated at a private table in the back, I still can’t believe that they would bring this up right now.
“You’re a smart woman with a good head on your shoulders,” Mom says, though it doesn’t sound like she quite means it. “Can you really say that you want to have children with that man?”
“I think this dinner was a bad idea,” I say instead of answering her question. “I don’t think we’re ready as a family to discuss what life looks like right now.”
“You don’t have to leave,” Dad says, his tone stern.
It’s not a suggestion. It’s an order.
