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He nodded. “Engaged means getting married.”
Sophie sighed as she glanced out the window, her heeled foot tapping nervously against the wood floor. “Hudson, there’s headlights in the driveway.”
“Yes, engaged means getting married. But it’s a game. It’s not real. Got it?”
“Got it, Daddy.”
We can do this.
————
“So, Sophie, you’re a designer?”
Sophie sat upright, her mouth full of the inside of a crab leg. She covered her lips as she swallowed, nodding. “Yeah. I made this dress, actually.”
My mom grinned as she cracked a leg over her plate. She’d worn one of her nicer dresses, one I’d seen once before at the funeral of one of her coworkers. Her unnaturally blonde hair was tucked neatly up in a bun, her makeup sitting heavily over her Botox-filled face. A man in a suit and tie filled her glass of wine from behind her, and she turned and thanked him before looking back over at Sophie. “That’s amazing. I’ve heard bits and pieces from your mom, but I had no idea how good you were.”
She chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah, you know how she is.”
Sophie had been fairly quiet thus far, and although I figured it was because of the nerves and the worry that Jamey would say something to ruin it all, it seemed like it was more than that. We’d been short with each other for days now, hardly having any kind of meaningful conversation, and I wondered if she was finding this difficult to navigate because of our conversation the other night. In fairness, I’d been off because of it, too.
“I just can’t believe Hudson didn’t tell me about you,” my mom laughed. She dipped a solid chunk of crab into a bowl of melted butter before shoving it in her mouth. “Though, to be fair, the last woman he told me about was Rebecca, and we all know how that ended.”
The crab leg in my hand shattered. “Can we please not talk about Becks?” Not only is it fucking awkward to bring up in front of Jamey, but it’s also rude as shit in front of Sophie.
But it isn’t real.
“Of course, honey. I’m sorry.” My mom turned to Jamey as she cracked another leg, fishing out the flesh with a tiny fork. “How do you feel about all this, Jamey?”
I bit my tongue, and when I glanced at Sophie, I could tell she was watching him like a hawk. “I love that my daddy is engaged.” He chirped as he picked at his chicken nuggets. “I think it’s amazing that he’s going to be married.”
Jesus fucking Christ kid, this isn’t a vocabulary test.
“Do you like Sophie?”
“I love Sophie,” he grinned. “But she’s not going to be my new mommy.”
The chair beneath Sophie squeaked as she pushed herself back. She dabbed at her mouth with her napkin, standing on shaky legs. “I’m sorry, I’ll be right back.”
————
“I like her.”
I sighed as I poured out a fourth glass of wine for my mother, more than a little relieved that her driver would be the one taking her home. The catering team had packed up and left, leaving the four of us alone, and thankfully, Sophie was more than happy to play with Jamey in the other room while I spoke to my mom. “I do too,” I chuckled, hoping she didn’t pick up on the tension.
“I think she’s really good for you. She’s obviously great with Jamey, too. I just don’t understand why you didn’t tell me, honey. You know I’d have supported you even if it went sour.”
“I know,” I sighed, holding out the glass of wine for her. She plucked it from my fingers within a second. “We just wanted to keep it quiet until we knew we were serious. We didn’t even tell Jamey we were together until a few weeks ago. I just didn’t want to get his hopes up.”
I knew she’d come to terms with it. I also knew that when the time came that Sophie and I had to fake a breakup, she’d be okay with that, too. She’d been there through the thick and thin, the highs and lows of my relationship with Becks. She could handle this.
I just hated lying to her.
It made me happier than it should have to know that she liked Sophie, though. It shouldn’t have mattered whether she did or not—it would become pointless when it eventually ended, but it felt good knowing that she’d approve if Sophie and I had met under different circumstances. If only I was capable of letting someone new in and she wanted to be with me. But she didn’t. And that was fine. Totally fine.
————
Sophie stood in the doorway, her back to me as she waved at my mom's car backing down the driveway. She watched with eagle eyes trained on it until it disappeared around the corner, headlights far from view, then took one step off the frame and onto the porch.
