“Do you like Korean food?” Lucie asks. “I should’ve checked before I invited you, but I got distracted. If you aren’t into it, we can grab sandwiches or salads or whatever. Or we can do Mexican.”
“No, I can do Korean,” I say, not wanting to be a bother. I’ve never tried it, but why not? As long as somebody’s willing to taste the food first.
“Thank God. Mom totally overpacked.” Yuna rolls her eyes a little, but her big smile glows with affection. “My mom’s visiting to see the grandkids, and of course she had to bring her chefs with her. They cooked all sorts of stuff. When I told her I wasvisiting Lucie, she packed a bunch of things, saying we never eat enough when we get together.”
“Not true. I feed my friends well,” Lucie says, leaning toward me.
“According to my mom, unless I’m a butterball who has to be rolled home, I’m ‘starving.’” Yuna turns to me. “But if I gain weight, she’ll ask why I’m letting myself go.”
I giggle. I can just imagine the scene. “Difficult standards to meet.”
“But I still love her. What can I say?” Yuna shrugs with a big grin. “Besides, she thinks all my friends are like her own kids. So if you ever meet my mom and she starts to mother you, just nod and go along with it.”
I smile at the lovely picture Yuna’s presenting. She sounds a little abashed, but I think it’s sweet of her mother to care for her friends, too. It isn’t something I experienced—or even thought possible—while living in Nesovia under Doris’s guardianship. Even when she was doing her best to fake being nice, it wasn’t convincing.
We head to the dining room. I relax a little when I see a family-style spread on the table. Some glass noodles, stir-fried beef, some sort of rice and veggies wrapped in seaweed, pickled vegetables and soups, all with tongs and ladles for serving.
“Are there more people coming?” I ask.
“No, just us three. Mom thinks we can eat all of it by ourselves.” Yuna shakes her head as she pours chilled chardonnay for everyone.
“Wow. But okay. It smells amazing.”
“Tastes better,” Lucie says.
I wait for Yuna and Lucie to grab theirs first, then serve myself to ensure I don’t take anything nobody wants. Thankfully, they get a little bit of everything.
I wait for them to take bites then eat. I’ve never had Korean food, but it’s quite good—lots of flavor, with a good balance of sweet and salty. The noodles are to die for, so chewy and tasty. “Your mom’s chefs are angels.”
“They probably sold their souls,” Yuna says with a contented sigh and a sip of wine. “I almost feel bad for my dad because he has to eat the backup chefs’ cooking. They aren’t bad, but just not as good as the ones Mom brought here. But what can he do? He loves her, so he let her do what she wants. He says whoever loves more loses in a relationship.”
Her father’s observation hits me like a brick in the face. I never considered it from that angle, but isthatwhy I’m feeling…restless? I’m falling for Ares and he doesn’t want me at all?
“That’s so cynical,” Lucie complains. “If you keep saying things like that, it’s going to kill my jewelry design mojo.”
“You don’t design them, you run the company that sells them,” Yuna says. “Besides, it’s true, isn’t it? He lets her take the best chefs. If he didn’t love her, he wouldn’t.”
“So if you stay, you know,indifferent…” I say, then try to push more noodles into my mouth to hide my trepidation. Half the forkful drops on my plate, but hopefully Yuna and Lucie will chalk it up to my unfamiliarity with glass noodles, not nerves.
“Then nothing.” Yuna shrugs. “I mean… I guess they’ll eventually seek the companionship and love they aren’t getting from their spouses from someone else. There are plenty of marriages like that in Korea. Of course, you have to be extra cautious and discreet, because getting caught is embarrassing. There’s a big difference between loving somebody who isn’t your spouse and getting exposed for it.”
“Good God. If you’re going to do that, why stay married?” Lucie says with disgust.
“Family alliances? Money? Power? Convenience? Needing a socially acceptable spouse to present?” Yuna shrugs again. “Could be anything.”
I say nothing, but my heart seems to turn to lead because it sounds just like my marriage with Ares. He was so clear on what he’s getting out of the marriage—his promotion. And he knows I’m getting control over my money. Does it bother him that our marriage is so transactional? Is that why he’s been a little distant recently?
I grab more noodles, then notice a François sculpture set in a protective case bolted into the nook. “Is that an original?” I ask, hoping to turn the conversation away from love and marriage.
Lucie immediately brightens. “Yes. My favorite. And my prize. It used to be in the living room, but I had to move it here. Harder to reach. The case is shatterproof and bulletproof.”
“Did somebody try to steal it?” I ask in shock. “This area’s safe, isn’t it?”
“Very, and nobody has tried to rob me. It’s just that I have a young child, and she has no respect for art.”
“Ah.”
“Kids never do,” Yuna laments. “They’re like puppies, but slower to mature and train. I’m skipping the auction this year because Liam almost destroyed a painting I bought for Declan for Christmas.”
