Before Claudia could take the hint and sashay off to sparkle at someone else, Ford’s mother put a protective hand on Claudia’s arm and said, “That’s right. What were you and Emzee about to tell us, dear?”
I wished we didn’t have to do this in front of Claudia. I knew she would consider it a personal victory to know that Ford and I weren’t together anymore. That our relationship had barely lasted a week.
But I also knew it had to be done. We couldn’t keep pretending this way.
“What is it?” Mr. Malone asked, pointedly checking the time on his Breitling watch.
I couldn’t blame him. He didn’t seem all that interested in spending time with Claudia, either.
Ford gave my hand a squeeze and I smiled reassuringly up at him.
“Emzee and I had a long discussion…” he started.
“A discussion?” Claudia echoed.
“And?” Mr. Malone prodded.
“Yes?” his mother asked.
“And, uh—we’re getting married!” Ford said. “Surprise!”
Their jaws collectively dropped to the floor. Meanwhile, my good party guest smile was frozen on my face.
Surprise? No one, and I mean no one, was more surprised than me.
Emzee
Chapter 10
Ford pulled me in close, his arm wrapped tight around me while he just kept on running that liar mouth of his.
“We wanted to wait for a more intimate setting to share the news, but we’re just too excited. Aren’t we, Em?”
I didn’t know what to do. This was not the plan we’d gone over—not even close.
Somehow, I managed a nod.
“Uh-huh,” I said.
I watched as the news sank in. Mr. Malone looked mildly surprised, but he certainly wasn’t scowling. Ford’s mother and Claudia, on the other hand…
“What?” Claudia said.
The smile had slid right off her face and she was staring at us, her jaw slack.
I couldn’t really blame her. I was just as shocked as she was.
“You can’t be serious, Ford darling,” his mother was saying, literally clutching her pearls and forcing me to hold back a snicker.
“I know, it seems sudden,” Ford said, dropping a quick kiss on the top of my head. “But then again, we’ve been friends for so long, I guess it just clicked for us all at once. How happy we are together.”
“Well congratulations,” Mr. Malone said, giving Ford a firm handshake.
“But Ford,” Mrs. Malone started, but he didn’t let her get another word in.
“No, Mother, we haven’t set a date yet—I know that’s what you were about to ask.”
Ford had the biggest smile on his face, so I tried to focus on that as my thoughts spun out of control. How in the hell did we go from deciding to tell his parents that we weren’t together to claiming that we were newly engaged? Just how far was Ford going to take this whole thing? Was he really that obsessed with proving to his mother that his relationship with Claudia was over, or was it Claudia’s presence itself that was the catalyst for this new twist?
