Page 57 of Deadly Misfortunes

“Oh, my goodness, yes, my dear. I’ve told him so many times. Maybe with your influence, you’ll convince him to get some more.” She tilted her head down at Gregory. “He won’t listen to me.”

Sascha noticed Mr. Landry sitting back in his chair, just taking in the conversation. She imagined he only spoke when he worked at their chain of furniture stores, unless his wife accompanied him.

“So when is the big day?” Mrs. Landry asked, breaking the second of silence.

Gregory chuckled. “You’re going to scare Sascha away.”

“Nonsense. I can see she’s not the kind who scares easily. Are you, dear?”

Sascha opened her mouth, but Mrs. Landry said, “You mustn’t delay it too long. All kinds of plans need to be initiated.”

Gregory ran his hand over Sascha’s skirt-covered thigh. “We won’t, Mother. As soon as we can agree on a date.”

This time, Sascha’s mouth dropped wide open. Was Gregory nuts for encouraging his mother in the fairytale?

“Good, you know how much I want grandchildren, son.” She stood and motioned to the dining room. “Lunch is ready.”

Sascha meant to speak to Gregory in private after his parents made their way to the dining table. Instead, he looped his arm through hers, apparently anticipating a heated discussion, and walked her to the room ahead of them.

Her temperature rose several degrees as she took her seat next to him at the long cherry wood table. How could he tell his parents they intended to marry? That she had even been asked and said “yes?”

She glanced at the table set with serving dishes of shrimp, slices of ham, roast beef, pastrami, bread, and a bowl of spinach salad. Every gold-rimmed plate looked like it could have served royalty.

Mrs. Landry passed the shrimp to Sascha, and she forked some onto her plate. “You know, Gregory, you should get Sascha a nice engagement ring. Make sure that the fellows who might be interested in her know she’s not available.”

He smiled. “Yes, first thing after lunch.”

Sascha’s face heated, and she figured it turned cherry just like when he’d made her angry before.

He patted her lap under the white lace tablecloth. “Right, honey?”

“Yes, that’s the way to go, son. You can’t lose with diamonds, you know.” Mrs. Landry smiled at her husband.

“So right, dear,” Mr. Landry said, winking at Sascha.

Sascha couldn’t believe his voice sounded so much like Gregory’s, deep, manly, heroic.

Mrs. Landry concentrated on making a ham sandwich, and her chatter finally ceased. Was she relieved to hear her son would marry and no longer felt nervous about Sascha’s visit? Ugh.

What kind of game did Gregory play anyway? He only assumed she wanted his money after all. Why would he want to hurt his mother by making up a falsehood? There was no figuring men. He probably thought it would conveniently make his mother quit asking about his love life. But this turned out to be much worse. Next, wedding arrangements would be in order.

Sascha folded a slice of pastrami onto a piece of white bread, not sure what to do about the whole mess. She didn’t want to upset the Landrys. But she certainly had every intention of setting Gregory straight.

What if her Aunt Meg got word that she was marrying someone who wasn’t even her soulmate? Jeez, the threat of a curse would raise its ugly head again. Gregory hadn’t a clue how he’d escaped the earlier one when she’d found herself naked in his bed and thought he’d made love to her. Shoot, how could he unravel her world in seconds flat like that again?

Everyone remained quiet as they ate their meal, though twice Gregory’s hand slid to Sascha’s thigh with a gentle squeeze, and she pushed it away. There wasn’t any way he could make up to her after what he had pulled. His lips inched up into a smile as his green eyes met her annoyed look.

She twisted her mouth in exasperation. She would fix him. “Remember, I have some internet searches to do this afternoon.”

He chuckled. “I told you. You don’t need to do any.”

“Oh, don’t you just love the internet?” Mrs. Landry asked. “I do. I’ve found out more interesting stuff that you can’t even imagine. So what are you looking for on the internet, dear? We could do a search here.”

“She thought she might find out some clue about the fanatic who’s after me.”

“Oh no, dear. Leave that to the police. They’re much more capable and paid to do their job too.”

“I also intended to look for⁠—”