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At times, I wondered if she used Seller for his money, profiting off his obsession for her. But then I would see the way she looked up at him, and I knew that whatever sickness my stepfather had, she’d caught.
Muttering a curse, I glanced down at my watch. Even with Mia having a little time with her dad before the dinner, we were still going to arrive after them at this rate. Tapping my foot, I glared over at Seller as he patiently took a swallow of the amber liquor in his tumbler.
“Relax. Your mother is always keeping me waiting. She likes to doll herself up for me. I’m sure you know how it is. Mia must constantly keep you waiting.”
I gritted my teeth, not answering him. He didn’t need to know that Mia rarely kept me waiting unless it was work-related. She didn’t spend hours in front of a mirror; she didn’t have to. All she did was throw a sweatshirt over whatever dance clothes she’d tossed on that morning after her shower, pulled on a pair of yoga pants if it was chilly out, and then swept her hair up into a knot on top of her head. On occasion, she would put on a little makeup if we were going on a date or she had something important to do regarding PR for the dance school.
Heeled footsteps on the Italian tiled floor had me stepping out of the library where I’d been shown when I’d arrived to pick them up. My mother walked toward me in a knee-length dress that would have only looked casual on a New York City catwalk. Her mahogany hair was pulled up into some fancy French twist, and her makeup looked as if it had taken hours to perfect.
I glanced down at my jeans and T-shirt. Mia had picked it out for me to wear, because she’d been adamant about not seeing me in anything resembling a suit or tux until the following day. Even Seller had been smart enough to dress in black slacks and a polo rather than a suit as he normally would have worn. Too many years of working with Emmie Armstrong had taught him to follow instructions when she threw them his way. No doubt, she had emailed him a reminder that her daughter wanted things low-key.
“You have five minutes to at least change your clothes,” I informed my mother. “Or I’m leaving without you.”
She huffed. “This dress is the only casual thing I own, Charlie. Your Mia will have to accept me as is, or…” She shrugged, giving me a tight smile.
“‘Or’ it is, then,” I told her with a shrug of my own. “This is her time. What she wants, she’s going to get. If that means you aren’t there, honestly, I couldn’t care less. In fact, it will make this dinner easier on everyone, especially me.” Pulling my keys out of my pocket, I swung them around my index finger. “See you tomorrow, Mother.”
“Charlie!” she cried behind me. “All right, fine. I think I have an old pair of jeans from…” Her eyes drifted to my stepfather, and a flash of guilt crossed her face. “Before.”
“Then you should hurry,” I told her. “Because I’m leaving in four minutes and twenty-eight seconds.”
Cursing under her breath, she stormed back up the stairs, and I returned to tapping my foot impatiently. I wanted to get to the restaurant to see how things had gone with Mia and Nik. I’d been anxious, hoping this plan Emmie and I had orchestrated together would finally heal the rift between father and daughter.
“I dislike the way you speak to your mother,” Seller gritted out behind me.
“She knew what she was doing when she came down here dressed like that. This isn’t about her, but she was attempting to put the spotlight on herself. I won’t allow her to ruin this. And even if I were stupid enough to allow her to try, she wouldn’t have gotten two feet into the restaurant before Emmie would have been all over her.” I cocked my head at the man, daring him to argue.
All I got in response was the older man clenching his jaw.
I pocketed my keys again. “Do us both a favor and make sure she doesn’t try to show up at the wedding tomorrow dressed in white. Because I can promise you, if she does, my new mother-in-law will ensure the dress doesn’t stay white for long. If you’re lucky, she won’t dye it red with Mother’s own blood.”
We arrived at the restaurant twenty minutes later than expected, but when I entered the building behind my stepfather, I quickly saw that Mia and her father had yet to arrive. Grimacing, I walked around introducing my mother and Seller to Mia’s honorary aunts, uncles, and cousins whom they hadn’t already met in the past three years.
Another thirty minutes passed, and then I spotted Emmie as she walked in, leaving her bodyguard at the entrance. Without a word to anyone, I moved toward her.
“Are they here yet?” she asked as soon as I was close enough to hear her.
I shook my head. “And I haven’t heard from either of them. You?”
“Not a word.” She threaded her arm through mine, a smile on her face. “This is a good thing. I can feel it in my bones.”
Wanting to believe her, I escorted her over to where I’d left my mother and stepfather still speaking to Mia’s grandfather. Eddie saw his daughter, and his green eyes lit up with love. “There’s my Emmie girl,” he greeted, pulling her in for a hug. “Where’s my grandbaby at? She and Nik run into traffic?”
“Something like that,” she said, stepping back but keeping an arm around him as she faced the other couple. “Seller,” she said with a nod, then held out her free hand to my mother. “Good to see you again, Meredith,” she said in a tone that was only slightly frosty.
“Ember,” Mother returned, clutching her husband’s arm, holding it in a possessive way while staring Emmie down. My mother was just as jealous of Seller as he was over her. It irritated the fuck out of me that she would think Emmie, of all people, would want a prick like Charles Seller.
“Emmie!”
We turned our heads to find Drake Stevenson walking toward us with his wife, Lana. We all felt a sense of relief at the sight of him looking so healthy. It had only been a few short months since he’d nearly died from cirrhosis of the liver. His scheduled transplant surgery had turned into an unexpected emergency one. Thankfully, his younger brother, Shane, had been a perfect match for him. Drake had been in the hospital throughout the holiday season, and he’d only been released in the last few weeks.
“Where’s Mia?” the rock legend asked as he and Lana reached us.
“She and Nik had something to do,” Emmie explained as she hugged one of the men who had been like a brother to her growing up. “Are you feeling okay? I don’t want you to exhaust yourself. Mia will be upset if you get overtired tonight and don’t dance with her tomorrow.”
“I promise, the moment I sense he’s drained, I’m taking him home and tucking him into bed,” Lana assured her as she stepped forward to hug Emmie as well. Her brown gaze barely skimmed Seller. She wasn’t a fan of my mom any more than Emmie was.
If Meredith was jealous of Emmie, it was nothing to how she felt toward Lana Stevenson. The woman was at least a decade younger than her husband and looked closer to her eighteen-year-old daughter’s age. Mother’s hold tightened even more on Seller, staking her claim. Lana didn’t even bother to hide her eye roll as she stepped back and linked the fingers of her left hand with her husband’s right.
