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I mean, Noah must be around my age and yet he shoos this girl away, like a parent would an insolent child. And worst of all, she listens to him. She practically runs away, and it’s obvious by the tremor in her shoulders that, after she places the order for key lime pie, she’ll spend the rest of her shift sobbing in the bathroom.
And just like that, Noah becomes infinitely more terrifying to me.
Unlike me, Daisy seems amused, like she’s found her kindred spirit for trouble making at the table.
Curt…Curt seems conflicted…like he wants to chastise Noah, not that it’ll get him anywhere. He’s done plenty of reprimanding so far during this one meal and we’ve only been here an hour.
The longest hour of my life, by the way.
He sighs and turns his attention back towards Daisy and me, covering my mom’s hand on the table.
My insides clench, my intuition already two steps ahead, knowing exactly what’s about to happen.
“I’m so glad that I could meet you girls today, and I hope that we’ll get to know each other very well in the future. But the real reason why I asked your mother to bring you girls to this lunch is because I wanted to ask for your blessing as well as your permission today.”
Daisy side-eyes me again, and I can see the inner eye roll she is somehow reining in.
This isn’t Daisy’s thing. Marriage, I mean. Not that I could picture Daisy ever settling down even if it was, but if she somehow wanted to, the last thing she would want was for her guy asking forpermissionto marry her.
Fuck. Marry her. How did we get here?
Everything is about to change.
And I’m not sure if it's for the better either.
“I never thought I’d find love again after Noah’s mother, Annabelle.” He glances over at Noah’s completely blank face; the only sign of tension is the way his hand is clenched at his side, something I’m the only one privy to because of my spot at the table.
Curt takes a deep, almost conflicted breath, tears his gaze away from Noah, and turns it back to us. “Your mom…she’s a miracle. My miracle. A second chance at happiness for me when I thought I’d never smile again. I’d like to spend the rest of my life with her.” There are tears threaded through his voice, and maybe normally I’d be swooning with how sweet he was being to my mom…
But who has time for that when I’m freaking out on the inside.
“I’d like to marry her. I’d like us all to become a family. I’ll do my best to make us all happy. To make sure your mom knows how loved she is every day of her life.”
There’s an uneasy silence after his announcement.
My words are caught in my chest…as usual.
But also as usual…Daisy knows exactly what to say.
“Do you promise not to break her heart?” she asks, her gaze boring holes into his skull.
He nods solemnly before she even finishes the question, and when he glances at my mom, I wonder how it was possible that he could have loved his first wife at all considering the depths of emotion I can see in his eyes now.
“I promise,” he finally answers.
I peer over at Noah, who’s staring away from the table, out the window where you can see the waves crashing on the dock in the distance. But even though he tries to hide his face, I recognize the expression on it all the same—he’s in agony.
Daisy pauses for dramatic effect before she gives him her answer. It’s long enough to leave Curt on the edge of his seat in anticipation, as is Daisy’s style.
“Okay then!” she finally answers, lifting her glass of water in the air. “To the engaged couple!”
I lift my glass in the air too, hoping Curt takes it as consent to marry my mother without me having to verbalize it. Ecstatic, both Curt and my mom lift their glasses to join our toast, but Noah doesn’t so much as budge from his perusal out the window.
And the sad thing is…I’m the only one who seems to notice.
Chapter 4
Skylar
