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“It’ll be fine, Josh.” Joey wraps her arms around my waist. “Remember, I love you and there isn’t anything she can say or do that is going to change that. And those people out there, they’re our friends, not Jules’, so even if your mother starts spouting crap about her they’ll shut her down. She’s outnumbered here.”
“She shouldn’t even be here.”
“You’re right, she shouldn’t, but clearly Jules is grasping at anything to keep you in her life. I feel sorry for her, honestly.”
“Me too.”
I kiss Joey lightly, wishing that we were the only ones in our house. “I’m sorry she’s here,” I tell her, looking into her eyes. She smiles softly and that’s enough to make things okay.
“We’ll deal. It’s what we do best.”
“Yeah, but I’m tired of dealing. I’m honestly surprised you haven’t left me yet with all this drama surrounding me.”
“Ha,” she says, laughing. “Next week when the cameras start following us around you can remind me why I’m still with you.”
I gently tug on her ponytail. “You’re getting the wedding of your dreams and you don’t have to lift a finger. In my opinion, that should make me the best husband ever.”
Joey rolls her eyes and laughs. “Come on, we have company that we have to entertain.” She drags me outside even though I come willingly. When we get out there, everyone is sitting around the table, about to eat.
“Oh, I have stuff in the refrigerator,” Joey says. Rebekah stands and offers to help. I want to run back into the house, but Rob and Bronx look at me like they need to be saved. Reluctantly, I sit down next to my mother.
“You have a very nice house here.”
“Thank you,” I say, honestly. The compliment is unexpected, but I’ll take it.
“Does she work and pay rent or does she just clean and give you sex?”
Bronx spits his beer out all over the table and starts coughing. Rob pats his back and any ounce of compassion I had for this women is now gone. The gasp coming from my right is from Joey, who heard everything.
“Actually, Joey owns the house.” Rebekah puts a bowl of potato salad down on the table. “She lets Josh live here.”
“Excuse me?” my mother says.
I look to Rebekah who smirks.
“In case you didn’t know, Joey is royalty as far as us Americans go.”
“How so?”
I roll my eyes at how my mother’s demeanor has changed suddenly.
“Well, I don’t know if I should really divulge Joey’s financial status. I mean that is really for her, you know, if she wants to tell you who exactly she is.”
I glance quickly at Joey, who is hanging her head. It’s only by chance that I see her laughing.
“Well, Josephine, what is it that you do?”
“Joey, her name is Joey,” I tell my mother.
“Surely it’s short for something more professional.”
“Yeah, no, it’s my name,” Joey says. “As for what I do, I sign up for reality television shows and marry rich actors.” Joey shrugs while the rest of the table breaks out in laughter, except my mother narrows her eyes at Rebekah and I know that her wrath is going to be entertaining.
twenty-five
Joey
I pace the floor,waiting for my mom to arrive. I wanted to go and pick her up, but Josh said that with the cameras already following me, it’d be a shit storm of media attention that I don’t want or need. When I complained, he laughed and told me to get used to it.
