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Thea laughed, and I slid into the chair beside her. “Well, I’m glad your marriage survived the trip.”
“What did you two get up to while we were gone?” Mom asked.
Thea’s cheeks turned pink. “Nothing in particular.”
“Ben said you were going up to Mount Pierce for the weekend,” Mom said, donning her oven mitts to move the ham onto the dining room table. “That’s awful fancy for a weekend away.”
“Yeah, Chase was supposed to come with me but…” Thea said as we trailed her into the dining room.
Mom set the pan on a trivet in the center of the table and lifted an eyebrow. “But?”
“He got a big promotion and is moving to New Jersey. So, we broke up.” Any residual sadness seemed to have died away. She shrugged. “We weren’t really compatible, anyway.”
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that,” Mom frowned. “At least you salvaged the weekend. How was Mount Pierce?”
“Real fancy,” Thea answered with a shrug. “With lots of hikes.”
“Isn’t that some romantic getaway?” Dad’s brow furrowed in thought. “Steph down at Bob’s Cars mentioned some Valentine’s Day thing at the resort.”
Thea grimaced, and I swept in. “Yeah. Thea and I won the newlywed game. Two bottles of wine and some chocolate-covered strawberries.”
“Romantic weekend?” Mom raised an eyebrow, her gaze flicking from Thea to me.
“Romantic for everyone else, anyway.” I shrugged, feigning nonchalance. “Thea didn’t even try to woo me.”
“Woo you?” Thea laughed. “Not after you dragged me on a three-mile hike to look at fog.”
“How was I supposed to know we wouldn’t be able to see anything? Besides, it was nice to get out of the resort for a bit.”
“Maybe for you.” Thea punched my shoulder.
Mom sighed dramatically, crossing her arms. “Is it too much to ask for one of you to give us some grandbabies?”
“Yeah, Thea, get on that.” I nudged her with my shoulder.
Her mouth dropped. “Rude. They’re your parents.”
“They count you as one of their own.”
“Guess you gave up on them ever getting together?” Dad grinned at Mom.
“If a romantic weekend at a luxury resort didn’t do it, I don’t know what will,” Mom sighed.
Thea gulped and turned pale.
“You okay, Thea?” I asked under my breath.
“Yeah, fine.” She shook her head, plastering a smile on her face. “Now, what did you say about presents?”
* * *
After dinner, Mom showered us with way too many gifts. Well, mostly Thea. I’d kindly asked my mom to stop buying me random souvenirs years ago and she’d shifted those purchases to Thea. In addition to yards of fabric, apparently.
“Do you think I could hire your mom to buy fabric for me?” Thea asked, her heels clicking on the pavement while we crossed the street back to her house.
I hefted the sack of fabric onto my other shoulder. “If I have to haul it around? Absolutely not.”
“She’s got a good eye.” Thea touched the fabric sack holding pounds of cloth.
