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Silvan’s hand finds my thigh and pulls me from my pondering. I look over at him with one hand on the wheel, the other on my leg. It’s so weird that he’s driving. “You feeling okay?”
I nod. “Yeah. Just thinking.”
“About what?”
“Your family.” I crack a smile. “I know you’re not worried, but I really don’t think your parents are going to pop open the champagne when we tell them this news.”
He smirks. “It’ll be fine. Stop worrying. Your mom wasn’t mad when you told her, and she hasn’t even met me yet,” he points out.
I slide him a look. “Because you moved me into a fourteen-million-dollar mansion,notbecause she believes it will last. I’m pretty sure she looks at this marriage as a wild opportunity that will fizzle out before I’ve graduated from college, and she just wants me to take what I can get out of it. Like when a celebrity gets wasted and marries some rando in Vegas. We all know they’ll be divorced in a few months, tops, but at least you got to see your picture inPeoplemagazine. That kind of thing.Yourfamily isn’t going to see it that way.I’mnot all upside.”
He cracks a smile. “Neither am I; your mom just hasn’t met me yet.”
“She’ll love you,” I say, rolling my eyes. “She’s not hard to please. Now your dadisgoing to think I’m a gold digger.”
“Even if he did, he wouldn’t care. If someone wants to forgo love for money, he’d say that’s their business. Since when do you care so much about my dad’s opinion anyway? This isn’t because of that shit he said, is it? I told you, you don’t have to be afraid of him. I’d never let him hurt you.”
“No,” I say, waving him off. “It’s not that. I don’t know, he accessed that part of my brain. He scares me, but I still weirdly want his approval. I think I have a grudging respect for him or something. I’m not sure what’s wrong with me.”
He chuckles, putting his hand over mine. “All the right things,” he says lightly.
Since we drove tonight, I get the novel experience of lettingmyselfout of the car. Silvan takes my hand, and we walk inside together.
His mom has brought in the Christmas trees in the time since I’ve been gone. There’s a massive one in the entryway, all decked out in white. I spot a red one and a gold one before we get to the dining room. Dinner isn’t ready quite yet, so Silvan takes me to his father’s study, where his parents are waiting for us.
I do not expect to see a tree in here since I’m quite certain Silvan’s dad couldn’t be less interested in Christmas trees if he tried to be, but Melanie must have wanted to dust her Christmas spirit in every room, even his, because there’s a tall skinny tree in the corner decked out in red and gold.
The last time I saw them, I didn’t even really want tobewith Silvan, but there’s no reflection of that brief reality on Melanie’s face when she rushes over to hug me like I’m already her daughter. She tells me how pretty I look as she admires my dress, and before I can even think to move it, her gaze lands on my left hand.
She gasps and brings a hand to her chest. Wide-eyed, she looks from me to Silvan.
“Surprise,” he says.
“Oh, Richard, they’re engaged.” She grabs her husband’s arm, then turns back to us, bursting with more joy than I’ve ever seen in a human being. “Oh, that’s such wonderful news.”
Is it?
I’m floored and expecting the more grounded half of this duo to have more reservations, but when I look at Silvan’s father, he merely smiles blandly and says, “I suppose congratulations are in order.”
“Let me have a look at that ring,” Melanie says, grabbing my hand.
My gaze is locked on her husband, and my heart sinks when his polite if mildly disinterested smile disappears completely.
At the same time he realizes it, Melanie says, “Isn’t this your mother’s ring?”
“I know you didn’t want it,” Silvan says.
“Interesting choice,” his father says, already recovered from his surprise. “I’d have bought something new.”
“It’s a lovely ring,” Melanie says. “So unique. I’ve always thought so.”
“Sophie likes it.”
His father lifts his drink and takes a slow sip, holding my gaze over the rim. “Well, I hope you have better luck with it than she did.”
“Have you set a date yet?” Melanie asks.
I open my mouth to say not yet, but Silvan speaks before I can. “Soon. I’d like to be married before the year’s end.”
