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Tears—actual tears—well in her eyes, rendering me speechless. In twenty-three years, I’ve never seen the woman cry.
Not even when my dad walked out on us.
I swallow the guilt, though I know she wouldn’t have understood.
Thad’s right. I didn’t tell her because I didn’t want her to stop me.
Hosting events, going to parties, dressing to the nines—that’s the role he was born to play. But for me? I may have once thought so… but now I’m not sure I’m convinced.
Losing his patience, my stepfather stomps toward the phone.
“Did you or did you not deny Thad’s proposal?” Henry’s face grows splotchy with angry red patches, and if I was a betting woman, I’d say our blood pressures probably match.
It’s been weeks since I called off our engagement, but the sting of our last conversation is still stamped across Thad’s face.
“I… did.”
His mouth opens, then closes. “You’ve been promised to each other since your debutante!”
“Henry, be quiet,” my mother says smoothly before turning back to me. “You know how important this is to your family and your future. Are you really going to dig your heels in with the wedding just two months away?”
I glance at the date displayed on the clock perched on the bedside table. The sensation of a noose becomes so real that I place a hand at the base of my throat.
“You said you needed some space, Katie, but I think you’ve had enough.” This comes from my supposed fiancé.
Hethinks I’ve had enough.
“You can’t be serious.”
When Thad proposed three months ago at our first charity event of the spring, I was so shocked that I didn’t have a chance to give him an official answer. It all happened so fast. Thad down on one knee, the crowd around us clapping and cheering, and then a ring was sliding onto my finger.
Mom went into hyperdrive with Mrs. Aston, plotting and planningtheirideal wedding.
I expressed to Thad that I didn’t want to be married in August. It’s unbearably hot around that time of year in Georgia, and I didn’t want our guests suffering through the outside ceremony his mother was insisting on.
His response was for me to relax, and let our moms do their thing.
Much like this conversation, I was cowed into submission.
“Please, babe. I’ve been patient like you asked. You had your fun with the job and stuff.” More quietly, he adds, “This isn’t something you can just run away from.”
My nails score the side of my bare thigh as I force myself to remain calm.
“Thatjobis important to me.”
Besides, what if I don’t want to go to medical school and join Henry’s plastics practice? Just because Thad’s parents are in the same line of business doesn’t mean we all have to be some weird, conjoined unit.
“The point is,” Mother interjects, “it seems Thad has given you plenty of time to come to terms with your marriage.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe when a man proposes, the woman has to say yes at some point.”
She sputters. “Are you sayingno?”
My stomach rolls. I don’t know what I’m saying. But I do know that I’m not deciding while I’m disheveled, braless, and in another country.
“I would like to think the three of you can respect my request for a little space to clear my mind and come to a decision.”
Thad’s voice holds a cautious tone as he says my name. “Katie.”
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a vacation to enjoy.”
Henry snatches the phone from whatever surface it was propped against, filling the screen with so much of his face that I can barely make heads or tails of what I’m looking at.
“When we end this call, the first thing you’re going to do is pack your belongings, head straight for the airport, and get on the first flight headed back to Georgia.”
My palms grow itchy with a dose of adrenaline, but the unshakable fury in Henry’s eye gives me pause.
“Because if you’re not on a plane home by tomorrow morning, you’re cut off.”
