“First things first.” I look at his companion and offer my hand. “I’m Avery. And you are?”
“Lara.” My arm rocks with the force of her enthusiasm as she shakes my hand. “I’ve heard so much about you and your sister. It’s lovely to meet you.”
“You as well.” I look from Lara to my dad. “You have something you wanted to tell me?”
At this point, I’m feeling supremely grateful Camryn already clued me in to the bomb my dad is about to drop.
“Let’s sit,” he says, standing back from the open door and gesturing with an open arm to the living room.
“Oh no,” I say in a joking voice. “Something I need to sit down for?”
Lara’s laugh is a tad shrill. Camryn gives me a knowing look, but presses her lips together to keep from smirking.
Dad and Lara settle in across from me and Camryn. “I’d wanted to tell both of you girls together, but?—”
Camryn interrupts. “But I walked in on them?—”
“Kissing,” my dad finishes.
“Not for much longer,” Camryn mutters.
He gives her a stern look. His eyes move to me, and the expression in them changes. He’s preparing to not only tell me about his engagement to a woman I didn’t know existed until three minutes ago, but he’s going to plead his case. Asking for both permission and forgiveness.
In most relationships, the parent does not ask the child for permission, and unless they have really messed up, they rarely ask for forgiveness. But my relationship with my dad is about as atypical as it gets. Not only did I become a parent to Cam when our mom died, I also morphed into the woman of the house, closer to my dad’s equal than any child should ever be. It was unfair to me, and I hate how I still carry around the resentment.
He’s looking at me now, trepidation in his irises as he takes Lara’s hand. As if I don’t see the enormous diamond shining on her finger.
“Lara and I met on the flight out to Japan. She was headed there to teach a seminar, and we got to talking,” he pauses, looking down at her. She returns his puppy dog eyes with a lovesick grin. “We hit a bit of turbulence and she grabbed my arm.”
Lara looks at us and grins sheepishly. “I’m a nervous flyer.”
I have no idea what my face looks like right now. I hope I’m wearing an expression that is at least somewhat acceptable for the situation, because my sister is not.
“That was, what, a month ago?” Camryn asks.
I push my leg against hers. I was thinking it, but of course Camryn’s the one who would say it.
“When you know, you know.” Dad squeezes Lara’s hand. “Right, babe?”
Babe.
Camryn knocks her knee into mine. It’s super obvious, but it doesn’t matter, because the lovebirds across from us are in their own world.
“So, are congratulations in order?” They tear their gazes from one another and look back to me. I nod at the small ice skating rink on Lara’s finger. “Looks like an engagement ring.”
“That’s exactly what it is. I asked Lara to marry me last week, and she said yes. We were so excited, we flew home early so we could start telling our families in person.”
I plaster a smile on my face. “Well, let me be one of the first to say congratulations.”
“Thank you,” my dad says, but he looks pointedly at Camryn. I’m guessing she didn’t offer the same well-wish.
He continues. “Lara has two boys from her first marriage, and we’re planning to tell them tonight.”
“They’re about the same ages as you two,” Lara adds. “Eighteen and twenty-two. They go to college in Texas, but they’re here for the upcoming long weekend.” Her smile dips just enough for me to see that she’s nervous.
“After that, well”—Dad stares into Lara’s eyes—“we don’t want to wait too long to marry. Something small, intimate. Maybe even here, in the backyard, before it gets hot.”
“It’s mid-November,” I say, trying to keep from sputtering. If they want to marry before it gets hot, that means they’re targeting a March or April wedding.
