“Like what?”
“That’s anI-told-you-soexpression if I’ve ever seen one.” She narrows her eyes. “This is your fault, Mister. If you hadn’t decided to—”
My phone vibrates in my hand. I scramble to answer, so flustered that I put it to my ear without checking to see who it is.
“Granty! There you are! I’ve been trying to get you for ages!”
I keep my sigh silent, turn in my seat, and press the phone tighter to my ear. “What’s up, Mom?”
“What’s up? You know what’s up. I’ve left you a million messages! Do you even check anymore, or are you too busy for that?”
“I’m busy.”
“Oh.”
“But also, I… uh. Don’t think I can make it.”
“Oh.”
“Sorry, but this is the thirteenth one, isn’t it, Mom?”
“Is it?”
“Yeah. I counted. Don’t you think you should walk yourself down the aisle?”
“Well, I prefer to stick with tradition. Besides, it’s important to include you in the ceremony. I just adore Henri. You’re gonna love him. He’s a pro golf player. Can you believe it? Retired, of course, but I met him at the club and—”
“I’m not going.”
“I could… We could change the date, I suppose, to accommodate your—”
“No, Mom. I don’t want to go.”
“Oh. Well, that’s just unkind.”
“Is it? Or is it unkind to give the guy false hope? Hm? Maybe instead of marrying him, you could, I don’t know, do like the rest of the world and date for a while, you know? Maybe you could—”
“Okay. Fine. That’s it. Thanks. If you want to act like this, I’m done for today. I’ll stop asking. Bye.”
She hangs up.
“Wow.”
I look up at Rae. I can’t believe I forgot she was there.
“That didn’t sound fun.”
I huff. Fun and my mother are polar opposites. Except maybe to the men she marries. For a while, at least.
“Yeah.” I don’t consider telling her about it, exactly. I just open my mouth, and it pours out. “She’s a serial bride.”
She gasps. “That’s what you meant when you saidthirteen?”
“Yep.” I sit and roll my stiff neck. Between work and Rae, I haven’t had time to run these past few weeks, and my body’s feeling it. “She thinks this’ll be the one, you know? Get a clue, man.”
“That is a lot. Did you have like a ton of stepdads?”
I nod. “Yeah. My dad was number two.”
