“I’m not doing this with you tonight,” Andrew said. He wrapped his arms around me. “Call it what you want, but I am all yours.”
I didn’t say it, but I was all his too.
Andrew’s parents’ house was big. And beautiful. And right on the beach. We sat on the built-in bench on the front deck, having a cocktail before dinner, watching the sunset. I snuggled up under his arm, and he kissed my head. “You know, Gray,” he said, “this has been the best summer of my life.” He winked. “I love you. I really mean that. And I know you want this to be a summer fling, but the idea of having to not be with you—”
I put my finger up to his lips. “Shhh. Let’s just enjoy the sunset.”
He nodded and looked back toward the water breaking and crashing to the shore just over the dunes, the sea oats waving in the wind.
“There’s my little sweetie!” I heard from behind me.
I sat straight up and turned to see a polished, beautifulwoman, probably in her late forties, a fact that was very well hidden by what I presumed was a good deal of Botox. She was wearing white jeans and a patterned silk tunic and looked like she belonged to this house perfectly. Andrew got up and wrapped her in a hug. “Hi, my little momma,” he said.
My heart was racing through my chest and into my throat, and I felt momentarily like I might pass out. I was stunned to see this woman, yet Andrew didn’t look surprised in the least. He had tricked me. I wanted to be mad—only he had to trick me, didn’t he? Because I would never in a million years have agreed to meet his mother.
“There’s my boy,” another, deeper voice called as its owner, in crisp khaki pants and a blue-and-white-striped knit shirt, stepped onto the deck. He and his son hugged briefly. I stood up, my maxi dress flowing in the breeze, thankful that I hadn’t worn the low-cut one I’d considered when getting dressed.
“Mom, Dad,” Andrew said. “This is Gray.”
If they were surprised to see me, they didn’t let on. His mother took my hand and kissed my cheek. “We have heard so much about you,” she said. “Please call me June.”
Henry was next in line for a handshake and cheek kiss. They were so adorable. I turned and smiled pertly at Andrew. His wide grin told me that, yes indeed, he had been planning this, and, my oh my, he was so proud of himself. But a little heads-up would have been nice. They’d heard so much about me, but I didn’t know exactly what that entailed. Did that mean they knew about the divorce? And Wagner? That I wassubstantially too old to be running around with their prize of a son?
“We won’t be down next week, so we wanted to take Andrew to an early birthday dinner. Why don’t we all go to the club and get to know each other a little better?” Henry asked.
“Oh, um,” I stuttered, “I should probably be getting home.”
That’s all I needed, to walk into the Straits Club and have everyone call me Mrs. Howard.
Andrew took my hand and said, “No, Gray. You have to eat with us. You’ll starve to death otherwise.”
Everyone laughed, which made me realize that my lack of kitchen prowess was one of the things they had heard about.
“Oh yes, please,” June added. “I’ve never gotten to show off a beautiful girlfriend of my son’s at the Narrows Club. He never lets us meet anyone he dates.”
He squeezed my hand and winked. Two things were fighting for position at the front of my mind. One, Narrows Club. Thank the Lord. It could still go badly. There could still be friends mentioning Wagner or Greg, but at least there wouldn’t be any waitstaff calling me Mrs. Howard. Two, Andrew never let them meet anyone, and he was letting them meet me. My heart sank. I adored him, but standing on his parents’ beautiful front deck I really faced how ridiculous this was. He was too young, and my life was too similar to his parents’. The entire thing was utterly absurd.
But I loved him. Ripping this Band-Aid off was going to hurt like hell. So I smiled and decided to wait until tomorrow.“Thank you so much,” I said. “I think dinner at the Narrows Club sounds amazing.”
I was going to drive separately, so I could have a word with Andrew, but June said, “Oh, no. I am a teetotaler, so you may as well let me. Then the three of you can have a little fun.” She winked at me.
I slid into the backseat of her Mercedes sedan and gave Andrew the look I gave Wagner when he was misbehaving in public and I was going to give him a piece of my mind when we got home.
He avoided my glance and made small talk on the very short ride to dinner. But it wasn’t long before we were sitting at the table, and June said, “So, where did you two meet?”
I smiled and Andrew squeezed my hand under the table again. “Actually,” I said, “we met at the Straits Club.”
“Oh,” Henry said, “do your parents belong there?”
This was the only time I had ever been grateful that my mother was dead. “Actually, my mother passed away last year.”
As expected, instead of them grilling me about the Straits Club and how Andrew’s girlfriend had her own membership, we got to talk cancer and “I’m sorries” and “that must be so hard for a girl your age.”
A girl your age.
“So, were you two in school together?” Henry asked, as though he had read my mind.
Andrew started to speak, but I interrupted him. “Well, I’m not getting my master’s like this smarty-pants, if that’s what you’re asking,” I said, laughing lightly.Because I got it twelve years ago.
