As if she senses my discomfort, Pres takes my hand and pulls me toward the family room. “Come on,” she says softly. “Let’s go find everyone else.”
Nerves start to settle in the pit of my stomach. I’ve been so focused on Pres and the growing distance between us that I hadn’t given much thought to how I’d react to seeing her family today.
And now I’ve run out of time to prepare.
We round the corner past the impressive staircase to the living room that overlooks the Pacific. I don’t know how many hours I sat here watching the water wink out in the distance.
But today, I barely notice it because sitting on the sofa is Lance Creed.
“Hi, Daddy,” Pres greets him, still clutching my hand. “I brought a guest. Hope you don’t?—”
“Hollis!” Lance pops up from the sofa to greet us. His dark hair has turned a bit more salt and pepper than I remember, but he’s still rocking the vintage band tees and worn jeans. He’s always kind of reminded me of an older version of Dave Grohl. He’s even got a pair of stylish black-framed glasses now.
Lance doesn’t even bother with a handshake and just steps right up and pulls me into a tight hug. I tense as years of unresolved feelings toward this man surge to the forefront of my mind. But when I catch a glimpse of my wife, I push it all aside.
I am not here for that. I am only here for her.
“Good to see you, Lance,” I say when he finally lets me go.
“This is such a wonderful surprise,” he replies. “I wish the rest of the kids were all here to see you.”
“We’re the only ones?” Pres asks. Now that he mentions it, the living room is unusually quiet for the Creed family.
“Yeah, I’m afraid it’s just us this week,” Tilly says, coming up to join her husband. “Myles is rehearsing for an audition he hastomorrow. Mercury is sick, and obviously, Hendrix and Zara are still on tour.”
“Cash?”
“Oh!” Tilly laughs at her unintentional omission. “Taylor has a birthday party. Parents are required to stay the entire time.”
Now it’s Pres’s turn to laugh. “Oh, I bet he was thrilled about that.”
“Immensely. You know how much he loves social gatherings.”
“And people,” she adds.
“Wait? Are we talking about the same Cash?” I ask, because the Cash I remember was a total book nerd, but he was also immensely popular. He rarely came home from college because he was always busy with some club he was in or he had plans with friends.
Tilly shrugs, a shadow falling over her. “People change.”
Lance takes her hand as his expression shifts. “So what brings you to Malibu, Hollis?”
“Yes.” Tilly smiles, eyeing us both with a knowing grin. “I’d love to know that as well.”
Oh, here we go…
“Uh…actually, Dad, that’s actually something we’d like to discuss. You see, the thing is…” She falters, trying to find the right way to tell them.
So I just come out and say it.
“We got married!” I announce, grabbing Presley’s hand in mine as both her parents’ mouths drop open. Two sets of eyes land on the matching gold bands they now realize they somehow missed.
“You’re married?”
“It was a spontaneous thing,” Pres says, the words rushing out. “But we’re happy about it.”
“More than happy,” I add. “And we hope you’ll be happy for us.”
They both just stare at us. I can’t tell if being at a loss for words is a good thing—like they’re just processing and trying to catch up—or if they’re trying to find the nicest way possible to tell us we’re completely crazy.
