“What?” I try to keep my tone from giving away the hysteria I feel. “Kids? Jesus, man. We only just started dating like a week ago.”
“So are you guys exclusive already?” Fisher asks. “That was fast.”
I shrug. “It’s fine. It’s not like I have time to date a whole lot anyway.” That’s the truth, at least.
“But you must like her a lot,” Fisher says as Ed nods enthusiastically behind him.
“Sure,” I say. “Want a game of pool?” I glance between Ed and Fisher.
“What do you like about her?” Ed asks.
I reach around the back of my neck. I’m not a great liar. I swear you can see the truth all over my face no matter what my words say. “I don’t know,” I say. “Like Fisher says, she’s hot. And she’s caring and has a good heart.” None of that’s a lie. She’s bordering on demonic a lot of the time because she cares so much about her sister. “And I like the fact she’s not always ...” I want to say this without insulting Katherine. I like Katherine. She’s nice and Ed loves her. She seems good to my friend. That’s all good. But Katherine seems like she’s always happy, like life is always sunshine and roses. But that’s just not how life is. “She’s real, you know? Her smiles are hard won.”
Ed huffs out a laugh. “Yeah, that’s true enough.”
Voices chatter in the hallway, and the rest of the bachelor party appears in the game room. People start talking, and Ed and Fisher play pool. I bet Lucy’s stressed about having everything ready before her mom and the rest of her family arrive for the night. Maybe I’ll just go out and check on her.
In the kitchen, I find Lucy sporting an apron, setting things out on trays. She glances up at me. “I should have sprung for caterers to do this.”
“Can I help?” I ask.
“Would you?”
“What do you need?”
“Just spread this tomato stuff on the toast and pop on an olive. I’ll do the blini.” She hands me the knife she’s been using, and our eyes catch as our fingers brush together.
I set to work, scooping out the tomato mixture from the bowl while Lucy darts around the kitchen. It’s like we’re in an escape room and the timer’s running down.
“I’m sure people would have been happy with chips and dip,” I say. “You didn’t need to have gone to this much of an effort.”
Lucy snorts. “You’ve met my mother, right? At least we’ll only be here forty-five minutes or so before the cars pick us up.”
“No doubt everything’s on a very strict timetable.”
Lucy shoots me a disappointed glance.
“It’s not a criticism,” I say. “I know you’re just trying to make everyone happy.”
“Exactly,” she says. “And given my mother is in the mix tonight, that’s not an easy task.”
The doorbell chimes, and Lucy visibly jumps.
“Katherine!” she calls, and Katherine scrambles down the stairs like she was just waiting at the top to be called down.
“Is it Mom?” she asks as she gets to the bottom.
“Crap.” Lucy looks down at her apron and quickly pulls it off. “You look beautiful,” she says to Katherine.
“So do you,” Katherine answers as they both move to the front door.
“Darlings,” an older woman in navy says. “So good to finally be celebrating one of your upcoming nuptials.”
This must be the aunt. Katherine and Lucy’s mother is next through the door and greets her daughters, followed by two younger women—the bitchy cousins, no doubt. Everyone greets each other in a flurry of hugs and air-kisses. It all seems very amicable. Maybe it’s because I know Lucy is stressed, but there’s something about the scene that doesn’t feel quite authentic.
“Oh, I thought you’d be ready for us,” Lucy’s mom says, scanning her from head to toe. “Do you need more time to get ready?”
“Uh, I’m just organizing some nibbles and drinks,” Lucy says, looking visibly flustered.
