Is that what everyone’s been waiting for? Me to see sense and move back to Boston?
My dad makes the announcement that our table is ready and we should find our seats. I head to the opposite end from my parents, but everyone finds a place before I do. There are about twenty of us, and eventually, I find a seat in the middle. The chair next to me is free, and I look around for Hunter. I find him heading toward me, but just as I nod at the empty seat next to me, Uncle Ralph plonks himself down.
It’s so frustrating, having Hunter so close but not having any time, just the two of us. He takes the seat opposite me, and we trade what feels like a secret smile.
Everyone finds their places, Ed’s parents taking up the two chairs at one end of the table and my parents taking up the two chairs at the other. Maybe it’s me, but shouldn’t Ed and Katherine be at the end of the table? Or maybe it’s because the parents are hosting this dinner? It feels like the spotlight should really be on the happy couple.
My dad stands and clinks his fork against his water glass.
“Just a few words before we break bread with each other. It’s been a delight to have Ed become a part of the family over the last few years. Katherine is such a sweet and precious daughter, I never thought there’d be a man worthy of her, but she found him in Ed. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Franklin on raising the perfect son for our perfect daughter.”
I try not to roll my eyes at my father’s description of his perfect daughter. Katherine’s the perfect one. I’m the imperfect one. That’s how you distinguish the two of us.
Someone nudges my foot under the table. My head snaps up to find Hunter grinning at me.
“Anything you want to say, darling?” Dad says to Mom.
My mom shakes her head but stands just the same. “Just to say that Katherine, we’re so happy for you. You’ve found your Mr. Bingley, darling. And rightly so. You’re such a kind, caring, devoted daughter, and I know you’ll be a wonderful wife.”
Everyone claps. I wonder if it’s just me who thinks that toast was ... off, somehow. It was all about Katherine and how she performs as a daughter and a wife. Not who she is in her heart. Katherine is kind and caring. But she’s not just a daughter. Maybe I’m being oversensitive. Being under the same roof as my mother for the last few days is slowly driving me crazy.
Thankfully, Ed’s parents pass on the speeches, and the appetizers are served. Hunter is seated next to Uncle Ralph’s wife, my Aunt Maude. It’s literally my idea of hell. Ralph is almost completely deaf, and his wife more than makes up for his silence.
“Your Ed’s friend, I hear,” Maude says.
I chase a shrimp around my plate and try to keep my head down in case anyone pulls me into conversation about moving back to Boston again. But obviously I’m listening in to Hunter’s conversation with Maude.
“That’s right. We’ve known each other a long time. You’re Mrs. Jones’s sister?”
“Yes. Two peas in a pod. Not like Katherine and poor Lucy.”
I take a breath and stab a shrimp with my fork.
Hunter just nods and takes a sip of his wine.
“Me and my sister did everything together,” Maude says. “We even dated brothers one time. And we had the same interests. The same outlook on life. No two sisters have ever been closer.”
“But Katherine and Lucy are close,” Hunter says.
Maude pauses. “Yes, I suppose so. Like cousins more than sisters. They’re so dissimilar. Katherine is such a homebody—a nurturer.”
Hunter’s gaze slides to mine, and I pretend I haven’t heard. Except I have heard, and my cheeks flush bright red. I chew my shrimp like it’s made of molasses.
“Is that good?” I ask Uncle Ralph, who seems to have the vegetarian option. I’m trying to distract myself from Aunt Maude’s withering verdict on my character.
“Food, yes, of course it’s food. You think they’d be serving up bricks?” he barks.
I sigh and turn to my left. It’s a member of Ed’s family who seems engrossed in conversation with whomever’s on his left. I’m left in the middle to listen as Aunt Maude tells the guy I’m sleeping with that I’m not nurturing.
“Lucy’s never been ... Well, she’s obviously not as clever as Katherine,” Maude says as I continue to shrivel in my chair.
“But she’s a paralegal, isn’t she?” Hunter asks in the gentlest way.
“Yes, but honestly, I have no idea how. I think those people do a lot of shredding. You know those huge shredding bins? I bet she does a lot of shredding. She was never any good at school.”
“Aunt Maude,” I say. “You do know that I can hear you, don’t you?”
“What?” she asks oblivious. “I’m just saying you were never any good at school.”
