“Why?” I choked on the word.
“What do you mean, why?” He frowned. “I told them how important you are to me, and they wanted to meet you.”
The hostess watched us with wide eyes but made no move to take us to our table.
I was still shaking my head, trying to grasp what he was doing, when the door opened behind us, and my parents walked in.
“Surprise!” Dad said as he came close to hug me. “Seth invited us to join you for supper tonight.”
“Isn’t that sweet?” Mom asked as she also hugged me. “He said his parents were visiting and thought the four of us should meet.”
I turned back to Seth, feeling completely upended and alarmed—and angry. This was the opposite of what I wanted tonight. I was planning to put things on hold, and Seth had brought our two families together!
“Shall we go in to eat?” Seth asked. “It looks like my parents are already here.”
“No.” I shook my head, anger making me breathe heavily. I couldn’t meet his parents, not like this.
“No?” Seth laughed, looking, for the first time, a little uncomfortable as he glanced at my mom and dad. “What do you meanno?”
My parents were both frowning and confused. They had no idea what Seth had done. They thought I wanted this.
“My parents came all the way from Charleston,” Seth said under his breath as he tried to remain cool.
My jaw was locked together, and I spoke through my teeth. “You should have asked me first.”
“Meg?” Mom put her hand on my back. “Is everything okay?”
It wasn’t okay, but I couldn’t make a scene here in the restaurant. My parents—and Seth’s—didn’t deserve that.
I swallowed all the things I wanted to say to Seth and forced myself to calm down enough to be rational. “I’m okay.”
The hostess seemed relieved when Seth finally told her we were ready. She led us to a table where an older couple sat. It was easy to see where Seth got his good looks. Both his mother and father were attractive individuals. His father looked like an older version of Seth.
“Seth!” Mrs. Wallace said, her eyes glowing. “There you are.”
Seth turned to me and put his arm possessively around my waist, all traces of the uncomfortable moment in the lobby gone. “This is Meg.”
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Mrs. Wallace said as Mr. Wallace rose and extended his hand to me.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Meg,” Mr. Wallace said. “Seth has told us so much about you.”
All I could do was force a smile and shake their hands. I was afraid if I spoke, I’d regret everything I said.
Mom and Dad still looked uneasy, but they quickly plastered smiles on their faces.
“These are Meg’s parents,” Seth continued, “Jonathan and Peggy Clarke.”
“I’m Howard, and this is my wife, Maribeth,” Mr. Wallace said as they all shook hands, and my parents took a seat.
“Howard Wallace, the quarterback for the Carolina Panthers?” Dad asked, clearly impressed.
Mr. Wallace smiled and nodded. “Not anymore, but at one time.”
Of course Seth’s father had been a professional football player. And soon we learned his mom had been Miss America at one point too. No wonder Seth had been elected to Congress at the age of twenty-five. His parents were famous, and just as charismatic and charming as he was.
From all appearances, the evening went off without a hitch. Except that it hadn’t. I played nice, even commenting from time to time on conversation topics. But the entire time I was raging internally, preparing the things I wanted to say to Seth the second we were alone.
Thankfully, our parents kept the conversation going without much effort and were soon the best of friends. It was clear they had a lot in common. They were all overachievers, to begin with, but my dad and Mr. Wallace were avid golfers, Mrs. Wallace and my mom were both excellent cooks,and they were mutually impressed with each other’s chosen professions.
