AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Eliza tries her very best not to panic. “Uhh…”
“Mag…”
“It’s just a casual get-together with our parents,” Maggie continues, ignoring all of my attempts to shut her up. “My boyfriend will be there, too, and our dad is a huge fan of your dad. He’d love to meet you. Mom, too!”
“Mag, for God’s sake—”I yank her through the doorway but she digs her heels into the floor.
“Come on, Eliza. Please? It’ll be fun, I promise.”
Eliza’s little, blue eyes shift with nervous glitches. “Um… okay.”
“Awesome! I’ll just be in the living room—”
I push her out into the hall. “Okay, thanks, Mag—”
She pokes her head back in. “Sorry about the bimbo thing!”
“Get out.” I slam the door and turn back to Eliza’s petrified face. “I am so sorry. She can be a real…”
“Sister?”
“Yeah… Look, you do not have to come with us today.”
“No, it’s okay. I’ll go. Unless you really don’t want me there…”
“No — I do,” I say, panic gripping my throat. “I mean, I don’t not want you there, I just… Don’t feel like you have to go, I mean. She really shouldn’t have invited you out of the blue like that.”
“I don’t want to be rude,” she says. “I said I’d go, so… I’ll go and…” she swallows, “meet your parents.”
I cringe. “Yeah.”
She raises her fists in mock celebration. “Yay…”
“I guess it’s only fair…” I chuckle. “I’ve already met your dad, right?”
“Right…”
“And you don’t have to worry about anyone seeing us. They live an hour away. No one will know.”
“Good,” she nods. “Well… we might as well get cleaned up. Wouldn’t want to meet your mother smelling like sex.”
I laugh. Even in the trenches, Eliza Pierce cracks a joke.
They’re going to love her.
This is not good.
* * *
I castone more apologetic glance at Eliza but she just keeps smiling next to me in the backseat of Maggie’s little car.
I don’t know how she does it. She’s obviously screaming inside but there’s not a single thing on the outside that shows it. Maggie and Nate bark question after question at her from the front seats and Eliza answers each one — never once showing an ounce of inconvenience. It’s amazing, honestly. I guess this is what happens when you grow up in Cary Pierce’s shadow.
“So, where’s your mom?” Maggie asks, staring more at Eliza through the rearview mirror than at the road.
“Mag…” I warn.
Eliza pats my hand. “No, it’s okay,” she says, smiling politely. “My mother is no longer with us. It’s just me and my dad.”
