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Neither of Heidi's parents had bothered with introductions.
I decided what the hell, I'd do it for them. "I'm Damian Petrescu, by the way. And you are Janice and Ethan Mackenzie. It's nice to meet you. Thank you for cooking such a nice meal for us."
The rest of the meal had already been laid out on the table before Janice brought in the roast. We had broccoli and cauliflower, mashed potatoes, and hot rolls. She really had made a nice meal, so I hadn't been lying when I thanked her for that. Now if she would only start acting like a decent human being, the night would be perfect.
"Petrescu," Janice said, pronouncing my last name as if she'd never heard anything so alien. "Is that Eastern European?"
"Romanian."
"How interesting." Her stiff tone and stiff posture suggested she didn't like having to converse with me. "Isn't that interesting, Ethan?"
"Yeah, it's damn fascinating." Heidi's dad shoved a forkful of meat into his mouth and talked while chewing, his gaze on me. "You one of those commies from the Eastern Bloc?"
"No, I'm descended from a long line of proud Ludar."
He paused in the middle of hacking off another piece of the roast. "Loo-what?"
"Ludar. My family, on both my mother's and my father's side, can trace our lineage back hundreds of years to the earliest Rom tribes."
"You're from Italy? Thought you said Romania."
I couldn't help smiling. Lots of people got confused when I talked about my heritage. "Rom is spelled R-O-M. It's not the city in Italy. It's who we are. The Ludar came from the Rom tribes, which most people call gypsies."
Janice's eyes flew wide. "Gypsies? Oh dear lord, what sort of man have you taken up with this time, Heidi?"
My fiancée slammed her fork down on her plate, making it wobble and smack back down. "Damian is a good man. The best I've ever met, way better than Grant, who you and Dad thought was the perfect match for me."
"He was. I'm sure he'd take you back if—"
"Grant cheated on me repeatedly. I kept taking him back, but never again. Damian is a thousand times the man Grant Busch will ever be."
"But this…gentleman is a gypsy." Janice spoke that word like it was the worst kind of swearing.
"Damian is a wonderful man." She raised her left hand, aiming that sparkling diamond toward her mom. "You guys didn't even notice this, did you? Damian and I are engaged."
Both her parents gaped at her.
I clasped her hand and kissed her ring.
"We know nothing about this man," Ethan said. "You can't marry a complete stranger."
"He's not a stranger to me," Heidi told him.
"Does he even have a job? Or will you be traveling around like hobos?"
"I'm the concierge at a resort," I said.
"What kind of resort?" Ethan asked.
Heidi and I glanced at each other, and I knew from her expression that she wanted me to tell them the truth, no matter how they reacted. "I work at Au Naturel Naturist Resort."
Janice contorted her face into an expression of genuine horror. "Isn't that the unseemly place where Heidi insists on taking her vacations? That's a nudist resort."
"Yeah, it is. We both work there now."
"My daughter cannot work at a place like that. Taking vacations there is bad enough, but—"
"Stop it, Mom," Heidi said. "I work there, and I'm marrying Damian. Get over it."
