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19
Dan
Despite Elise lookingcontent during the drive to my parents’ home, I can’t help being a little bit suspicious of her. “We are not even a couple,” I start, breaking the comfortable silence that settled between us since we departed. “Why do you want to join us for lunch?”
She shrugs one delicate shoulder. “You have had so many lunches and dinners with my parents, what’s the problem with me joining in for one of yours? Your mother always says Andries and I are welcome.”
I narrow my eyes at her, trying to figure out what game she is playing. The last time my parents and Elise ran into each other was when she was leaving my home after she and I slept together for the first time. I know it must have been mortifying, and I figure that she’d want to avoid them, not come to lunch at the next opportunity.
I refuse to entertain the all-too-tempting idea that she just wants to spend more time with me. If I’m wrong, it will hurt too much.
I feel a rush of warm happiness as we pull up to my family home, the emerald green grass and shrubbery are always a welcome sight. Even if Elise is complicated, at least spending time at home with my parents will be good. It always is, and I send up a silent thanks for the fact that my parents are so much different from hers.
Elise and I walk out onto the back terrace side by side where my parents sit at a round table in the shade, enjoying cucumber water and talking to one another before they see us both. Once they do, they both stand, embracing me while Mom kisses Elise on the cheek.
Both Mom and Pops look at the two of us with bright eyes, and I realize they think her being here is significant. I hate to disappoint them but Elise hasn’t accepted that we should be together yet. “Thanks for lunch. Elise was starving, so I dragged her along,” I tell them as some sort of rushed explanation for her presence.
“You’re more than welcome here, dear Elise,” Mom warmly interposes, her smile up to her ears causing me to roll my eyes at it.
My parents exchange a confused look before taking their seats again and gesturing for us to do the same.
Conversation is normal at first, but I can see the way my mother keeps looking at El with stars in her eyes, and the way she turns all conversations towards her, giving her more attention than Dad and I combined.
“Caroline,” Pops says, amused. “Give our guest a minute to breathe.”
She flutters her hands in the air. “Oh, stop. Elise, you are the first woman Dan has ever brought over, so excuse me if I’m over the moon about it.”
“Mom…” I groan.
“What!? It’s the truth, isn’t it?”
It takes some effort, but I manage to steer the talk back to anything else besides Elise and me. It takes some time, but we finally broach the subject of the Bar Rogue scandal, and my mother asks worriedly how Andries is handling it all.
“As well as one might expect,” Elise tells her, before taking a sip of her water. “He’s still processing the shock of it all, and while he loves Roxanne beyond words, it’s a big blow to discover that she owned a secret cabaret.”
“Not to mention the fact that we think that Sebastian and Karl, the man that Roxanne had all the trouble with before, might be behind the entire ordeal,” I blurt out, until I realize speaking of her dad might make Elise uncomfortable.Shit.
“I can see where that would be difficult,” Mom comments and reaches over to pat Elise on the hand, in a sign of warm understanding. “Are you handling it all okay, dear?”
Elise seems taken aback by her concern, but her smile is warm and genuine as she answers. “Oh, yes, I’m fine. Handling scandals is almost like a sport in my family.”
“I hope you still had a good time in Capri, though,” my mother offers, and Elise nods.
“I definitely did,” I tell them, trying to change the subject to our vacation time. “It was so much fun, and I discovered so many new things.”
Dad chuckles next to me, and before I can kick him under the table, he says, “Oh, I don’t doubt that one bit.”
For all Elise has become loving and affectionate with me, she’s still cold and aloof with others, so when I get to see her warm up to my parents––especially my mom––in real time, it’s touching. I wonder how much different she would be if she had parents like mine growing up, who showed her love and support through thick and thin. She and Mom laugh and joke throughout lunch, my mom constantly reaching over to touch her hand or wrist as they speak, so Elise knows that she has her full attention. I don’t want to be so affected by it, but watching the two of them makes my heart swell with love for them both.
After lunch, Elise and I both hug my parents goodbye before I offer to take her on a tour of the house. She saw the main parts during the engagement party, but she insists on seeing the rest. I don’t pick up on what she means at first, but it quickly becomes clear that she has one destination in mind.
“I want to see your room.”
I huff. “Absolutely not.”
“Please Dan…” She grabs me by the shoulders and plants a soft kiss on my lips. “I want to know more about you. Come on, show me!”
I try to deny her, but when she’s so sweet and soft it’s impossible, so despite my better judgment, I find myself letting the woman I love into the bedroom I’ve had since childhood.
