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“Tatum.” This time, her voice was a threat.
“His name is Rafael. We met at the coffee shop. He came in one day, and we hit it off. I was going to call you today, now that we’ve made it official, but it seems like his mom went crazy planning the mating party and beat me to it.”
I went on, “I’m sorry you didn’t hear it from me personally, but this is a good thing for us. Rafael needs me, and I need him. We fit well together.” I tried to throw as much truth in there as I could, so there was a better chance she would buy it.
Honestly, it wasn’t a huge stretch to think I wouldn’t tell them. If I did start dating someone, I would definitely keep it to myself until I was positive it was going to become permanent.
Dating was off the table, though.
Hell,everyonewas off the table except Rafe, and I didn’t even know how to feel about that. The emotions were too tangled, and too messy.
My mom was silent for a moment.
A long, long moment.
“It hurts that you didn’t trust me enough to tell me,” she finally said, her voice much quieter.
“I know, mom. I’m sorry.”
“You’re not even having a ceremony?”
I hadn’t had time to consider a wedding, but she was obsessed with big parties and social events. If she didn’t have a wedding to invite her friends to, or at least just brag about and show pictures of, she’d be pissed. And heartbroken.
Mostly pissed, though.
She was always concerned about appearances.
Which meant I had to have a wedding, or listen to her complain about the fact that I hadn’t for the rest of my life. Option A was the clear winner.
“Rafael’s mom took over all the planning in a matter of hours. I’m glad she did—you know I wouldn’t enjoy throwing a huge party—but we haven’t really had time to talk about whether we want to do a wedding ceremony while we’re there. I think it might help me transition better, so I’m leaning toward doing it.”
“I would like to see you married, if you’re living together in a permanent bond the way supernatural beings do,” my mom said, sniffling a little. “And I would’ve thrown the party for you.”
“I’ll talk to Rafe about it. I’m sure he’ll agree to a wedding. He’ll pay for your plane tickets too, if you’re planning on coming.”
It seemed like the least he could do, and I knew they’d complain about the money, even though they hadplenty.
“Anastasia already paid for them as a gift,” my mom said, sniffling again. I assumed that was his mom’s name, but couldn’t act like I didn’t know it. “Tell him to spend the money on your dress, instead.”
“I will. I love you, mom.”
“I love you too. I’m glad you’re happy, Tatum.”
“Thank you. See you soon.” I hung up the phone and leaned harder against the wall.
The front door opened and closed, and I heard footsteps on the stairs a moment later. I looked over at the doorway, not surprised to find Rafael standing there with his hands in the pockets of his joggers.
“We have to do a wedding ceremony while we’re there,” I told him. “White dress, flowers, cake, and all.”
“No problem.” His voice was gentler than I expected.
“I don’t even know if they can get a dress done in time. Or any of the other stuff.”
“You’ll need four dresses, actually. Only one will be white. I called a place in town earlier, and they said they’ll make it happen.”
“Four wedding dresses seems excessive.” I wiped away a few tears.
“Pretty much everything about demons is excessive, Tater-tot. I thought you realized that when you saw my wings, horns, and tail.” His lips curved upward, and I choked on a laugh. “I set up an appointment for you tomorrow evening. I figured we need to decide what to do about the living situation tonight.”
