Page 45 of Unexpecting

″Terri. And?” he looked at the silent man standing beside my mother.

″This is Eric,” she said, tucking her arm through his. “Eric Devine. You know, I would love one of those margaritas I see over yonder, and Eric here will have a beer. And Derek?” she glanced to the second man.

″Beer, please, if it’s not too much trouble. Thank you,” Derek said politely.

I finally glanced at him. He’s not unattractive or anything. Tall, with an olive complexion and slicked-back dark hair. Nice eyes, I guess. But really,there’s no way—even if she managed to bring Prince William around—I don’t think there would be any possible way I could be interested in a man my mother tried to set me up with.

″Thanks, sweetface,” Terri simpered.

Cooper followed Luke’s earlier move and made a run for it, but with more restraint than my brother-in-law. Terri turned back to Libby and me. Libby looked like she was waiting for the execution blindfold, and I suspect I looked the same. “So, my darling girls, aren’t you going to ask me what my Eric and I are in town to celebrate?”

This was not the mother I remembered, with her my darlings and her sweetfaces. My mother signed love to birthday cards, but never once said, “I love you.” Libby and I provided the affection to each other because we never got any from our parents. I think my mother must be overdoing it these days, trying to compensate for depriving us when we were growing up.

″Well?” Terri demanded when she sensed she was losing her audience.

″What are you celebrating, Mother?” I asked dutifully. “Something other than Canada Day?”

″With this man we’ve never met before?” Libby added scornfully.

″Libby, use your manners. This is Eric,” she said proudly. “My husband-to-be.”

″Well, that makes it even better,” Libby said sarcastically.

Eric gave us a pleasant, albeit unimpressive smile. I can’t say I smiled back. This news was a bit of a shocker, but not totally out of the blue. Terri never felt the need to give us any advance notice on her engagements or marriages. (This would be the fourth marriage since my father passed, and the sixth engagement.)

Eric was short, and on the young side. I’d wager his age to be anywhere between thirty-five and fifty. It’s always hard to tell with the receding hairline. That and the glasses that tinted almost black in the sunlight so I couldn’t see his eyes, and the ultra-pale legs poking out from beneath his khaki shorts with the pleat ironed down the front. I had to say the younger brother was by far the better-looking one of the two.

″You’re getting married. Again,” I managed. “Congratulations, I guess.”

″Well, of course, congratulations! I’ve never been so happy. Look,” she waved her ring in our stunned faces. I saw nothing but a shiny glare, and then Terri grabbed me in an embrace and all I could smell was herperfume. When she finally released me and grabbed a reluctant Libby—who still hadn’t said anything—Eric stepped forward.

″It’s nice to meet you, Casey.” He offered me his hand. He had a surprisingly deep voice for his appearance, sort of like a radio deejay. “Sorry this comes as such a shock.”

″It’s okay.” I had no idea what else to say. I was horrified when Terri remarried so quickly after my father died—of course, to a much younger man—and stunned with husband number three, who was considerably older and much wealthier. Neither marriage lasted very long—she divorced husband #2 after a little more than three years and buried #3 after only nine months. (Heart attack. In bed. Guess what they were doing?) In between those husbands were a few boyfriends, who declared their undying love with an engagement ring, so even though Terri and Eric professed to be engaged, with my mother’s track record, it didn’t mean much. The shock wore off the more engagements I heard about.

″It’s just happening so quick-like,” Terri giggled, letting go of Libby and latching on to Eric again. “We met—we met over the Internet, you know one of those dating sites—went on three dates, and then, what do you know? Eric pops the question! We didn’t even get a chance to really get to know each other, if you know what I mean.”

″Unfortunately,” Libby said dryly.

″When I first saw your mother, I just knew,” Eric said in his deep voice, making the story sound romantic, until you remembered he was speaking about my mother. “I knew I didn’t want to wait to spend the rest of our lives together.”

″Which might not be that long if you’re lucky,” Libby said under her breath. My mother continued to ignore her.

″Isn’t he just the sweetest?” Terri cooed, patting Eric’s face. “And isn’t he just the cutest?” She turned to Maddy, who was still standing as wide-eyed as I was. “What do you think, sweetface? Want to be in your Nana’s wedding? You’d be the perfect little flower girl for me.”

Cooper took this opportune moment to come back with his hands full of drinks and Morgan trailing behind. Coop passed out the drinks, which unfortunately diffused none of the tension.

″Morgan, sweetface, it’s been too long!” Terri swooped down on her with a clutching hug, almost spilling her drink all over Morgan. “You’re looking so wonderfully well. Eric, darling, this is Morgan, who has been friends with Casey almost forever, and… Morgan and Cooper, I’m just telling my girls my news. Eric and I are going to be married!” She gave atrill of laughter. “I think my girls might be a little surprised at the whole thing.”

″Wow. Well, all the best.” Cooper clinked glasses with Terri, then Eric. “Congratulations!”

″That’s… great,” Morgan managed. She gave me a wide-eyed glance, and I could only roll my eyes in response. Morgan knows the score with my mother, but like Cooper, she’s never had a problem getting along with her, probably because she’s not blood-related. But like a true friend, she takes one for the team, making all the necessary gushing remarks over the ring, which Libby and I couldn’t bring ourselves to, before backing up to make her escape. But before she left, her eyes fell on Derek, standing quietly on the other side of Terri. He was smiling at her.

″Oh, no,” I muttered to no one in particular.

″Hi there,” Morgan said, with the most flirtatious smile I’d seen in years. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

″I know we haven’t,” Derek told her. “Since there’s no way I could forget a face like yours.”

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