Page 74 of It's Complicated

“What?!” I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I thought you just said you’re getting married.”

“I am.”

“To who?”

He was dating someone? That was news to me.

My father didn’t date, not really. He dated around and loved to show up to events with a beautiful woman on his arm, but he’d never dated anyone seriously enough to introduce me to them, or even tell me about them.

“A wonderful woman named Brianna.”

“Brianna?” I tried to place the name. Had he mentioned her before?

“Yes. We met through a work colleague.”

“And that’s who’s joining us?” I glanced at the empty chair beside him again.

He nodded. “She should be here any moment. She was waiting in our room so I could speak to you privately first.”

Their room? That explained why he’d chosen a hotel for our meeting and not one of his usual places when he traveled to the city.

I sat there, stunned.

My father was getting married to a woman I was about to meet for the first time. I wasn’t prepared for any of this.

“When’s the wedding?”

“At the end of the month.”

“This month?” I shook my head, still trying to catch up to everything he was throwing at me. “That’s in two weeks.”

“I’m aware.” He tapped his fingers against the folder of his e-ink pad. “It’s my wedding, remember?”

“I just mean that’s soon. How long have you been planning it? When did you get engaged?”

“Three months ago.”

“You got engaged three months ago?” I wasn’t a wedding expert, but didn’t most weddings take longer than three months to plan? That seemed incredibly fast. “How long have you known each other?”

“That’s not relevant.”

“It’s very relevant,” I countered. “If Brianna is going to be my stepmother, then I don’t think it’s unreasonable for me to ask about the details of your relationship.”

“We met eight months ago.”

“Eight months?”

“Must you repeat everything I say?” He shot me an exasperated look. “Really, Isaac. You’re acting like a simpleton.”

“A simpleton? More like I’m acting like a son who had no idea his father was dating someone, let alone engaged and getting married in two weeks. I think my shock is warranted.”

My father didn’t answer; instead he looked toward the entrance of the restaurant, a big smile on his face.

I looked over my shoulder to get my first glimpse of my future stepmother.

I barely managed to keep my expletive to myself.

The woman walking toward us was everything my father usually went for: beautiful, voluptuous, and impeccably dressed, with perfect hair and makeup.

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