Page 17 of The Invitation

“Abbie arranged it,” I explain. “It was some kind of special deal. She got it for a steal.”

“A special deal at Arlington?” Nick laughs. “It was inThe Timestop hotels in England. I doubt they would need to offer special deals.”

I tilt my head at him. Why’s he so concerned by where I went for my birthday spa and how much it cost? “It was a fifth-anniversary promotion.”

“Very fancy!” Grandma sings.

“And what does one do at a spa day?” Grandpa asks, looking truly intrigued.

“One relaxes and unwinds, Grandpa.” I smile across at him, my thoughts invaded by what was really special about Arlington Hall. More special than the phenomenal mansion and grounds. And I definitely didn’t relax or unwind.Come to dinner with me.

“I might have myself a spa day,” Grandma declares.

“Why on earth do you need to relax and unwind?” Dad asks.

“A break from you Lazenby boys.” She gives the men each a moment of her old eyes, an undetectable smirk lifting the corner of her lips. Each of them snort their disgust.

“I should be going.” Nick stands. Thank God.

I jump up, happy to see him out. “Thank you for coming,” I say as he makes his way around the table saying his goodbyes. “I’ll see you out.”

I leave the dining room, Nick following, and open the door for him. “I didn’t mean to make your birthday so awkward. I thought you knew I was coming. If you had answered my calls, we may have figured out what your dad was up to.”

I ignore his little dig about the calls. “Yeah, I’m sorry about his underhanded tactics.”

“Does that mean there’s still no chance?”

I shoot him a surprised look. “Nick ...” I whisper, so tired of rehashing the same thing over and over. “We ...” I flap a useless hand between us. “You and I ...”

“Amelia, I only mentioned the wordsmarriageandbaby, and you were gone like a rocket.”

“Well, that’s not true, is it?” I laugh lightly. It’s a laugh of disbelief. “You mentioned it many times.” I frown. “You told me I owed you some kind of commitment, Nick.”

“Is that wrong? To want all that with you?”

Probably not, but to say Iowedhim? It gave me the instant ick. “What brought it on?” I ask. “You’d never given any hints you wanted that before, and suddenly it’s all you talked about.”

He shrugs. “We’re not getting any younger.”

Ouch.“But you know how much my career means to me. I’m working toward partner, Nick. You know that.”

He moves in and crowds me. I’m instantly suffocating again. “Amelia, come on. You could go back to work after a baby if you really wanted to.”

IfI really wanted to? What Ireallywant is to have a career and not be judged. I want to have babies when I want to have babies.IfI ever want to. I might not. I don’t know. And that’s the point.Mypace. I want to do life atmypace.

“No.” I place my palm on Nick’s chest and push him back. “I don’t want to have a baby.” That’s not entirely true. I just don’t want to now. Or is it more that I can’t see my forever with Nick? I inwardly recoil at the unexpected direction of my thoughts. I also consider for the first time that he hit me with marriage and babies not long after I announced I was shooting for partner. Did my ambitions scare him?

Nick sighs and backs out, but something tells me his withdrawal isn’t a submission.

“Take care, Nick.” I close the door and walk back into the kitchen. Dad’s placing some dishes by the sink. I don’t make any snide remarks about him doing a woman’s work. “You have to stop this.”

His hands pause on the dishes momentarily. “Stop what?”

“Interfering.”

“Let’s not do this now.” Mum hands me a tea towel.

I take it, stopping myself from snatching it, and swipe a plate off the drainer, starting to roughly dry it.

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