Page 48 of Thick and Thin

Sinclair shook his head. “It’s not catered. Lise and Edna made the meal.”

Warren didn’t say a word but his expression and quick nod told me he was intrigued.

Finally, we were all seated in the dining room—Mariah next to me and Warren on her other side, and I hoped I could sort of melt into the background. Being around Sinclair’s family made me ridiculously anxious and I didn’t know if I’d be able to eat. Little did I know the fun was just beginning…

Chapter 18

As we made our way through the meal, there was a lot of company talk, and it helped me relax, believing the rest of the day would go smoothly. At one point, Vivian asked if I would mind if the kids ate their dessert early, and I told her that was fine.

That all three children cleaned their dessert plates made me happy. And, when they left the room to go play in the great room, their smiles made my day. All three had been unusually quiet and well-behaved and it made me wonder if I would ever have children of my own. If I did, what would they be like?

As the rest of us continued eating, Madeline asked me, “Do you have family you’ll be spending holidays with?”

My stomach clenched, because these were exactly the kinds of questions I hoped to avoid. The more I said about my family—my father—the more likely it would be that someone here would eventually connect the dots. So I tried to keep it simple. “Yes, but we’ll be gathering tomorrow.”

“Oh, that’s so nice.” Madeline was gearing up to ask another question, but she was interrupted. Still, my nerves were already fraught, and I decided I couldn’t eat anything else.

Augie asked his middle brother, “So how did you and Mariah meet?”

“At the office.”

Mariah said, “I swear it sounds made up, but I’m his secretary.”

Warren shook his head. “Administrative assistant.”

“Same thing.”

Their father said, “I suppose that means you should decrease her pay.”

Mariah’s eyebrows knitted as she tilted her head and looked straight at Augustus. “Just because we’re dating?”

“No. Because you’re obviously not as valuable as my son seems to think you are.”

“She does a good job, dad.”

Although it had been small, I could already sense a rise in the tension—exactly what I’d been hoping to avoid. And Augie wasn’t about to let Warren off the hook. “That seems a little hypocritical. You were giving Sinny a ration of grief for dating an employee recently.”

“Only because he does it all the time.”

Sinclair finally spoke up—and I was impressed with how level and calm his voice sounded. “I don’t date employees all the time. I’ve dated exactly two employees.”

“That can’t be right,” Warren said, picking up his wine glass.

“It is. I dated Natasha three years ago.”

Augie asked, “She was the crazy one?”

“Yes. And I vowed not to date an employee after that.”

Warren stood, reaching for the half-empty bottle of Riesling. “We see how that’s working out for you.”

“Lise…is different,” Sinclair said, not looking at me. “We got to know each other very well before anything happened between us.”

Vivian said, “That makes for a better relationship.” Then she smiled at her husband as if to underscore the sentiment.

Augie nodded, looking straight at me. “We dated through college but didn’t get married until I finished my MBA.”

He shifted his gaze to his wife when she added, “Five years before we tied the knot.”

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