Page 35 of Pursued By My Grumpy Fiancé
“Oh, no, this is a lunch for the girls! This is Penny, Landon’s sister,” Eleanor says, gesturing towards the woman beside her. Penny beams at me.
“I’m so excited to finally meet you. You looked stunning at the gala!” she says.
I must have a confused look on my face because she laughs. “Sorry, Mom sent pictures of you on stage! Landon was right when he said that the color would go perfectly with your complexion.”
“Oh, thank you! I really appreciate you letting me wear it. It was absolutely gorgeous. You’re an incredible designer,” I say.
Penny blushes as Eleanor gets the attention of a server who comes waltzing over.
“Hi there! What can I get for you ladies?” the young woman says.
She’s wearing a nametag that says ‘Elizabeth’ on it.
“I’ll have an iced cappuccino,” Eleanor says. “Skim milk only, please. We will also get the lunch tea special.”
The server nods before turning to me.
“I’ll have a sweet tea, please,” I say.
I wonder what a lunch tea special is.
“I’ll also have a sweet tea!” Penny chimes in.
The server saunters off to get our drinks.
“So, what’s the lunch tea special?” I ask. I hope it’s something delicious, because I didn’t eat breakfast earlier. I had the time, but I was a little worried about being too full for lunch, so I went ahead and skipped it.
“Oh, it’s lovely here! They do all these cute little finger sandwiches, berry tarts, and the nicest sweet cream crepes,” Eleanor says.
My mouth salivates at the thought of all the delicious food I’m about to consume.
“That sounds incredible,” I respond, and Penny nods in agreement.
“So,” Penny says, “Tell me about yourself.”
“Well, what do you want to know?” I ask, and I feel myself getting déjà vu. Didn’t I have this same conversation with Landon?
“Well, what about your family?” Eleanor asks.
I smile timidly.
“Right. Well, my sister Emma and I are pretty close. She’s easily one of my best friends. My mom and I are pretty close, too. I spend three afternoons a week with her at the Oncology Institute.” If they notice that I didn’t mention my dad, neither of them let on.
Eleanor gasps, and I’m guessing that Landon hadn’t shared my mom’s cancer diagnosis with her yet.
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that she has cancer. Is her treatment going well?” Penny asks.
I mull over her question.
“Well, I won’t say it’s okay, I guess, because it’s not. But thank you. Her treatment is going okay, although it’s going much better ever since Landon had her moved up to the donor wing. Before that, I was paying for whatever I could to get her the best treatment I could, which wasn’t as much as she has now.”
“Oh! That’s kind of Landon. What do you do for work, again?” Eleanor asks.
She’s making a strange facial expression, as if she’s trying to work something out. I panic as I think about the fact that I can’t actually tell them what I do for work. Or did for work, I suppose.
“Well, I’m actually a law student over at USF. I’m really close to graduating.” Eleanor nods her approval, and I think I’m off the hook.
For now, at least. Hopefully they don’t realize that I didn’t technically answer their question.
