Page 34 of Night Wedding
“I’m calling now,” I said. “Do you have a minute to talk?”
“Sure. Otherwise, who knows when I’ll hear from you again.”
Ignore it. Count to ten. One… Two… Three…
I exhaled. “I’m calling because I have some news. Diego proposed.”
She knew a few details about Diego, but they hadn’t met. Aside from a snide comment about how convenient it was to find a boyfriend who lived under the same roof as me and what he did for a living, she didn’t ask much else. That was good as I’d avoiding revealing he was a vampire. The barrage of questions and concerns that would follow was something I never wanted to encounter. I glanced at the books once more. Ah, no wonder I like to escape real life so often and jump into one of those. Alas, it would have to wait.
“Oh.” Her eyes widened, and the not-so-silent judgment appeared to take a temporary vacation from her expression. “That’s wonderful news.” She gestured with an open hand. “Not that I’ve met him yet, so I can’t say for sure whether this is good for you.”
Every muscle in my body coiled like a viper. Doing what she thought was best for me was the excuse she’d used for insisting my Aunt Margaret block my magic and then keeping us apart. Since I’d moved into her house, my feelings on this had shifted a great deal. I’d tried countless meditations to let things go, but whenever I heard something cool about my aunt from one of the guys who lived here with her or those who knew her at the Network, the scab to the wound was torn open. She sounded like a wonderful woman with a kind and generous nature. I wished I had a chance to have her in my life, but that choice was robbed from me. Nothing I could do would ever change that fact. I tried to get over it, but family injustices could penetrate deep, making them not so easy to dismiss.
“I can assure you that Diego is a great guy who treats me well.”
After a few tense seconds, my mother asked, “What are you thinking about doing for your wedding?”
“I’m not sure yet. Gianna will help me.”
“Gianna?” my mother repeated with a huff. She threw her hand up. “She’s your friend, but I’m your mother.”
I gritted my teeth. Gianna, Diego, and the guys were more like family to me than my parents. I forced myself to stay calm.
After exhaling with a slow, steady breath, I said. “I just wanted to call and let you know.” Hopefully, she’d catch my tone that I was ready to end this call.
She exhaled with exasperation. “Well, congratulations. I hope he’s good for you, Nova. What does this mean about your odd living situation?”
She was not a fan of me moving into this house, thinking I should’ve sold it immediately to get it off my hands.
“I don’t know yet. We’ll figure it out.”
“What about the wedding?” She raised both hands with a hopeful expression. “Oh, there’s so many wonderful venues for a wedding down here. We’ve gone to plenty. Some on the plantations, others at the clubs. You can’t go wrong with it being right on the ocean.”
I pressed my tongue against the back of my teeth. Salem was also on the coast.
“What dates are you thinking? I could start looking into them.” She tapped her fingers together. “In fact, I can see what’s available at the club and get you info on their wedding packages. Your wedding would be spectacular here. I can introduce you to all my friends, and we’ll have such a wonderful time.”
The threat of my wedding turning into her social event loomed. No, thank you.
I balled one hand into a fist and then shoved it under my lap to keep from sticking my nails into my palm. “No, you don’t have to do that.”
“Well, what do you have in mind?”
“I don’t know yet. Probably going to keep it small.”
Her eyes rolled to the side. “Nova, you only get married once. You don’t want to lose out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Bite your tongue. Bite your tongue.Since my mother had been married twice, it didn’t even make sense for her to say this.
“Right, I’m going to do something that feels right to both Diego and me.”
Would it feel good for me to invite my loud, boisterous, argumentative family while Diego wouldn’t have any of his? With his considerate nature, he would say it didn’t matter to him. All he wanted was for me to be happy. But I wantedusto be happy. And by the turn of this conversation, if I let my mother sink her teeth into the planning, that was surely not the outcome.
“Are you going to invite your father?” she asked in a curt tone.
After their bitter divorce when I was a kid, my father moved out west. He’d remarried and had another family. He wasn’t a part of my life any longer, and I hadn’t seen him since high school, so I felt no obligation there.
Having both my mother and father in the same room would be like instigating a battle. “I don’t know yet.”
