Page 11 of Pretend With Me

“So rude. Speaking of the devil in nice-guy clothing, Jin started eyeballing your good pens about an hour after you left, and I would do a lot for you, but ruining my credit score is not one of them. Oh shit! I have to go. He’s here super early, and I’m still in my robe.”

Maxine was a serial dater. No matter how many bad dates she went on, she never gave up believing that her happily-ever-after was out there, even if her idea of a happily ever after wasn’t exactly traditional. I lived for Maxine’s dating stories, both because they were usually hilarious — to me, anyway — and because it had been an alarmingly long time since my last date.

“Make good decisions.”

“Never,” she responded, laughter in her voice. “Text me when you get there.”

“I will, and thank you again for taking care of the piglets.”

“Your obsession with those overgrown rats is deeply disturbing, but you’re welcome.”

“You know you love them.” I ignored whatever she said under her breath. “Good luck tonight.”

Talking to Maxine had been a good distraction from my nerves, but now that silence filled the car once again, they were returning with a vengeance.

“Screw it.” I grabbed my phone out of the cup holder and turned on a true crime podcast over Bluetooth to occupy my mind for the twenty minutes I had left. A true crime story seemed like just the thing to get me in the mood for this homecoming.

Less than twenty minutes later, I pulled into the driveway of my childhood home, just as the motive for the crime was revealed. I debated sitting in my car and listening to the last fifteen minutes of the podcast to put off going inside, but Mama was rushing out the front door almost as soon as I put the car in park. With a reluctant sigh, I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the door.

Mama had covered the distance from the porch to my car before I was even fully out of my seat.

“Sutton!” She pulled me into her arms, wrapping me up tight. The smell of her perfume wound around me. “I missed you.”

“Hi, Mama.” I leaned into her hug, closing my eyes. Mama’s hugs felt more like home to me than a house ever could. “How can you miss me? We talk every day.”

I smiled, waiting for her answer. We had a similar version of this conversation every visit, even when she and Daddy came to Savannah.

“Talking and texting on the phone aren’t the same thing as being able to hug you whenever I want,” she replied, giving me one last squeeze before releasing me. “Do you need help carrying your luggage in?”

“No, I just have two bags.” Stepping back, I got my first good look at her. She was wearing a wrap dress whose navy material had a slight gold shimmer, and her hair and makeup were styled to perfection. “You didn’t have to get all dressed up for me.”

She laughed, following me around to the trunk while I unloaded my mismatched suitcases. One hand rose up to fluff her already outrageously teased hair.

“As happy as I am to see you, this getup is for dinner tonight.” She swatted my hand off the handle of the suitcase I was dragging between us and took over pulling. “But don’t worry, you still have plenty of time to get ready.”

“Get ready for what?”

At no point had a dinner been mentioned in any of the discussions I’d had with my parents. If it had been an event of any significance, my mom would have dropped hints about packing a nice outfit or leaving time for her to “do up” my hair.

Mama remained silent as she effortlessly lugged the suitcase up the two stairs onto the porch and opened the front door. She waited to answer until I’d hauled both suitcases through the door and shut the door behind me.

“Our dinner with the St. Jameses. I’m sure I must have mentioned it to you.”

Suddenly, her reluctance to answer me outside made sense. She’d been worried about me running. Now she busied herself rearranging the pieces of luggage, her pointless fidgeting giving away the lie. Maybe I should have felt annoyed or angry that she was springing this dinner on me — and lying about it — but it just left me feeling terrible that she felt the need to lie about it at all. I didn’t want her to feel like she needed to trick me into showing up for family events. I didn’t want to be a source of stress to her.

“I’m sure you did. It probably just slipped my mind with everything else going on.” Her shoulders seemed to relax, and her busy hands stilled. “How’s Daddy?”

“Oh, he’s the same ornery old goat. I’ve only had to yell at him to rest three times today, which is how I can tell he’s hurting.”

I saw my opportunity and went for it. Time to manifest my way out of this dinner.

“If he’s in a lot of pain, should he be going to dinner tonight? I can stay with him if you’re worried about him being home alone.”

“No oneis missing this dinner. I found him in his work shed this morning, so I think he can survive a car ride and a sit-down dinner.” She placed a hand on her hip, a sure sign that there was no hope for me. “Now, this evening is very important to Sissy, and we all need to be supportive. It’s also important to me that we show up as a family.”

I was pretty sure she tacked that last part on for the guilt factor, since she knew perfectly well that supporting Sissy was not going to be a compelling argument for me.

“I wouldn’t dream of trying to get out of it.” Mama’s eyebrows winged up. “I was just thinking about what would be best for Daddy. Where is he convalescing these days?”

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