Inodded along.
Suddenly, her tone shifted. “By the way, Hannah, Frank’s blind date is coming over soon. Your Uncle and Aunt are taking this very seriously. I hear Frank planned this whole thing for a long time. He said he was worried the girl might feel awkward, and having you
there would make her more comfortable.“.
“You know how close I am with his mom. So today, when we go…” She looked at me, her expression pained, trailing off.
I forced a smile. “I know, Mom. Don’t worry. I’m great at breaking the ice, saying the right things. I get it.”
My mom gave me a look filled with pity.
Of course she knew. A photo of Frank and me sat on my nightstand. I treasured every gift he’d ever given me, not to mention the
notebooks filled with a love I couldn’t hide. How could she not know?
We walked home in silence. As we reached the door, I spoke up, my voice suddenly light.
“Dad’s retiring next month. Let’s move to the coast.”
A
I looked at my mother’s startled face and smiled playfully. “You two have always talked about retiring there. I don’t have any big dreams. I’d be happy just being a dance teacher, staying by your side.”
Sitting in Frank’s house with my parents felt different this time. We were usually so boisterous, laughing and joking. The last time we were here, we had used a video game as an excuse to sneak into his room and kiss.
This time…
“Oh, Mary, you have no idea the lengths that boy of mine went to for this Angela,” Frank’s mom said to mine. “A direct pursuit would have been too simple for him. No, he had to insist on the pretense of ‘dating with the intention of marriage.‘ He made his father pull all sorts of strings just to get her to show up today for a ‘blind date‘.”
I looked around the meticulously decorated house, filled with bouquets of roses. There were platters of fruit and sweets on the
table. Even their little dog was wearing a bright red sweater.
And Frank was standing in front of a mirror, checking his reflection over and over, making sure he was perfect.
The irony was laughable. Just last night, we were tangled in the sheets, and he was kissing the small red mole on my waist with
such passion.
And the underwear he was wearing right now? I bought it for him.
“It’s just such a shame…” Frank’s mom sighed, taking my mother’s hand. “We always said we’d be in–laws one day. We even had a ‘childhood betrothal for the kids!”
04:39 B
Chapter 1
childhood betrothal for the kids!”
She glanced at me. “I truly adore Hannah. She’s not just beautiful, she’s got such a wonderful, bright personality…”
I lowered my eyes, not daring to speak, terrified that a single wrong move would cause my tears to fall.
“Mom!” Frank frowned, clearly displeased. “You said it yourself, that was your generation’s thing. You and Aunt Mary are close, why don’t you marry her? What’s it got to do with me?”
“What century are we in? Stop bringing up that old–fashioned nonsense.”
He showed no regard for his mother’s feelings. He then turned to me, his tone hard, as if I had put her up to it. “Hannah, where’s the
bracelet my mom gave you?”
When I didn’t respond, he strode over, grabbed my wrist, and pushed up my sleeve. “The one from the betrothal thing. I’m afraid Angela will see it and get upset…”
The words hung in the air.
My dad and his, who had been drinking tea, stopped. My mom, who was arranging flowers for him, stopped.
In an instant, the atmosphere turned ugly.
My mother stared at me, then slammed the vase and scissors down on the table with a clatter. She started to stand, but Frank’s
mom quickly pulled her back.
Frank’s mom stood up, placing herself firmly in front of me and giving Frank a hard shove. “Frank! What do you think you’re doing?”
“Putting aside the fact that nothing is settled with this Angela… you were the one who got on your knees and begged Hannah to
wear that bracelet when you were seventeen!”
