“I am,” she said in surprise.
“Next time our parents show up, you can show them the ring.”
“We won’t have to wait for that,” Teddy said.
Adam opened the door to his car and Teddy got inside.
“Why not?” he asked when he was seated and pulling out of a parking space that another car was waiting to take.
“My mother already called, asking if I’d chosen something and not to forget to send her a photo.”
“So she knew you were getting a ring.”
“She assumed.”
Moments later Adam pulled the car into her driveway. “Looks like you won’t need to send a photo,” Adam said. “You have guests.”
“I don’t recognize the car,” Teddy said.
“It belongs to my mother,” Adam said. Stopping next to it, Teddy saw her mother in the passenger seat.
“Mom,” she called. Teddy got out of the car and rushed around to greet her. “I thought you were—” Midway to where Gemma Granville stood, Teddy stopped. By the look on her mother’s face Teddy knew something was wrong.
Thinking something might have happened to her dad, she rushed forward.
“What’s wrong,” she asked. “Dad? Is Dad all right?”
“This has nothing to do with your father.”
“Sienna, Sierra—”
She put her hand up to stop Teddy from going through the full list of relatives. “Nothing to do with any of them. It’s about you.”
“And you.” Adam’s mother leveled her comment to him. The harshness of her words were enough to hold back a flood.
“How could you?” Gemma Granville said, with the slight hitch in her voice.
“How could I what?”
“Fake your engagement?”
* * *
The four of them stood in the crisp December air—speechless. Teddy fingered the ring on her finger, feeling like a child caught doing something wrong. Tension around them was like a chill factor, reducing the trust and love that had always been part of their collective lives. Teddy felt numb. How did they know?
“We’d better go inside and discuss this.” Adam appeared to remain rational. He took Teddy’s elbow and led her toward the door. Their parents followed.
Teddy found her key with some prompting. Adam took it and opened the front door. Warmth hit her as she led the small procession through the foyer and into the living room. The coldness of the outside was gone. She felt hot and tense. They sat facing each other, she and Adam on one side, their parents as accusers on the other.
“How did you find out?” Teddy asked her mother.
“As if that matters,” she said. “Gene Restonson told us.”
Teddy frowned. “Gene who?”
“The gallery owner in New York. Remember I told you I got the wrong painting? Well, Ann and I returned it today. And while I was telling Gene how romantically Adam proposed to you on Thanksgiving, he told us about you two agreeing to deceive us.”
Teddy winced, remembering that conversation. She hadn’t thought anyone could hear them. The gallery was empty. But when he brought the painting out, he was right behind her. It was unimportant now. Their parents knew the truth.
“I am so hurt and angry,” her mother said. There was that hitch in her voice again. “Why did you two think you needed to lie to us?” She looked at Teddy, then at Adam and back again.
“Mom, we didn’t really. You wanted us to like each other…and we do.” Teddy glanced at Adam for confirmation. He took her hand in assurance, but it didn’t seem to affect the two mothers. They sat across from them in individual chairs. Teddy had the feeling this was a court and she and Adam were on dual witness seats. The problem was they were guilty.
“We thought if you believed we were really getting close to each other, that you would stop…” She trailed off, not wanting to make matters worse by telling them to stop meddling.
“Go on,” her mother said, raising her chin slightly. “What would we stop?”
“Sending us blind dates, commenting on our single status,” Adam said.
“And you were so happy when I told you we were going to continue to see each other,” Teddy explained.