My mouth closed up as I dropped my head with a little smile. Alright, so maybe our common ground didn’t stretch as far as I might have hoped. But as long as I could keep Ms. Augustina Taylor’s mind on something other than how I was swooping in to fake-marry her grandson, perhaps some sort of truce could be made.
“So this wedding,” she said sharply, forgetting the holiday for a moment and looking at Marcus, “when is it happening?”
He lifted his head, but for the first time since I’d met him, he seemed to be completely out of his element. This woman held some kind of power over him, and no matter how many contracts he developed or corporations he merged, I sensed he would always be a child around her. It was actually rather endearing, and relatively normal, considering most of the relationships in his life. I liked to think all grandmothers held a similar position in their grandsons’ lives.
“We’re not sure yet,” I jumped in to save him. “I know we both like the idea of a long engagement, so I don’t think it’s going to be happening anytime soon.”
“Really?” She looked mildly surprised. Not the traditional answer of a gold digger, and it was becoming obviously clear that’s what she’d come here thinking of me. “And your parents are all right with that?”
“It’s just my mom—she raised me and my brother alone,” I said, volunteering more information than was my custom. “And actually, no, she’s absolutely not okay with it. In fact, she flew into town yesterday for an impromptu wine tasting.”
“Splendid,” Augustina clapped her hands briskly, “then we can all get acquainted.”
Marcus and I shared a panicked look before he quickly shook his head. “Oh, no. I’m not sure that would be the best—”
“Nonsense,” she interrupted. “We’re all going to meet sooner or later, might as well make it sooner. Invite them to Thanksgiving dinner. We can make it a family affair.”
A…what? Today day had started out so innocently—how had it turned into this?
“What do you think, Rebecca?”
I couldn’t think of anything that sounded worse.
“Great,” I plastered a huge smile on my face, “a family affair.”
Maybe we’d end up cooking Eduardo after all… Kidding.
* * *
My mother could not have been more delighted with the invitation, and of course, she was appalled that I had forgotten.
“Well, of course, it’s Thanksgiving, Bex. Why do you think I came down here?”
“To ruin my life with color schemes and cake tastings?” I asked lightly.
“Oh, darling. No reason I can’t do both.”
Both she and Max were coming at six, along with Amanda and Barry—who I would finally be seeing in the flesh. That left us just under four hours to keep her majesty entertained.
“Maybe we could take her to a restaurant?” I volunteered desperately, fastening on pearl-drop earrings as Marcus buckled his belt.
Marcus shook his head. “She doesn’t like to travel when she’s here. She thinks the city’s dirty.” As if we’d rehearsed, I turned around, and he automatically zipped up my dress. “Besides, I put some horse tranquilizers in her tea—with any luck, she’ll be out until tomorrow.”
We chuckled softly and made our way downstairs, ready to sweep old Augustina off her feet with our charm and witty banter. But of course, the dragon lady had other plans.
“Rebecca—good, you wore something practical.” She eyed my blue cocktail dress, and it took me a second to realize she was serious. “I thought, since you’re going to be joining the family, we should both step a bit out of our comfort zones today for some quality bonding.”
I glanced at Marcus before taking a tentative step forward. “Well, that sounds great. What exactly did you have in mind? We could—”
“We’re going to cook Thanksgiving dinner.”
Again, it took me a second to realize she wasn’t kidding. The walls closed in around me, and I blurted the only thing that came to mind, quoting Augustina herself.
“But it’s so common.”
She chuckled softly, raising the hairs on the back of my neck, before hooking me closer with the curve of her cane. “Precisely. What better way to get to know each other?”
“I would love to learn how to cook a big bird,” I said.