Bargaining with the Bride (Honeybrook Love, Inc. 1)

"Gee, it sure was nice of you guys to drop in on us like this," Rachael piped up, trying her best to deflect the lasers of interrogations that were apparently pointed squarely at Garret's chest.

"Of course," Mother sipped her champagne. "We couldn't very well show up to the wedding without ever having met your future husband. And with the wedding so close, I imagine you'll need help ensuring everything is properly handled."

"Actually, Rachael has already handled every detail. She's been incredible." Garret smiled from her mother to her and for a second Rachael could have sworn he'd winked.

Mother sniffed, "All the same. Help is always a blessing. Isn't that right, Eliza?"

Eliza's perpetual smile stiffened into a a defiant frown. What a polite dig at her current living situation. "I'm forever in your debt," Eliza mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Don't be so dramatic, dear. You know I didn't mean it that way. I simply meant that we love to help our children. Eliza with college for the year she managed to attend, and now with a living situation. And then of course there was the catastrophe with Rachael and—"

"Really, mother, that was years ago. I don't think we need to—" Rachael started, but her father interrupted.

"What an awful night. The mayor was beside himself. We had to pay all those fines from the country club. And our relationship with the community was never the same."

"Never," Rachael's mother gave a well-practiced shake of the head.

She glanced at Garret, willing him not to ask for more details. Not that it mattered. They went through this song and dance every holiday since that summer seven years ago and today was hardly the day for breaking tradition.

"Honestly, I still can't understand what you saw in the Mayor's son. He was...slovenly. Unless you simply wanted to ruin our relationship with his parents."

"She always was Machiavellian that way," Eliza's whisper carried across the table, but everyone ignored her. Rachael's focus was still on Garret. How he'd react. What he thought.

"Trespassing on a golf course of all places," Her father's head shook in synchronization with her mother's.

"And you helped me out of that. For which I am grateful." Rachael sipped the champagne, trying her hardest not to down it in one.

"I thought it was romantic. A midnight picnic on the golf course," Eliza shrugged.

"You would." Her mother huffed. "What wasn't so romantic was the night in prison."

"Yes, I think that's quite enough. Garret doesn't need to hear about all of that," Rachael tried again, but her mother frowned.

"Shouldn't he know all about you if he's going to be your husband? You shouldn't have secrets in a marriage, Rachael. I've always told you that."

"But do you really need to tell him about something that happened while I was in high school?"

"Would you prefer I told him about the underage drinking in college? Or the time—"

"Mother. I'm very grateful for all the help you've given me," She had to be calm. She had to embrace a sense of inner quiet and strength.

And most of all, she had to get them to stop talking.

"Yeah, besides, my stories were always way more interesting. You remember that time my friends and I broke into the water park? Good times." Eliza grinned and sipped her champagne.

Thank god

for little sisters.

10

“Ugh, I thought tonight would never be over. As if I didn’t have enough reasons to drink before.” Rachael closed the door behind her when the taillights of her sister’s rental car had finally faded into the night.

“It wasn’t that bad," Garret laughed.

She turned the find him leaning back against the cushions of the sofa, looking cool and collected as ever. He’d been living with her for over two weeks, she still wasn’t used to that. The control that always surrounded him. The unflappable confidence.

In front of her parents, it had been all the more noticeable. The poised, practiced way he carried himself. Whenever they started in on her again, he’d listen intently, but never show a reaction. Occasionally, he’d jump in with a mention of why that story made him like her all the more.