The past few weeks I did well keeping my feelings at bay, but seeing Theo again today didn’t help at all. The way his anger pulsed through his body was something I wasn’t prepared for.
Not that I blamed him. Left completely in the dark about everything, his reaction was tame, considering.
Dex led us into the lobby packed with people dressed in casual dinnerware, and I smiled to the bubbly blonde behind the hostess stand as did Dex. My eyes drifted to June’s as I pretended not to notice how Dex ogled her a beat too long. If I cared, it might have offended me.
Dim light surrounded the restaurant inside the country club as the hostess led us between tables full of happy guests. Resentment filled me at the way they laughed at their wanted company. We weaved through booths filled with giggling children, and uppity businessmen, until we came to a table neatly lined with enough cutlery to house a nation.
Dex pulled out a plush padded chair for me to sit, and I played the part by thanking him, sitting on the green cushion, allowing him to scoot me in, and then do the same for his mother.
Without thought, I grabbed at the black linen napkin and placed it in my lap as I glanced around taking in my new lifestyle. This was not me. This would never be me. Country club dinners and a man who didn’t love me were not going to be my future.
I had a plan.
If forced into a loveless marriage, well, then he would endure annoying Penny, the anti perfect fiancée. I had slowly started to plant the seed that this man didn’t know me any better than I knew him. Maybe he would decide he didn’t want me in the process. Not to mention, it was fun needling him and watching his reaction. Dex had expectations of his future wife and how the world viewed his marriage. Well, I took great pleasure in ruining his fantasy.
Two could play this game.
I smiled, picking up the embossed menu. “Why don’t they have chicken wings on this menu?” I asked. “I could go for some messy wings right about now. The kind where you lick the sauce from your fingers.”
“I don’t think chicken wings are really what the diners here are looking for,” Dex said.
“No?” I placed the menu down and propped my elbows on the table, resting my face in my hands. “Well maybe I need to talk to the chef and tell him chicken wings can be fancy too.” My eyes widened as if I had the best idea in the world. “They can give them special little wet naps that look like money to wipe their hands on.”
Dex stared at me with a look of horror on his face.
June cleared her throat, interrupting our stare off. “Penny, have you given any more thought to what we talked about last week?” she asked.
“I think a fall wedding would be lovely,” I told her. She’d only asked Dex and I about fifty times to pick a date before finally giving up and then trying to commit us to a season. I leaned closer to Dex. “What do you think about hay bales for the guests to sit on?”
“Hay bales?” Dex scoffed. “Penny, our guests will not want to sit on a hay bale.”
“Well it could be casual. Jeans and flannel. We could really play up the Fall weather. Maybe have some carved pumpkin centerpieces with our initials.”
Dex adjusted his tie. “No fucking way.”
“Dex,” his mother admonished him.
“Well who is the bride here?” I asked. “That’s what I want, and the bride gets what she wants. Right, June?”
His mother lifted her crystal glass and took a sip of water before responding, “Well, we can come back to this later.”
I nodded my head and went back to studying the menu. For as many nights the last few weeks I sat in this same spot studying the contents, I could probably recite the menu from memory.
“Penny,” June said, softly. I lowered the menu, staring into her eyes, eyes so similar to Theo’s, and tried not to cry. “We’ll work something out. I’m just so excited to have you for a daughter-in-law.”
I reached across the table, my ring catching the light of the overhanging chandelier and clasped onto June’s hand. “I want that more than anything.” My words held nothing but sincerity. Problem was, I wanted her for my mother-in-law. I even dreamed of this very same scenario. But the groom was never Dex. I smiled and she nodded her head.
When I removed my hand, she smoothed her blonde hair and picked up her menu.
The waiter came and went, the food came and went as well. Boring. Bland. I tried to block it all out.
This is my life.
Fuck, I’m marrying the wrong brother.
FOUR
THEO