“Well, get used to it,” Matt said, “because it won’t last long.”
“Excuse me?” Hannah asked.
“Yeah, excuse me?” I asked.
“I decided we should do it your way,” he said, then turned to Hannah and Jordan. “She explained that since her parents don’t want anything to do with her, and Hannah is her only family, that she didn’t want a big wedding.”
“When did you talk about that?” Hannah said, seemingly catching him in a lie.
“It was hypothetical,” he said. “We were watching a bridezilla show. She mentioned how since she moved here, if she ever got married, she would want something quick and with little fanfare. Is that still how you feel, babe?”
“Yeah,” I said, feeling like I stuttered over the word at first.
“How quick?” Hannah asked.
“As soon as possible,” I said, finally catching back up. “I just don’t want to spend another day I don’t have to not being married to Matt.”
“Oh, hold on, it’s Mom,” Matt said. “I texted her to tell her to call me. She had to be first. Mom?”
He was holding the phone up to his ear. I smiled at Hannah, and she smiled back, but I could see she was hesitant. I didn’t think they had anything figured out, but they might think we were being too impulsive.
“Yes, Mom,” Matt was saying into the phone. “Yes, engaged.” A pause. “To Chloe.” Another pause. “Hold on, I’ll hand you over.” He held the phone out to me. “She wants to talk to you.”
Tentatively, I took the phone, wondering what kind of response it was going to be. There was squealing on the other end when I said hello.
“My beautiful Chloe!” Mrs. Anderson yelled into the phone. “I am so excited and happy for you both. This is a wonderful day. You have made me so happy! My little Matthew has found his wife, and I have found my last daughter!”
I grinned. As much as I was worried about what we were going to do now, and as terrible I still felt about lying to them, I was enjoying that moment. I was enjoying hearing her call me her daughter. It made me feel a little bit like I was at home. But not LA. Just home.
“Thank you, Mama,” I said. Another round of cheers surrounded me, and I smiled as tears streamed down my cheek.
21
Matt
Work was smooth sailing for the lunch rush which I was especially happy about since I was working a double. The evening shift was going to prove to be a busy one, though, since we already knew we had two bachelorette parties coming in. The idea of competing bachelorette parties was already mind-numbing, but it provided the opportunity for a few jokes between Chloe and me. How appropriate to have them there the day before we were supposed to get married? It was almost like we planned it.
Jordan had been weird all day, though. He was planning on taking the evening off until he found out about the parties coming in and decided to at least stay until midnight. Hannah was off, and while he didn’t want to be getting home really late, he also didn’t want to leave us in the lurch. I figured that was why he was being weird, but as the day progressed, it seemed less like he was upset about the coming evening and schedule change and more about something else.
I had a feeling what it was.
Sure enough, as I was prepping the evening menu dishes, specially curated to include things like cherry pie and a special on sex on the beach drink, Jordan came into the kitchen. Usually, if Hannah was off for the day, Jordan went home for the middle portion and either gave Hannah a little nap break or took a nap himself. It was always obvious when he got a nap, because his mood was much better upon arrival.
Yet, there he was, twenty minutes after the doors closed for the break and very much not asleep. He was also frowning. Frowning was Jordan’s tell. If he was frowning, it wasn’t that he was actually upset at someone or sad. It was his thinking face. Jordan could be mad as hell at you and you would never know because he kept his attitude up. Or, he could be terribly sad, and unless you knew what to look for, you’d never see it. But when he frowned, it was a dead giveaway that something was up.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Not much,” Jordan said. “I just thought I’d come in while we have some downtime and talk.”
“About Chloe?” I asked, cutting right to the chase. He grinned and looked down into the bag of chips he was eating.
“You got me.”
“What do you want to know?” I finished up on my chopping of the onions I’d need later and rinsed off the knife and board.