And the first thing we talked about was high school. “Yes.”
“It will be so much fun. I loved high school.”
I refused to relive Sophie Salisbury’s glory days, or be drawn into a debate about something we’d finished five years ago.
“So,” she said brightly as we finished setting the table. “I thought you were bringing your boyfriend?”
“A friend.” I determinedly straightened the last set of silverware. “But he went back to California instead. His family’s there.”
“Right. But...David said you were at your boyfriend’s the other night?”
Grapevine win; planning ahead fail. You can’t circumvent Karma. “Uh, yeah. I was. Um—he was busy.”
“What’s this you two are talking about?” Mom joined us, setting candles down on the table.
Sophie cut a glance my way. “Rachael’s boyfriend.”
Damn.
“What boyfriend?” Mom, homed in on me, determined as any missile. “That boy you were going to bring? Are you dating him?”
“No,” I said firmly. But I couldn’t quite bring myself to rescind the boyfriend with Sophie’s eagle eye on me. “Someone else. It’s—totally casual. Not even worth bringing up.”
Mom wasn’t dissuaded. “I want to hear all about him!”
“Yes, do tell,” Sophie cooed as Dad and David came back upstairs with a crate of drinks. “Maybe he’ll be able to come for the reunion!”
I glared at her, wondering what my cursed brother could possibly see in her. “There’s nothing going on! Just drop it, okay?”
Mom looked hurt. “We just want you to be happy.”
“I am happy.” So happy I stalked across the room to refill my water glass.
Mom leaned in to speak confidentially to Sophie. “Rachael hasn’t had a boyfriend since junior year of college. And while Stephen was a nice boy, he, well...” She shook her head.
David grinned. Sophie looked intrigued, and my stomach tightened. How had she missed this? My entire circle of friends had thought it was the funniest thing in the world. “He left college. To join seminary.”
Sophie looked confused.
“He became a priest,” I clarified, glaring at Mom. Did we have to bring that up?
“No way,” Sophie gasped, shock and glee crossing her face. She shook back her hair and leaned forward. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.” I wished I’d poured wine instead of water. “I am.” I hadn’t thought I’d been that bad at sex that Stephen needed to give up girls forever.
Sophie’s mouth fell open. “That’s freaking hilarious. So, no boyfriend, but you live in New York, right? What do you do?” She tilted her head, her hair falling now in a shiny, shimmery waterfall. She smiled at my parents. “Do you follow in your parents’ footsteps? Lawyer? A professor?”
As though she hadn’t creeped on my Facebook, too.
“I work for a publishing house in Manhattan.”
Mom sighed. “They don’t pay her anything.” She gave me a sad, disappointed look, and shook her head. “I just don’t understand why, with your talent, and your work ethics, you can’t get a more lucrative position.”
“Because I like publishing.” Did we have to have this conversation in front of Sophie Salisbury?
“But it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, does it? Rachael, you know we’re glad you’re giving your passions a try, but you can’t afford to do that forever. We told you we’d pay for law school.”
I clenched my hands in my lap. I didn’t want to go to law school. I certainly didn’t want my parents to pay my way through. “I know. But I like my job.” I would not let my family get to me. Instead, I turned a bright, hard smile on Sophie. “And what do you do?”