30. Weighed His Words
WEIGHED HIS WORDS
“ H it me with the family tree,” she said, rubbing her hands together. “I’ve got a good memory and it will stick in my head more. I hope. I don’t know. I’m more concerned about your siblings.”
Most of whom she’d be meeting for the first time today when they landed and had dinner after the rehearsal.
“They can’t wait to meet you,” he said. “My mother has been talking about you a lot.”
She found that funny, but she had seen Elias’s mother one more time. They’d gone there for Sunday dinner with Talia.
It was a nice and relaxed environment, reminding her what she was missing from home.
But she wasn’t missing Charlotte nearly as much as she thought she might.
Dare she say she was finally fitting in around here?
She didn’t know about that as much as she wasn’t as bothered when she walked into a public place and someone brought up Elias’s name to her.
Sometimes they even asked for her card because they knew she was the new attorney in town and had approached her to talk about that.
“I’m sure she has,” she said. “All good, I hope.”
“Always,” he said. “If my mother loves you, you’re golden.”
Elias grabbed their bags and she got his suit and her dress and they went to the garage, loaded everything in, and then took off.
“I’m glad your mother likes me.”
“It’s more than like,” he said, smirking.
Which was all fine and dandy, but she’d prefer the man driving to the airport was the one that said he loved her.
She supposed she could say it first.
But there was this fear that he didn’t feel the same.
And if she said it and he didn’t, would it ruin what they had going?
She liked what they had.
What they joked could have started casual but now turned into so much more.
She’d said she didn’t know how long she planned on staying in the area, but after three months she had to admit she was happier than she imagined.
Could it be because of Elias?
“Your family,” she said. “Tell me about them.”
He turned to look at her, just stared for a second, and then said, “My Uncle Austin, who is my mother’s brother, and his wife, Carolina, have nine kids.
Phoenix is the oldest and is engaged to Crystal.
They had a baby the day after Christmas.
I don’t think they are coming. The baby has been sick and is better now, but it’s best not to travel and they don’t have anyone to stay with Camden.
Crystal’s family doesn’t live in the area. ”
“Got it,” she said. “I’m not sure I’d do that either.”
“After Phoenix are twins, Paris and London. They won’t be on the flight. They are flying in from somewhere else. Dallas, Bronx, and Siena are triplets and Siena is flying with us, but not Dallas and Bronx. Rome, Memphis, and Raleigh will be with us too.”
“Your mother had to have given you a list, didn’t she?” she asked, smirking.
“She told me,” he said. “I’m surprised I’m remembering it. I don’t always.”
“Just like me,” she said. “Too many facts at once.”
“My Uncle Logan was my father’s younger brother. He and my Aunt Amber are flying with us. They are driving from a few hours away. But none of their kids are on the private jet. Sullivan, Adeline, Eliza, and Gideon are all coming from somewhere else. Not sure where. I can’t keep track.”
“Sounds like you did a good job. Everyone is single?” she asked.
“All but Phoenix that I’m aware of. Or if they are dating someone, I’m not positive they would have been invited to this. Jamie is high profile. Laken could be considered so as West’s sister, but it’s more about Jamie. This is a big wedding, but many would be vetted.”
“You can’t tell me that some of Jamie’s player friends might not be bringing a date,” she said, laughing.
“Wives or serious girlfriends vetted only,” he said. “There are rules that are followed in that circle for several reasons.”
“And it extends to family? Was I vetted?” she asked. Why the hell had that not occurred to her? “We’ve only been dating two months.”
“Immediate family is different,” he said. “And trust me when I tell you few are let in to begin with.”
“Huh?” she asked.
Why was she just hearing these things now?
Talk about making someone nervous!
She’d never been nervous in groups or crowds of people. Not even wealthy people.
If she thought moving to Southern Pines made her feel out of place, she realized she might have seen nothing yet!
“Sorry,” he said. “It’s not like we all haven’t dated, but I didn’t make a habit of introducing women to my mother.”
“She dropped in on us,” she said quietly. “So if she hadn’t, you wouldn’t have done it?”
He reached his hand over. “Hey, relax. I didn’t mean anything by it.
I would have. Think back to everything that happened.
Five of my siblings knew. I can’t tell my siblings and not my mother.
If I didn’t want my mother to find out, I would have been careful of who else knew.
West is the one who is the most cautious of us all.
He’s the one who brought it up to bring you. ”
“He told you to bring me?” she said. “Not that you asked if you could?”
“You’re getting worked up,” he said. “Why?”
“No,” she said. “I’m not. I’m trying to understand.”
“I don’t think so,” he said. “But what do you want to understand? We’ve met each other’s parents. I know your brother fairly well. I thought things were going well between us.”
“They are,” she said. “I guess I just found it odd that your brother had to tell you to invite me.”
He sighed. “West didn’t have to tell me that.
I would have asked you, but maybe I was on the fence about it like you were.
We hadn’t been dating long when it came up.
You have to travel out of town with me for this.
You’ve got a practice to run on top of it.
It could be nothing more than the timing of it and me not sure if you’d want to. Or to put pressure on you so early.”
She weighed his words.
Normally she didn’t get worked up easily.
Not over a man.
But everything with Elias seemed to rile her.
“That makes sense,” she said.
“We talked about this and how ironic it was that the wedding came up with our families at the same time, remember? You said that you were unsure about asking me since Laken’s was first.”
“I remember,” she said.
“So then it should stand to reason that I was feeling the same way.”
She smiled. “True.”
“Are you nervous about meeting my family?”
“Uh, yeah,” she said. “It’s not like meeting one or two people. It’s almost a full football team worth of people when you count extended family. Then add in I am going to be seeing actual professional football players and TV personnel.”
“You haven’t acted like you were nervous,” he said. “This is the first sign I’ve seen that you might be.”
“Fake it until you make it,” she said, laughing. “You can’t tell me you’ve never done that before. One thing we both share is the fact that we are out to prove we can do it on our own. To prove ourselves. Don’t you think that’d fall in line with our personal lives?”
He turned his head sharply. “I don’t want you to fake anything with me. I hadn’t realized you were.”
“I’m not faking anything with you,” she said.
Good lord, were they going to fight right now too?
“I mean my confidence. Or faking the part that I’m not nervous about today.
But driving there and getting on a billionaire’s private jet would make anyone nervous.
Then you add in all the family members.”
His head went back and forth. “You come off as one of the most confident women I know.”
“Then I’m faking it well,” she said, laughing.
He reached his hand over, his palm out. “I don’t want you to do that. I’ve shown you some vulnerable sides.”
“What’s that?” she asked. “Being afraid of your mother? You joke about that.”
“That’s not a joke. I’m serious. She’s scary.”
Phoebe laughed. She still felt he was joking, but maybe he wasn’t. “I suppose our conversations about wanting to prove ourselves go back to us both showing some vulnerability, don’t you think?”
“I do, so I stand corrected there,” he said.
“And you’ve seen how I’m like a pink elephant moving through this town with all eyes on me. I have to show it doesn’t bother me or I think they’d swarm in and want to start petting and riding me, maybe asking me to do tricks.”
He laughed. “You’ve got a good point there. But I don’t want you to be that way with me. I want you to be you.”
“I am me when I’m with you,” she said. “Curly hair and all. If that doesn’t prove it, I’m not sure what does.”
Her mother had asked her for years to wear her hair like that. To be herself and she never could do it.
She’d always had her grandfather in the back of her head that she had to be professional because few were going to take her seriously being a woman.
She didn’t want to believe that in this day and age, but she’d experienced it enough.
“I like that you’ve loosened up around me,” he said. “Maybe I just want to see more of it.”
“I could say the same,” she said.
It felt as if they were circling the wagons and neither one of them was ready to put their weapons down and start the peace talks.
Or maybe that was how she felt because she didn’t want to be the first to say it.