CHAPTER NINETEEN
Natalie
“Heath, I have to tell you something,” I said after he’d helped me into his car. We were on our way to his parents’ house in Halliwell for dinner.
It wasn’t my favorite thing to do, but I knew these dinners with his parents were important to him.
“What is it?” He was facing the road and wearing dark sunglasses. I couldn’t see his eyes, and it was making me even more nervous than I already was.
I couldn’t keep it in any longer that I’d kissed Tim at the Orchid Ball.
I started to open my mouth, but he cut me off.
“Did you sleep with Tim?” His hands gripped the steering wheel in a chokehold.
“No,” I said, horrified. Then I wondered if I should be offended. Why did he just assume what I’d had to tell him had to do with another man? Also… how did he know it had to do with Tim? Was the chemistry between us that obvious?
“Then I probably don’t need to know.”
What? I couldn’t keep it in. There was no reason to. He’d probably turn around and take me home once I told him, and we’d break up.
“I kissed Tim.”
“When you were in the maze at the ball?”
“Yes,” I said slowly. How did he know?
“I figured something like that might have happened.” He glanced at me, but I still couldn’t see his eyes.
He looked pretty calm, though. “It wasn’t rocket science, Natalie.
You were dancing with Tim and then you disappeared.
There’s only so much talking ‘best friends’ need to do at a function like that.
” He used air quotes when he said best friends.
“You’re… not mad?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m not mad. I’m disappointed, and it upsets me. But I’m not mad. Do you plan to do it again?”
“No! No, of course not.” I only dreamed about it every night. But I didn’t want to be with Tim. I couldn’t ever trust him again.
“Then I’m okay. But I need you to listen closely, Natalie.
” He pushed his glasses up on his head. Now I could see his eyes, and they told a different story.
He was definitely mad. He just didn’t want to admit it, I guess.
“Don’t let it happen again or we’re through.
Messing up once is a mistake. Any more than that is a habit.
” He narrowed those beautiful gray eyes at me. “Don’t develop a bad habit.”
I smiled weakly. He was almost a little scary. “I understand if you can’t forgive me…”
“I forgive you. Let’s change the subject.”
I gaped at him. Was he serious?
“My parents are very pleased you’re coming tonight.”
Yep. He was serious. “Um… that’s great.”
This was weird. Maybe it was time to break up with him. Everything had started out so great, but he’d told me he was done with me if I moved to Baltimore. And there were other red flags, too. Like the conversation we’d just had.
“We’re having lobster tonight. I told them it was one of your favorites.”
I swallowed hard. I’d told him I never wanted to eat lobster.
I hated the way they had to be cooked. I thought it was inhumane.
Was he just a bad listener or what? He wouldn’t have told them I loved lobster as some sort of sick, passive aggressive way of getting me back for dancing with Tim, would he?
***
“Natalie, you look lovely tonight, dear,” Heath’s mother said as she kissed my cheek and hugged me after Heath and I walked up the stairs to their three-story home in Halliwell’s nicest neighborhood. They had a prime location, with their house backing up to the golf course.
“Thank you,” I smoothed down the simple Black Halo Jackie O sheath dress I was wearing.
I’d paired it with a pair of Tory Burch slingbacks.
Carrie’s mom Diane took me shopping when I told her I needed help with outfits to wear out with Heath, especially to dinners with his parents.
After a day with Diane, I’d come away with a whole new appreciation for what was expected of Carrie on a regular basis, and a closet full of ‘appropriate’ clothing.
We were ushered into the drawing room for appetizers and drinks. This was the third time I’d been to Heath’s parents’ home for dinner. It was a formal affair. There was no laughing and joking around like I’d been used to at the Summers’ house.
“How many children would you like to have, Natalie?”
I almost choked on the canapé I was eating and had to suck down a couple of gulps of wine. I wanted water for that, but there was none available.
“I’m sorry—what was that?” I had to have misunderstood her.
“Children,” she repeated. “How many would you like?”
I looked to Heath to save me, but he and his father had stopped talking about work at the hospital and were staring at me.
“I… hadn’t really thought about it,” I said.
They kept staring.
“Nonsense,” his mother smiled and took a sip of her wine. “Every woman has a number in mind at your age.”
I really didn’t. I’d always wanted children. I wasn’t sure how many, though. I knew I wanted more than one since it’d been hard on me to be an only child. “Two?” I hated that it had come out like a question.
Everyone looked disappointed.
“Come now,” Heath’s father boomed, “you need to have at least four. Smart, beautiful people need to procreate.”
I laughed.
No one else did. He wasn’t being funny. I sobered quickly and tried to cover my faux pas with a cough. I looked at Heath pointedly, but he wasn’t being quick to help me out.
“How many would you like, Heath?” Ha. That would put him in his place. I wonder how he’d like being putting on the spot…
“Three,” he said calmly.
“Oh. Well, that’s a nice number.” Was it? I wasn’t even sure. What if labor was so horrific I didn’t want to go through it more than once?
“Let’s continue this discussion over dinner,” Mrs. Reyes said. She stood, looking elegant and regal in her emerald dress. She looked perfect as usual. She never had a wrinkle, a stray hair, a lipstick smear—nothing to make me think she wasn’t cast from wax or something.
I wanted to suggest we move to a different topic, but I had a feeling no one else was ready to move on.
At first, things were better. Everyone exchanged pleasantries and ate the first course. Later, as the entrée was served, everyone was smiling at me.
“I was pleased to hear how much you like lobster, Natalie,” Mr. Reyes said. “We actually belong to a service that sends several pounds a month directly from Maine.”
I looked at the poor, cooked beast in front of me.
“These are the very best, I’ve found.” He leaned in a bit closer, even though he sat across a huge table from me. “It’s the cold water there.” He watched me. “Since you’re a connoisseur, too, I want to get your opinion. Go ahead,” he urged, “try it.”
They all stared to see what I’d think.
I cut a small piece, mentally asking the lobster to forgive me. “Mmmm,” I said as I chewed slowly and swallowed.
He looked satisfied with my answer.
It actually was really good, but I didn’t plan to eat any more of it than what was needed for me not to appear rude.
“Let’s revisit what we were discussing in the drawing room,” Mrs. Reyes said.
I held back a sigh. This dinner was turning into a nightmare of sorts.
Mr. Reyes asked, “You’ll be staying at home, of course, to raise the children.”
He didn’t ask a question. It was a statement, and he was staring at me. He obviously wanted an answer.
I glanced at Heath again, waiting for him to speak up for me. He had to know I wanted to work, right? I would probably want to stay home with my children until they hit school age. Then I’d want to go back to work. Why else did I bust my ass all through college, graduate school, and a residency?
“Well,” I wiped my mouth with a napkin to buy time, “I’d like to stay home until they’re old enough to go to school,” I said.
Disapproval hung in the air. Three faces wearing sour expressions stared at me.
Heath finally let out a mirthless chuckle. “What Natalie means is that she’d probably work part-time while the kids are at school.”
That’s not what I meant.
It didn’t seem to matter anyway. His parents still looked upset. I had to change the direction of this conversation.
“How did you two meet?” I blurted. My voice seemed overly loud in the large room.
Everyone startled a bit.
Mrs. Reyes recovered quickly. She smiled at me pleasantly. “We had an arranged marriage.”
I almost knocked my wine glass over and had to lurch to catch it. I didn’t want to ruin the extremely expensive-looking tablecloth. “Arranged? Like here in Halliwell?”
“Basically,” Mr. Reyes said. “Our families were friends. When we’d both reached a certain age and remained unmarried, they told us their expectations.”
Oh my God. I didn’t know what to say, so I just nodded.
“What are your thoughts on a nanny?” Mrs. Reyes asked, taking a calm sip of her wine.
“I’ve never even thought about that,” I admitted.
“You’ll have at least one, maybe two,” Mr. Reyes said while Heath nodded.
“Yes, dear. You’ll have lots of responsibilities as a surgeon’s wife.”
Wife? Could they all just slow the hell down?
“I’d like to raise my own children,” I spoke up.
“Certainly,” Mrs. Reyes agreed.
I felt vindicated briefly.
Then she continued, “With the help of nannies.”
Jesus. Would this dinner never end?
It eventually did, thank goodness, and I was already coming up with the speech to call things off with Heath on the way home. This was just too much. Too weird.
And then it happened.
As we were saying goodbye on the huge front porch, Mrs. Reyes grabbed Heath for a tight hug. “Natalie, please tell me you’ll be taking care of my baby during Thanksgiving.”
I tried to keep a normal look on my face. “Sure. But… why?”
Heath laughed, and I swear it was the first real laughter I’d heard that evening. “They’re leaving for a European river cruise during Thanksgiving. I assured them you and I would be together, and they didn’t have to worry about me.”
“Promise me, Natalie.” Mrs. Reyes’ eyes were full of unshed tears.
How the hell was I supposed to say no to that?