Chapter 28 – My Work Wife
Liam
Mom leads me into the den where Dad and Jack have found a football game and are arguing about the last play like they’re opposing coaches for the two teams. It’s the one thing they can always bond over.
They certainly aren’t going to talk about how Jack dropped out of the law school our parents paid for and decided to sell T-shirts out of a tourist shop in Florida.
He now owns a chain of tourist shops, but his success came at the cost of disappointing Dad.
Jack would pay him back, but then they’d have to talk about it.
Mom snaps her fingers at them. “Pay attention to something other than the game, you two. We need to have a family meeting.”
Dad pauses the TV before she can swipe the remote off the couch and do it herself. “Is this about the boys and how they’re romantically challenged?” he asks.
“Yes. Since neither of you can manage to hold onto a girlfriend for more than a month at a time, I’m sitting you both at the singles’ table for the party.”
This earns a groan from me and a fist pump from Jack. He doesn’t mind her meddling in the slightest because he’s a bachelor who can up and leave after a night of harmless flirting, no harm, no foul.
I live here and I’m a single dad. Disentangling myself from a socialite’s hopes is a little more complicated for me. They have different expectations.
“Why wouldn’t we be sitting with you?” I ask. “I’m assuming there’s a head table.” Maybe that’s just for weddings, but even so, it would make sense for us to sit together.
Mom’s mouth twitches. “We decided not to have a traditional head table for the family. The Donovans aren’t related to us, but they’d feel snubbed if we didn’t seat them with us.
And if we include them but not the Fiallas, that will also cause hurt feelings because they’ve been friends with us longer.
My sister is mad at me again and says she’s not coming.
And then there’s Uncle Tim’s new wife. I’m happy to have her, just not seated next to me.
Same goes for the son she’s bringing along.
Dad’s side is full of introverts who would rather not have attention on them. ”
She sighs. “So, your father and I are going to sit together at a table for two set up a little higher where we can see everyone, and everyone can easily walk up and chat with us. The party planner smoothed it all out, and I’m happy with it.
We’ll be surrounded by flowers and pictures of us from when we were dating. ”
I’d be happy to be included in that introvert group, but the singles’ table doesn’t sound like the worst thing either, at least until Mom starts describing all the women who will be sitting there, and all their many accomplishments.
It’s not just the implied matchmaking that’s weighing on me.
While she’s talking about setting me up with the future Mrs. Campbell, I can still faintly hear the demon instruments from the other room where Rosalie is patiently sitting.
If I don’t stand up for myself, I won’t be able to face her.
“Mom,” I interrupt. I have to repeat her name a few more times before she stops mid-sentence and frowns at me. I’ve never felt more in tune with my interrupting kids.
“What, Liam?”
“No setups for me.”
“I’m not. I’m just giving you a list of people you need to introduce yourself to and some topics of conversation where you might have things in common with them so the conversation flows.”
“I’m thirty-one years old and I have two kids. I know how to talk to women.”
Jack grins. My frustration is coming out as snark, which means she’s not going to take me seriously.
“What I’m trying to say is that I’m not on the market right now. Put me by Uncle Tim and his new wife.” I’d hate for them to feel alienated just because her laugh is a little bit loud and she’s not Mom’s favorite.
“You’re not on the market?” Mom asks. “Why not?”
It’s such a simple question, one I have no answer for. “I…uh… Did you know Jack’s moving back here?” I blurt out.
“Oh, thanks a lot.” Jack looks murderous. Just as I suspected, he hasn’t told our parents.
“You are?” Mom’s face is filled with so much joy, which is only dampened slightly by his grumpy reaction. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“It wasn’t time yet. I’m still working out the details.
Why don’t you ask Liam why he doesn’t want to be set up with anyone, even casually?
I bet he has a secret girlfriend. Someone you wouldn’t like.
I bet she’s young and sweet and wouldn’t know what to say or not say in a room full of people who like to judge each other for fun. She’s probably still in college.”
“You have a runaway imagination, Jack. And you don’t know my type at all.”
“Well, we know it’s not Rosalie, because there’s no way you’d let Mom trap her in a room with your kids and those awful recorders if you had feelings for her.
” He turns to stare at me, and in that moment, I know he knows.
He probably saw us through the front window when Rosalie covered my mouth and told me we’d be having a conversation later.
I’d been looking forward to that conversation, however awkward it might be. Not anymore.
Leave it to Jack to flay me open and show me another reason why I’m not relationship material. He’s better at it than Maggie. He didn’t even have to hear Mom order Rosalie around. He just knows that’s how it went down. And I did nothing about it.
A buzzing starts in my ears, and I don’t hear what my parents say next because I’m too deep in self-reproach. I came in here determined to stand up for myself, when I should have stood up for her.
My instinct is to not do it now because Jack pointed it out, but that’s just the brotherly rivalry in me. I have to say something, and I have to do it right now. Whatever I feel for Rosalie, the respect she deserves is not tied to it. This correction is overdue. It’s so overdue.
“What is Jack talking about?” Dad asks, and they all turn to look at me.
“Mom, from now on, please don’t talk to Rosalie like she works for you. It’s been bothering me for a while; I just needed Jack to call me out on it.”
“You’re welcome,” he mutters.
I ignore Jack and continue. “At our house, she’s part of my team. I don’t tell her what to do, and she doesn’t tell me what to do. We just work things out together. You didn’t need to tell her to stay with the kids. She knows.”
Mom frowns, giving my speech more thought than I hoped she would. She’s putting puzzle pieces together while she studies me. “So, you want me to talk to her like she’s your wife?” She throws the last word out like a test, and I make sure not to react to it.
“My work wife, yes.”
Jack shakes his head in disgust. “Just own up, man.”
“It’s an accurate description. We’re friends. She’s the closest friend I have.” Seeing their surprise, I add, “Next to Andrew.” It’s not even true. She’s surpassed him in a lot of ways. I work with both of them, but only one of them gets daily heartfelt letters from me.
Mom throws up her hands in defeat. “This is why you should have remarried already, Liam. Not on the market! Close friend? You broker compromise for a living so don’t think I don’t know when you’re just repackaging what’s really going on to make it sound good.
You’ve fallen for her, haven’t you?” She doesn’t wait for me to answer before continuing.
“I should have seen this coming. She’s just been so solid.
I know you’re a catch, but I didn’t think she’d jeopardize her position by trying to seduce you. ”
As if Rosie’s to blame. I can’t let this stand, no matter how much I want to keep my parents in the dark.
“She’s the catch, Mom. Not me. In fact, I’m probably the last thing she wants.
If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be listening to my kids destroy my love for music until dinner’s ready.
If Rosalie comes in, maybe strike up a conversation with her.
I can give you a list of talking points if you need. ”
Mom rolls her eyes, but I can tell the fight is leaving her. “I expect that kind of cheek from Jack. I get it. I’ll try not to order around the woman you’re paying to watch your children.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll be friendlier too,” Dad says gruffly.
I touch his shoulder as I leave the room. It’s more than I expected from him. But maybe it’s time I stop expecting the worst from everyone, no matter how often I’m let down.
It hits me that I’m hardest on myself when it comes to that.
Yes, I’m flawed. I’m very, very flawed. And I’m blessed, or maybe cursed, with people in my life who make sure I know that.
But what good is knowing about my flaws if I can’t do better and move forward?
I see it all the time with businesses that experience a big setback.
The owners go into self-protection mode, as if it will allow them to grow without making any new decisions.
It inevitably makes things worse. A lot worse.
Is that what I’ve been doing to myself? This holding pattern I’ve been in for the past four years isn’t helping me.
I could lose Rosalie whether I choose to make a move or not, and I don’t want to let fear make my decisions anymore. What if I don’t screw things up? What if she’s the best risk of all and I tell her?
The walk down the hall to where Rosalie sits with the kids feels too short.
She can see in my face that something’s different, but I just shake my head slightly and go to sit with her; not as close as we were sitting together in the ice cream parlor booth, but close enough that she raises an eyebrow. She doesn’t move away, though.
Wyatt’s getting better with the Otamatone now that he’s had a few minutes of practice. Whatever he’s playing sounds a little bit like a Bruno Mars song. On repeat.
My mother isn’t evil, but she sure dabbles in it.
“What did you do?” Rosalie whispers.
“Who says I did something?”
“Your overly bright eyes. And your hands. They’re fidgety.”
“Who’s looking at who now?” I ask, turning to face her with my overly bright eyes and a death wish. She called me frustratingly appropriate. I think I know what that means. If she’s frustrated with my appropriateness, then maybe I should be a little less appropriate.
Her hazel eyes flash with a warning. “Don’t flirt with me right now, Liam Campbell. This is the worst possible moment.”
Callie comes over to climb into her lap and she reaches up, playing with the ends of Rosalie’s hair. It’s getting long again, or maybe it seems that way because she straightened it tonight. It’s smooth and sleek, despite Callie’s efforts to fluff it up.
“Ro, I’m hungry.”
“Me too, kid.” Rosalie kisses the top of Callie’s head. “I think you should play your dad a song on your new toy.”
“I’ll play him a song,” Wyatt offers, and he looks so hopeful that I put on my delighted-and-supportive face and listen to his Bruno Mars song like it’s the first time I’ve heard it.
He has more. We listen to three more songs before Mom ducks her head in the room. “Dinner’s ready.” She sees Callie on Rosalie’s lap and the two of us sitting close, and I swear her face softens for a second before she goes back to looking exasperated with the lot of us.