Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Tori
A s my grandmother’s house came into view, I bit back a few words that would’ve had her slapping my face.
I loved my family, but Grandma and one of my aunts were insufferable.
They were, unfortunately, the price of admission if I wanted to attend family gatherings, though, so here I was, sucking it up yet again.
Today was my uncle’s birthday. I’d been tempted for a hot minute to stay home with Ava and work on wedding plans, but I really did want to see everyone besides the Wicked Witches of the Griffin Family.
I didn’t dare bring Ava; she was already stressed to the gills about all things wedding, and I wasn’t going to subject her to any rudeness.
She’d met the objects of my aggravation enough times that she wasn’t at all put out over me going alone.
“You have fun with that,” she’d told me with a grimace as I’d left the house. “I’ll be pre-addressing invitation envelopes.”
“Do we even have the invites from the printer yet?”
“No, we’re still settling on some text and—anyway.” She’d waved a hand. “We nailed down a size and style, so I figured I’d get a jump on this part.”
“Smart.” I’d paused. “I should be helping with that.”
She’d scoffed and waved me away. “I’d rather do this than spend time around Grandma Ratched and her harpy daughter. Besides, my handwriting is better than yours.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
So I’d left her to it, and now I was here, walking up Grandma’s long driveway, past the cars of everyone else who’d already arrived.
My parents were already here, fortunately; Dad was pretty good at casually redirecting conversations when his mom or sister started on their bullshit. Hopefully he’d be on his game today.
Inside, the party was already underway, so I slipped in without much fuss.
I left my gift on the table with everyone else’s, then went into the living room to say hi to my mom, grandma, and some aunts.
From the occasional sharp clack , the guys were downstairs playing pool, and I made a quick escape to join them.
Staying down here kept everything light and fun for a couple of hours. I bantered with my dad, brother, and uncles, and we played pool until Grandma called everyone up for dinner.
That was when my apprehension really started to set in.
All through dinner, every time Grandma or Aunt Elizabeth so much as glanced my way, my insides knotted even tighter.
They hadn’t said anything yet, but they would.
They nearly always did, especially when I was doing something to “draw attention” to being gay.
They’d had comments when I’d moved in with an ex-girlfriend, plenty more after we’d broken up, and God knew they wrung their hands—loudly—after I’d been Marco’s best woman.
The fact that no one had made a comment after I’d come up from playing pool with the guys didn’t suggest they were going to keep their thoughts to themselves; they were just waiting for the right moment to announce their disapproval.
Couldn’t wait .
And I didn’t have to wait long.
After dinner, I got pulled into a conversation with my sister-in-law and one of my other aunts. They were both excited about my wedding and were full of questions about it, and I admittedly lost myself in that discussion for a few minutes.
Before I knew it, other aunts and my mom were joining in… and both Grandma and Aunt Elizabeth were in the room. Both scowling. Both quiet.
Aww, crap. I needed to find a way to extricate myself from this.
The clack of pool balls downstairs made me twitchy. All I needed to do was bow out gracefully from this conversation, and I could make my escape.
Not an easy task when I was at the center of the conversation. Crap.
“Well,” Aunt Debbie said, “if you need a florist, I know one who is fantastic. And she’ll probably give you a deal because we’re family.”
I smiled. “Sure. Send me the number.” Ava and I already had a florist lined up, but I knew Aunt Debbie—she’d try to sell me her florist until I gave in. It was best to just smile, nod, and say I’d look into it.
The conversation hit a lull right then, and at that same moment, Grandma pushed herself up from her armchair. “I’m going to go get the dishwasher started. Does anyone need anything?”
“We’re fine, Mom.” My mom rose. “Let me help you.”
They started for the kitchen, and I was ready to jump up and bolt for the basement.
The instant they were out of earshot, though, Aunt Elizabeth pinned me with a look. “Victoria, is it true what Mother said? About the man officiating your…” She paused, nose wrinkling slightly. “…wedding?”
I stared at her. “Huh?”
Her frown intensified. “She said you’re being married by a—” Elizabeth looked around, then lowered her voice to a whisper. “You’re being married by a Satanist?”
“Oh. That.” I laughed. “No, he’s not.”
She narrowed her eyes. “So why does my mother believe he is?”
“Probably for the same reason she thinks I’m going to burn in Hell,” I said dryly.
Elizabeth eyed me. Then she seemed to make the connection. “So he’s a gay man.” She said it like the words were ashes on her tongue.
“He is. And I’m a gay woman.”
My aunt’s jaw worked. “So you’re a woman, marrying another woman, and your wedding is being presided over by a gay man who my mother believes is a Satanist.”
I pretended to consider it, then shrugged. “Pretty much, yeah.”
“And you expect us all to support you?”
“Why not?” I shrugged again, as flippantly as possible this time. “I’ve been out since I was fifteen. Me marrying a woman isn’t news to anyone.”
She huffed sharply. “Well, we all thought you’d grow out of it. You were only fifteen.”
I gritted my teeth. “Mmhmm. And I’m twenty-six now. Not growing out of it. Also, didn’t Aunt Gina meet Uncle Larry when they were fourteen?”
“She did, but she didn’t marry him until she was twenty.”
“Okay, but you always talk about how romantic and sweet it is that they knew from a young age that they were meant to be.” I shrugged as flippantly as I could. “But I couldn’t know myself until I was?—”
“You were way too young to know you were a sexual deviant,” she snapped.
I stared at her. I’d always known she and my grandma weren’t thrilled about my sexuality, but neither of them had been quite so blunt about it.
Not even my aunt, who was quite outspoken about her opinions.
Apparently they’d just assumed I’d eventually evolve into a proper heterosexual, but now that I was marrying another woman, the gloves were coming off.
I set my jaw and looked right in her eyes. “Well, if you and Grandma don’t approve, you don’t have to come. In fact, I don’t want either of you to come.”
“I can’t imagine why I would,” she threw back haughtily. “It’s utterly ridiculous.”
My mom came back into the room, glaring at her sister’s back as she helped Grandma into her chair.
Elizabeth wasn’t done yet, either. “It’s bad enough this is a wedding between two women.
But you’re having it officiated by a gay Satanic priest?
That’s not a wedding. That’s a circus. It’s a mockery of a sacred union, and the two of you are a mockery of marriage.
You should be ashamed of yourself, marrying that woman instead of a man. ”
Anger flared hot in my chest. “I love her,” I said through my teeth. “That’s why I’m marrying her.”
My aunt made a disgusted face. “That isn’t love. It’s perversion and?—”
“What would you know about love?” I demanded.
Everyone tensed as all the air seemed to rush out of the room.
I stared my aunt down as my mom and everyone else probably wondered just how far I was going to take this.
There were certain things we all knew but didn’t talk about, and if Aunt Elizabeth kept at it, we were going to talk about them. Right here. Right now.
Voice cool, she said, “I know that marriage is between a man and a woman. Not… this nonsense. I’m sure she’s a lovely girl, but you and she both need husbands. Not each other.”
“I need her .” I was going to grind my teeth to dust at this point. “I don’t care if you approve. I love her. I want to be with her. And I’m?—”
“Then just be together instead of demanding everyone endorse it.” Elizabeth folded her arms. “I just don’t understand why you two have to get married. You already live together. What difference does it make? Why do you need all the fanfare?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why did you need all the fanfare for three different husbands?”
Someone choked. Someone else murmured, “Oh Lord…”
Elizabeth’s jaw worked as purple rose in her cheeks.
“Tori,” my mom said in a quiet but gently warning tone. It was one I recognized from past family shindigs—the I’m on your side but please don’t make a scene tone.
Fuck that.
“No one’s forcing you to come to the wedding,” I snapped at Elizabeth.
“No one’s forcing you to like it or even care about it.
But you don’t get to question it either.
You haven’t been able to make a marriage last longer than five years, and even if you had, I really don’t give a damn if you have opinions about me marrying Ava. ”
“It isn’t right for a woman to marry another woman!” she threw back.
“Says who?” I shouted. “Because I’m pretty sure your book has a whole lot more to say about adulterers than it does about lesbians!”
She looked like I’d smacked her. I kind of wished I had.
“Victoria,” my mom said more emphatically this time.
I ignored her. To my aunt, I said, “You’re a hypocrite. We all know you cheated on both of your ex-husbands, and I don’t think any of us would be surprised if you’re cheating on Paul.”
“How dare you?” She glared hard at me. “I’m not perfect and I’ve made mistakes in my past, but I don’t ask people to celebrate my failures and flaws.”
“Oh really?” I barked a caustic laugh. “So it was just my imagination when we all knew you were marrying the man you cheated on your first husband with? Or the one you cheated on him with?”