an ass. I don’t care if my parents see you. I’ll introduce you as my friend. I just can’t tell them that we’re dating until after I tell Lily. We’ve talked about this. I thought you understood?” I ask, concerned.
She sighs. “No, I do. I just can’t wait until I’m a complete part of your life. I want to know your family, too.”
“I know you do. Soon, I promise. Now that graduation is done, I can go home and tell Lily.”
I’m assuming she’s home from school. I know that Central Michigan’s graduation was last weekend. Or she might have stayed up in Mount Pleasant with her boyfriend. I’ll ask my mom when I see her today. She’ll know.
“There you two are,” Mr. Grant’s deep voice calls from behind me.
“Hey, Daddy.” Stella smiles before giving her father a hug.
Stella’s mom gives me a big hug.
“Congratulations, Jax,” Mr. Grant says as he shakes my hand.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Where are your parents?” he asks.
I look around. “I’m not sure. They’re here somewhere along with my brother.”
“Your family is more than welcome to join us for dinner. We’re going to Stella’s favorite Italian restaurant.”
“Thank you for the offer. I believe my mom already made reservations somewhere, but next time they are in town, we should all get together.”
“We’d love that.” Mrs. Grant smiles.
“I wanted to thank you again for the opportunity to work with your company,” I say to Mr. Grant.
He offered me an incredible position that starts on Monday.
“Are you kidding?” he jokes. “I was lucky to get you before someone else did. Your resume is impressive. I’m hoping it will be a great fit for both of us.”
“I hope so, too.”
“All right, sweetie, meet us at the car?” he says to Stella.
“Yeah, I’ll be right there.” Once her parents walk away, she asks me, “Are you coming over tonight?”
“Yeah, I’ll head over after my family leaves.”
“Okay. See you then.” She leans in for another kiss before turning to follow her parents.
I’m sitting across from my parents, and Landon is at my side. We are at the most expensive restaurant in Ann Arbor. Thankfully, it has delicious food. It’s all about appearances with my dad. I’m not surprised he had my mom get reservations here.
The conversation over dinner has been easygoing. I’ve revealed very little to them in terms of my future plans, trying to avoid anything that would lead me to Stella.
I really need to talk to Lily. “Is Lily home from college?” I ask.
“Yes. She got back last weekend. The day after she graduated, I think,” my mom answers.
“Have you seen her?” I question.
“No. Miranda just told me she was home.”
“Is she staying there all summer?”
My mom sets her wine glass down. “I’m not really sure. I’m assuming she’ll stay home for a while unless she has to move for a job. I’m guessing you two haven’t spoken?”
“Nope, not since December.”
My mom gives a wistful nod. “What are your plans now?”
“Well, I actually got a job at Grant Global Industries. It’s a software company here in town.”
“Oh, that’s great!” my mom says.
“Yeah, it is. It’s an awesome company.”
Landon joins the conversation, “Well, since you are staying in town, we should hang out more”—he laughs—“now that you’re done being a stress ball over school.”
I look to my dad, and our gazes meet before he drops his eyes to focus on the steak he’s cutting.
“Yeah, for sure,” I answer my brother.
“It will be nice to have both my boys in one area. We’ll have to come up more often,” my mom says cheerfully.
I avoid any more talk of Lily or my employment plans for the rest of dinner. Dad fills Landon and me in on what he’s been up to with work, not that either of us are particularly interested. Mom talks about the latest charity benefit she’s organizing. We joke about Landon’s lack of dating life even though I don’t buy it. I can tell when he’s lying. I guess we’ll save that conversation for one of our upcoming bro nights.
Overall, the dinner is void of stress and is leaning toward normalcy. Once I talk to Lily and everything with my life is out in the open, I can see myself embracing this new normal.
I’m on my way to Stella’s. She asked me to come over for dinner. It’s commonplace, yet something is off. Her voice was all wrong on the phone. The fact that she called me is worrisome in itself. She would normally just shoot me a text.