and I can tell by my mom’s face that she’s pondering it, too—“we started dating, and well, we’re getting married…in October.”
“October?” My mom’s voice is high-pitched. “Honey, that’s four months away! Are you sure about this?”
“Yep. October.” I nod.
“Whoa,” Landon says from the end of the table.
The room is quiet. Everyone is apparently at a loss for words.
Stella squeezes my hand.
I continue, “Lily came by today.”
Everyone’s eyes dart up to stare at me once more.
“And I told her, so we wanted to come here and let you know, too. I didn’t want you to find out from Miranda or anyone else.”
“Lily knows?” my mom questions.
“Yeah.”
“How…how is she?”
I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know. I guess you’ll have to talk to her.”
“Oh, right. Okay. So, wow…October. That’s not much time.” My mom forces a weak smile, and the effort seems to tire her. She addresses Stella, “Well, sweetie, let me know if you need any help planning.”
“Thanks. I think I’m good,” Stella replies. “I’ve been dreaming about my wedding my entire life, so we already have a lot of it planned. Right, babe?” She looks to me.
“Yeah, we do. Plus, Stella’s mom has been really helpful.” My gaze finds Stella, and I smile at her, reassuring her that everything is going to be okay.
I don’t know how I expected my family to react, but I didn’t expect them to be so weird. Maybe I should have forewarned them. I don’t want to upset Stella or make her feel uncomfortable in any way.
“Oh, another thing,” I say, remembering something else I failed to mention to my family. “You know the address I gave you?”
My mom nods.
“Well, Stell and I actually bought that house. We own it.”
My father breaks his silence. “You bought a house?”
I shrug indifferently. “Yeah.” I look to my mom. “You should come visit. It’s a gorgeous house. You’d love it.”
“Where did you get the money to buy a house?” My father’s voice booms across the table.
“Edward,” my mom warns, her eyes narrowing toward my father.
“It’s fine, Mom,” I reassure her. “I’ve been saving for a while.”
Considering I went to school on a full-ride scholarship, I never touched my savings. My parents and grandparents have been making hefty deposits into my savings since I was born.
“Plus, Stella has money,” I add.
Stella has a lot of money and a trust fund bigger than my dad’s Roth IRA, but I don’t tell him that.
“Also, remember I told you I got a job at Grant Global Industries? Well, Stella’s father owns it. Mr. Grant is the owner of quite a few companies in the area.”
“Oh, that’s great, honey!” my mom exclaims, finally showing some true joy. “What do you do there again?”
“It’s a technology company. We create and market new software and devices, mainly for other businesses.”
I hear a chair scrape against the floor, and I turn to see my dad storming out of the room.
My mom sadly shakes her head. “He’s still upset over the football thing. He’ll come around in time. He will.”
“I couldn’t care less if he does, Mom,” I say truthfully.
She gasps, “You don’t mean that.”
“No, I do. I’m done caring about what he thinks of me. I don’t need his approval anymore.”
My mom’s eyes fill with unshed tears. “Well, he’ll come around. You two will be fine.”
“I know you don’t see it because you love him, but he’s an asshole, Mom. He has done nothing but make me feel inadequate my whole life.”
A tear falls down her cheek. She clears her throat. “Well, who’s ready for dessert? I have the most delicious cheesecake that I picked up from the new bakery in town.” She stands quickly and walks to the kitchen without giving us time to respond.
“Holy fuck, Jax.” Landon laughs. “This has got to be the craziest family dinner I’ve ever been to.”
“I’d say so.” I smile.
Landon stands from the table and collects the plates. “I’m going to go check on Mom.” Before he leaves, he addresses Stella, “Welcome to the family, Stella. I hope you know what you’ve gotten yourself into.” He shakes his head, chuckling to himself as he walks out of the room.
Both Stella and I exhale loudly and slump into our chairs.
“That was intense,” she comments.
“Yeah. Maybe we didn’t do it the right way?”
She giggles. “Well, it’s done now.”
“Are you sure you want to be a Porter? Apparently, we have some crazy in our family line,” I joke.
“I can’t wait to be a Porter, crazy and all.”
She leans into me, and our lips