Landon & Shay: Part Two (L&S Duet #2)(77)

“He’s my fiancé,” Mom said, confident as ever. As if she didn’t hear how ridiculously ludicrous the words leaving her mouth were. My mother didn’t have a fiancé. Heck, my mother didn’t even have a boyfriend. My mother was the freaking CEO of WWLTHMC—Women Who Love to Hate Men Club. She didn’t date men, she passionately hated them.

The odd pairing moved in toward everyone and cuddled against each other. My mother’s body was against a man.

Again—what in the actual hell was going on?

“Uh, I can tell that this seems like a private matter, so perhaps Sarah and I should get going,” Landon said, standing from his seat.

“Probably a good idea,” Mima agreed.

“Oh, Landon! Can you give me a drive back to my place? I rode with Shay, and obviously she’s too busy to take me,” Sarah commented as she rubbed his arm up and down. I almost rolled my eyes right in her face, but I held it in.

Besides, I was still stuck on the fact that a man named David was standing in my grandmother’s house.

“Of course,” Landon agreed. The two said their goodbyes to everyone and hurried away, leaving the four of us to talk.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know other people were going to be here,” Mom commented. “If I did, we would’ve brought more wine.”

“What do you mean you’re engaged!” Mima shouted, ignoring Mom’s words.

Mom’s face turned a nice shade of red as David took her hand into his. “I didn’t know how to tell you guys, but we’ve been dating for a while.”

“How long is a while?” I asked.

“Three months,” Mom replied.

“Three months?!” I gasped. “And you didn’t even tell us you were dating someone?!”

“Okay, miss nine-months-pregnant relationship that no one knew about for the longest, I doubt you have much say on the subject,” Mima cut in, pointing me out for my flawed comment.

Touché, touché.

“But how did you meet?” Mima asked, taking a seat at the table. She gestured for the two to do the same, and they did.

“Well, when I went to pick up Bella three months ago, there seemed to be some confusion on the paperwork. It seemed that David was also promised my sweet Bella. He showed up at the same time as I did, and of course I was furious. I mean, you know how much I loved Bella the minute I saw her.”

“Yes, it was a little too much if you asked me,” Mima added in. “But continue.”

“Yes, well, David was just as passionate about the situation. So, we came to an agreement that we would co-parent Bella.”

Oh, for the love of God. Is this real life?

“And one night, when it was my turn to drop Bella off, I realized Camila had a terrible cold. I’m a doctor and—”

“A doctor?!” Mima beamed, her eyes growing wider with joy. “Go on!”

David bashfully continued. “Yes, well, I’m a doctor, and I was trying to help prescribe her something to make her feel better. But you know Camila. She’s a bit hard to give advice. Especially when said advice is coming from a man. But, I insisted. We bickered back and forth for a while, and she finally told me that she was a nurse and she could take care of herself. I told her just because she could take care of herself, didn’t mean she had to. Long story short, it turned out we worked at the same hospital, we fell in love over debates and bad coffee from vending machines, I asked her to marry me, she said yes, and here we are! Meeting the family!” He turned to me with the biggest smile. “By the way, Shay, hi. It’s so nice to meet you. Camila has gone on and on about how amazing you are.”

I gave him the blankest of stares known to mankind.

“Well, this is so exciting! Let’s open up the wine to celebrate!” Mima said, as if she didn’t just hear the most horrifying story of her life.

“Wait, no. You two aren’t really engaged. What’s going on for real? Mom, you wouldn’t just marry someone you don’t know.”

“You’re right. I wouldn’t. But I do know David. I feel like I’ve known him all my life.”

“That’s ridiculous and childish,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to play along with this.”

“Shannon Sofia, watch your tone,” Mima ordered.

“I’m sorry, Mima, but this is insane. You’re making a mistake, Mom. A massive mistake. It’s clear that he’s trying to get something from you. He wouldn’t just want to marry you.”

The moment the words left my mouth, I tasted the bitterness of them. Mom’s eyes watered over.

“And why’s that, Shay? Because I’m not good enough?” she asked.

“No. Stop. That came out wrong. What I meant was, no one should get engaged that soon. You need more time to see how he’ll let you down.”

“Shay.” Mima sighed. “Not every man is the devil.”

“Yes, but they can all hurt you the same way the devil can.”

“When did you become this way, Shay? When did you become so cold?” Mom asked, leaving me baffled.

“Are you kidding, Mom? Everything I’ve learned about hating men, I’d learned from you.”

What was I saying?