The Dating Plan(43)

“You look perfect.” Liam caught her gaze in the mirror. As usual he looked mouthwateringly hot in his leather jacket, a blue sweater that matched his eyes, and a pair of jeans that was tight in all the right places.

“I didn’t want to give your family a reason to doubt our relationship was real. You’re not the kind of guy who would date someone who dresses the way I usually do.”

“I like how you dress,” he said softly.

Music and laughter echoed down the hallway. She could isolate at least a dozen voices. Her pulse kicked up a notch and she stared unseeing at the painting in front of her. Why had she agreed to this? Without even a pair of patterned tights, colored sunglasses, or a quirky hat, she felt utterly exposed. Panic slid icy fingers up her spine and she tightened her grip on the box of sweets Mehar Auntie had given her.

“Uncle Liam!” A little boy with a shock of blond hair ran down the hallway toward them. “I got a new plane!”

Liam knelt down and swept the boy up in his arms. “This is my nephew, Jaxon. He just turned five. And this beautiful lady is my friend Daisy.”

“She has a flower name,” Jaxon said.

Liam glanced over and smiled. “It’s pretty. Just like her.”

“Do you want to see my plane?” Jaxon wiggled down. “It’s in the living room.”

“Of course we do.”

“Smile,” Liam whispered as they followed Jaxon into the living room. “Pretend you’re on stage doing the dance that won you first prize in the high school talent contest.”

“You saw that?”

“After watching you and Layla practicing for months, I felt obligated to provide moral support for the performance.”

Before she could process that statement, they were in a large, bright living room, decorated in pink and green and furnished with what had to be antiques.

“Liam, I was wondering when you two were going to come in.” A woman with curly brown hair and hazel eyes greeted them with a smile.

“Aunt Fiona, this is Daisy Patel.” He glanced around and raised his voice. “My fiancée.”

Daisy held out Mehar Auntie’s box, a sinking feeling in her stomach when Liam’s declaration got no response. Maybe they’d miscalculated. After all, she was the only person of color in the room. “I brought sweets.”

“How lovely.” Fiona moved forward to take the box. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.

“Liam! You didn’t even mention you had a girlfriend the last time I saw you.” A tall woman wearing a colorful woven dress walked toward them, her long auburn hair braided down her back. “Or maybe you did and I don’t remember.” She gave Daisy an apologetic smile. “I’ve been at an ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica. I needed to get the hell out of my head.”

“That’s Aunt Roisin,” Liam murmured.

“And, boy, did your retreat deliver,” Fiona muttered, putting the box on the coffee table. “You’re still not all back.”

“Don’t be unkind,” Roisin said. “Just because you’re unable to let go of your fixed self doesn’t mean you should put down those of us who were able to achieve enlightenment.”

“You spent a month taking psychedelic drugs and living in a hut in the jungle,” Fiona said. “You missed Da’s funeral. I had to hire a security company to hunt you down and drag you out. How enlightened is that?”

“The drugs were a shortcut to glimpsing a higher truth,” Roisin retorted. “It was like a decade of therapy packed into a night. And this isn’t about me. It’s about Liam and his new fiancée.”

“I don’t think anyone believed you when you said you were engaged,” Fiona said to Liam. “It was such a surprise.”

“It all happened very quickly.” Liam clasped Daisy’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Daisy is the sister of one of my old high school friends. We reconnected recently, but with Grandpa sick, I didn’t think it was the right time to introduce her.”

“I thought he was like you, Uncle Seamus.” Fiona nudged the old man beside her. He had the same round face and hazel eyes, but his hair was gray, and he was tall and lean where Fiona was short and round. “Sowing his wild oats until it was too late.”

“It’s never too late,” Seamus said, puffing out his barrel chest. “I’ll be sowing oats until I’m lying in my coffin.”

Liam introduced Daisy to his relatives one by one. Aside from a few polite questions about her job, they were more interested in their own snarky banter than getting to know her. Unlike her family in a “meet the potential partner” situation, she didn’t have to sit in the middle of the room and field questions about everything from her favorite foods to her religious and political views. Liam’s relationship with her was clearly Liam’s business and they accepted his choice.

It was refreshing, but at the same time she had a feeling that if something went wrong, Liam would be on his own. By contrast, when Nasir Uncle had been recovering in the hospital from heart surgery, the entire family had gone to see him. She’d often found her family suffocating, but would it really be better to be left alone?

“Brendan!” Fiona called into the kitchen. “Forget the booze. Come and meet Liam’s new fiancée.”