Mockingbird (A Stepbrother Romance #2)(47)

I guess there's a lot of things about her I don't know.

In my mind I end up going through every possibility. She's been hypnotized or something, he's pressuring her somehow, he's learned some terrible museum secret and he's blackmailing her, but every possibility I come up with is either petty or stupid. They met, they clicked, they eloped, these things happen.

For some reason, I close my door, sit down at the mirror, and go about making myself pretty. I have a necklace with emeralds and tiger eyes that offsets my differently colored eyes, and there's a lot of green in my dress. I'm not being super fancy with my hair, just braiding and tying it back with a ribbon. My eyes are still red rimmed, my cheeks still bear red track marks. I've been crying. A lot.

Before, I didn't know what I was missing. Now I thought I had something special and for so brief a time, just enough to start to know it before it was ripped out of my chest.

I shouldn't get this emotional over a guy, especially a guy I had a fling with, basically.

It's just that it feels like more than that.

He wanted to tell me something, but he couldn't make himself do it. I don't know what that means. I don't know what anything means anymore. Even that stack of acceptance letters on my desk feels hollow. I can do what I want, on my own terms, something I wanted for so long. Mom, Charity, everybody is so sure that happiness is right around the corner. What if it was, and I turned the wrong way?

I'm being silly. I don't believe in stupid things like love at first sight. I barely even know him. He lost his virginity to a stripper, even if he did make it sound… if not romantic, somehow exotic.

"Diana?"

Mom hasn't sounded this nervous in a long time. I walk over to the bedroom and peek in the door. She's sitting on the bed.

"How do I look?"

I'm not sure what she wants me to say. The way she's done up her hair makes more of the gray show, and she went light on makeup. She's pretty, looks ten years younger than she is, and she's pretty lean from her crazy hours and weird diet. She looks vulnerable, though. I've never seen her look like this.

She pats the bed next to her. I slip into the room and sit down at her side.

"Are you okay? You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

"Of course I am. This is all so surreal. When I'm with him everything makes perfect sense, but my God, I married a man I knew for less than five days and now I'm going to reaffirm it in front of all my friends."

I grab her hand. "You know, it's easy to get an annulment on these crazy Vegas marriages."

I have no idea if that's true or not, but it sounds right, right?

She shakes her head. "No, I'm just nervous, that's all. I know you don't approve of this."

"I'm not sure what I approve of. I mean, if he's like his son…"

She smiles, but it's a wan, sad smile. "Oh, he is."

Oh my God. I turn beet red, feel the flush creeping up my face.

She laughs. "You will always be my daughter. I wish we could be close again, like when you were younger. What happened to us?"

"I grew up and you didn't like it."

I blink a few times, and my eyes are wet. Oh, come on. Not now.

She puts her arms around me and I have to scrub at my eyes with my fingers and try to hold back the tears.

"I didn't want you to leave me. I'm so sorry. For so long you've been all I have. I don't know how you came to think the museum was more important to me, but I'm sorry. I hope we can find a way to mend it."

"So, are you going on a honeymoon?"

She pulls back. "No, I don't think so. We sort of did that already." She sniffs, and grabs a tissue to rub at her eyes. "I'll be happy when this is over. It's just nerves. I don't even know why I'm doing it."

"You want him to be part of your life. Um."

"Yes?"

I sigh. "Are we moving in with them? Are they moving in with us?"

"I don't know about Apollo. Steven will move in here. His son is a grown man. I would hope he would have the sense not to, given…"

I fold my hands in my lap and look at the floor.

"He's not the only fish in the sea, Diana. At least you didn't discover he was wrong for you five years from now, or longer."

"Yeah. I just…"

"Yes?"

My sigh turns into a sob. "What if he is right for me? It felt so right. I've never felt like that with anybody before."

"I thought you liked Lucas."

My head shoots up. "Mom, where did you get that ridiculous idea? Lucas is a he-whore and he's awful. I don't trust him to be alone with me, much less date him."

"Why didn't you tell me."

"I tried. You weren't listening."

She rests her forehead against the side of my head. "I know. I'm sorry, sweetie. My ears are open now. What are you trying to tell me?"

"I don't know."

She sighs, and stands up. "The guests will be arriving soon. We need to be presentable."

I nod. "I just need my shoes."

"You look beautiful. I should have told some of my friends to bring their sons. You'll have ten of them sniffing after you by the end of the night."