California Girls(107)

“This was a bad idea,” she said as he knocked.

He squeezed the hand he was holding. “Too late now, unless you want to run for it.”

But before she could consider that as an option, the front door swung open.

Marie Demiter stood in the doorway. She and her husband, Steve, were a perfectly nice couple. Steve was an architect and Marie owned a small chain of nail salons in the West Valley. They’d raised two boys, were active in the community and until tonight, Ali had always thought they kind of liked her.

Now, looking at her former mother-in-law-to-be, Ali realized she couldn’t do this. Couldn’t be Daniel’s girlfriend after being engaged to Glen. It was ridiculous. She was a fool to think it would ever work.

“Hi,” Marie said, her voice falsely bright. “Come on in.”

They stepped into the huge, two-story foyer. Marie called out, “Steve, they’re here.”

“Good.” Steve, as tall and dark-haired as Daniel, joined them. Everyone shook hands. Marie hugged her son and asked about Ali’s broken arm.

“I fell off a bike on the track,” she said. “It was just one of those things. I’m fine.”

“She was very brave.” Daniel put his arm around her. “Scared the crap out of me, though.”

Marie and Steve both looked at the draped arm, then at each other. Ali’s stomach sank. This was not going well.

Marie urged them all into the living room. There was a plate of appetizers waiting. Steve got them all drinks, then they sat opposite each other on the two oversize sofas in the giant and perfectly decorated room.

Ali looked at her glass of white wine, at Marie and Steve, then told herself she’d gotten through worse. She couldn’t remember what, but there had to be something.

“We should talk about it,” she said quietly. “Otherwise the elephant in the room is going to squish us all and the evening will be horrible.”

Marie looked relieved. “That’s an excellent idea, because this is a very unusual situation.”

“Why don’t I—” Daniel began, but Ali put her hand on his.

“I’ll do it,” she said. “This is my thing.”

“So that’s all I am?” he teased. “A thing?”

She managed a slight smile before telling herself to be strong as she looked at his parents.

“I had no idea Glen was unhappy,” she said. “He never said anything. My first clue was when he ended things.”

Marie and Steve exchanged a glance. Ali knew she had to keep talking or she would crumble under the pressure.

“I was devastated, of course. The wedding was less than two months away, I’d already mailed out the invitations. I couldn’t seem to grasp what was happening.”

She avoided mentioning her meltdown, the drinking, the phone throwing and other details that did not paint her in the best light.

“Canceling the wedding was a lot of work. Daniel stepped in and helped me with that. Then I had to deal with getting a new place because I’d given notice and the management company had already leased out my place. We were spending a lot of time together and we became friends.”

Make that more than friends but she was pretty sure his parents could read between the lines.

“I don’t understand why Daniel was there when Glen broke off the engagement,” Steve said.

“Oh. I thought you knew.”

“I didn’t tell them,” Daniel admitted. “Sorry. I forgot about that.”

“Forgot about what?” Marie asked. “What don’t we know?”

“Mom, Glen didn’t break up with Ali himself. He came to me and told me he didn’t want to marry her. He wasn’t going to tell her, so I had two choices. I could do nothing, in which case she would be stood up at the altar, or I could tell her myself. I chose to tell her.”

Marie’s eyes widened as she turned to Ali. “Glen didn’t tell you himself?”

“No. When I texted him, he confirmed he was done with me, but that was it.” She thought about mentioning the five-hundred-dollar check, but figured his parents already knew enough.

“I saw him a couple of weeks ago and we hashed out the last of the details.” Which was her way of describing how she’d made him pay her what he should. “Oh, except for this.”

She opened her small handbag and pulled out a ring box. “If you’d see that Glen gets this. I didn’t have it on me the last time we spoke.” Which was technically true, but not the reason she hadn’t told him he was getting the ring back. But again—no need for the parents to know.

“Like I said,” Ali continued. “I know this is really awkward. You’re going to need some time to process everything. I’m not a looking to disrupt your family. Daniel was there for me when my life was falling apart. He was a good friend who helped me. What’s happened since then grew out of that friendship.” She smiled. “He’s a really great guy, but it’s a weird situation and not one I expected to find outside of reality TV.”

Marie smile. “That’s a little of how we feel. I can’t believe Glen didn’t tell you to your face. I don’t want to believe he wouldn’t have said anything, but now I just don’t know.” She looked at Daniel. “He put you in an impossible situation.”