Lunar Love (43)

I wrinkle my eyebrows. “You warned me but I didn’t listen. At least yours resulted in a successful marriage.”

Brightness returns to her face. “Bennett’s parents were good together, incompatible or otherwise.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about him? He knew about me,” I ask. “You never hide things from me.”

“I was ashamed about his parents’ match,” she says. “And you never cared much about the men I bring up to you. How is Bennett different than Mr. Love-Fifteen?”

“He just is,” I say after a moment.

“He knows about you because I talked about you. How could I not?” Pó Po says. “I’m sorry that you were caught by surprise, but everyone’s entitled to their own secrets every now and then.”

I have a million more questions but I sense she wants to drop it. I’ve already questioned her enough. Pó Po goes to her room to rest before the festivities pick up while I bundle the bagged cookies together and bring them to the front entrance for guests to grab on their way out. More friends and family have started to arrive, evidenced by the growing stack of shoes in the entryway. A knot in my stomach forms at the anticipation of having to field questions about Lunar Love and if I’ve managed to save it yet.

“Olivia! Can you grab this?” Dad asks as I pass by the kitchen. With a plate of raw meat balanced in one hand, he hands me a plate of cheddar cheese slices that have been individually shaped with a cookie cutter to be perfectly round. “Moon cheese. I paid extra for expedited shipping. The fee was astronomical!” He laughs at his own joke.

“Looks good,” I say to Dad, following him back out to the grill.

“Everything all right?” Dad asks when I don’t even pity laugh.

“Oh, yeah. I just have a lot on my mind. Nice apron, by the way.”

“You like it? It’s the exact tartan pattern of our family clan from Scotland,” he explains. “I had it custom-made. Let me know if you want one.” He nudges a burger patty so it lines up evenly with the others.

Dad places the plate of rounded burger meat onto the grill’s side table. “You want a Full Moon Burger Special?” he asks, flipping his metal spatula into the air, barely catching it. I narrowly dodge the spinning utensil.

“Definitely. Medium rare, please. I’ll be back for it.” I pat Dad on the shoulder and make my way over to the dessert table where I see Nina and Asher, Nina’s fiancé, lingering.

“Do we have enough food?” Nina asks us, fidgeting with her sapphire engagement ring.

“There’s four platters of wife cake, walnut cookies, sponge cake, Chinese shortbread, two trays of chocolate cake, a plate of macarons, two bowls of fruit, a box of doughnuts, burgers, chips, drinks…I think there’s plenty,” I say.

“If we run out, I’ll go whip up a fresh batch of cookies myself,” Asher says reassuringly. He rubs Nina’s shoulders.

“Okay,” she says, exhaling a relaxed sigh. She adjusts one of the plates so that it’s angled closer to the tray. “Thanks, Ash.”

Mom joins us with two cookie cakes. “Grandma and Grandpa sent these for you. They told me to tell you that they’re sorry they can’t make it, but they’re looking forward to seeing you at the wedding.”

“Well, there we go! More food. Problem solved,” Asher says with a smile. “Let’s get this party started. Drinks, ladies?”

“Just a little bit of wine, please,” Nina says. “Don’t go wild with it.”

Asher, a Universal Studios tour guide, raises his eyebrows. “Speaking of wild, did you know that Psycho was the first American film to show a toilet flushing on screen?”

“A real toilet?” I ask, pretending that this is the first time he’s told me this fun fact. He must be working overtime on his comedic timing.

“Just go,” Nina says, gently pushing Asher toward the beverages.

We look around the backyard, which looks like a galaxy of blue and white decorations.

“You really went all out with the Over the Moon theme,” she observes. “I didn’t know there were pumpkins on the moon.”

I nod. “Only when it’s feeling festive. Everyone agreed that we should go big since you’re planning a courthouse wedding.”

“Whoa. I’ll officially be married in two weeks!” Nina says dreamily.

“Asher’s a lucky guy. I’m glad his family was able to join us today.”

“Can you believe Pó Po allowed it? You know how selective she is about traditions. She’s not ready to let me go, I guess.”

“It’s not like you’re going off to live with his family, never to return,” I say. “Unless you are, then…” I move my hands up and down as though I’m weighing the options.

Nina grabs me by the arm. “Hey, let’s go to The Spaceship.”

“Right now? Don’t you have to mingle?” I ask.

“I just need a minute.” Nina leads the way to the front yard and climbs up the ladder of our treehouse. Dad built it for us when we were young enough to believe that the structure had magical powers. Now we just like to pretend that it does. We named it The Spaceship because it took us on journeys beyond our wildest imaginations.