Daddy had never played horseshoes with Sterling. It was the highest honor he would bestow on another man, one my own fiancé had somehow managed to fall short of. My father went into the kitchen, presumably to ask him if wanted to play. They came back out, and Dante had obviously agreed because they headed out front. He winked at me as they went past.
“Come help me with dessert?” my momma asked, and I went with her into the kitchen to arrange a tray. She had me get the mini strawberry shortcakes out of the fridge, while she made up a batch of lemonade.
I hoped Dante wouldn’t think the drink was some kind of code.
I had thought she’d want to talk about him, but instead she told me the latest gossip from the country club. How Mrs. Delacroix caught her husband and the nanny, and how Edward Charleston was soon to become Edna Charleston. I only half listened, feeling more confused and churned up than ever. I had been worried that this evening would not go well, but it couldn’t have gone any better. Dante had been, well, perfect.
We went out onto the porch and sat in side-by-side rocking chairs. I put the tray on the little table in front of us. We watched the men playing horseshoes, and I was pretty sure Dante was letting my father win. I tried to sneak bites of dessert when the cameras weren’t on us because I was starving. They would have to leave soon though, because the sun was starting to set, and they were going to run out of daylight.
“I didn’t want to like him,” my mother said. “But I did. He charmed the pants off me.”
I tried not to grimace at her choice of words, because Dante definitely specialized in charming pants off women. “He’s very good at that.”
“Is there something I should be doing?”
Huh? “Like what?”
She looked at me pointedly. “Like making some cancellation phone calls.” Her voice sounded strained. I had done it again. Upset and disappointed her, without even trying. It made me feel like I was about eight years old.
“I’m still trying to figure it all out, Momma. I’m not sure what the right thing is to do. I love Sterling, but . . .” How could I explain it in a way that wouldn’t make them even more upset with me?
“But there’s something there with Dante. Anyone can see it.”
Did Sterling watch Marry Me? Had he seen it? Had his parents? Our friends?
“Any thoughts on what I should do?” I didn’t know why I asked. I could have guessed what she would say.
She surprised me, though. “Oh no, my job is to love and support you, but you are all grown up, darlin’. I don’t have a dog in this hunt. You have to decide.”
The one time I wanted somebody to decide for me, and everybody kept saying I had to figure it out on my own. I didn’t know what to do and I didn’t want to make a mistake and hurt people unnecessarily.
I also didn’t want to live my life full of regrets.
“But I will tell you this. It is better to call off a wedding than it is to get a divorce. I know that from experience.”
“What?”
“I was married before I met your daddy. He was a boy I’d known my whole life, and we married young before he joined the service. We were totally unsuited. Biggest mistake of my life.”
I was in complete and total shock. My mother had been married before? How did I not know that?
“Close your mouth, Lemon. You’ll catch flies that way.”
I did what she said. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“It never mattered. He went his way and I went mine. He remarried as well. Think he had five boys, last I heard.” Which meant gossip-wise, or on a landline phone. My parents thought Facebook was when you fell asleep on the couch with a book on your face.
It happened more often in my house than you might imagine.
“Dante and I probably wouldn’t suit either. Our worlds are very different. His normal is like something out of a movie or a book. I’m not sure I’d fit into that.”
Another look of displeasure. “I didn’t raise my only daughter to be a coward. You can go anywhere and do anything. It’s not about your backgrounds being exactly the same. It’s about how you feel and if you’re willing to compromise and sacrifice. If he accepts you for who you are and how you are, and you do the same. If you’re willing to commit through good times and bad, because I promise you, there will be both. Those are the things that matter.”