I took a seat, carefully smoothing out my skirt before unfolding a napkin and placing it on my lap. Luckily, I’d dressed up a little that day. “Thanks for inviting me to join you.”
“Of course. I’ve heard so much about you, and I’ve been waiting for Chase to introduce us. It looks like Rachel beat him to the punch.”
“I guess so.” I wondered if Chase had any plans to introduce us yet. I was getting close to asking him to come meet my parents.
“What errands were you running?” Rachel asked. I’m sure she was just trying to break the ice, but I didn’t feel like explaining.
“Oh. Just checking out some venues for the senior send-off for my sorority.”
“Rachel was telling me you girls are part of the same organization?” Carol’s question made it sound like she hadn’t been Greek in college. Hopefully, she didn’t have an aversion to sororities.
“Yes. It’s a fun coincidence.”
“That’s great. I know Riley and Chase are glad you two are so friendly.”
I smiled. “I feel the same way.”
Rachel’s phone beeped and she glanced at it. “That’s my boss. I have to go take care of a mess with a client. I’m so sorry, but I need to go.” Rachel stood up. “I’ll see you at the fitting, Carol. And call me later, Cara.” She dashed off in a blur.
Carol unfolded her napkin. “Rachel moves quickly when she wants to, doesn’t she?”
“That she does.” I forced down my frustration at Rachel inviting me over and then leaving. She probably had a good reason, but it was still awkward. I couldn’t mess this up. You only had one chance to make a good impression, and this one needed to be great if Chase and I were going to be together for any significant period of time.
“You don’t have to be so nervous. I’m so excited to meet you. Chase has never talked about a woman as much as he talks about you.”
“Really?” I had no idea he’d been discussing me with his mother.
A waiter came over with water, and I quickly scanned the menu to pick a meal. I settled on an apple walnut salad.
“Yes. You seem to have him captivated. I’m sure you’ve realized this already, but Chase is pretty strong headed when it comes to getting what he wants. When he sets his sights on something, he does everything to make it happen. He was that way with school, and his music, and now he seems to have turned that single-minded determination to you.”
“It’s not as though I tried to stay away.”
“Is that so? I heard quite the opposite about your first meeting.” She watched me as she sipped her water through a straw.
Oh my god. Had Chase seriously told her what happened? “Oh. I didn’t think you’d heard about that.”
“Len was the one who mentioned that detail. Don’t worry, it didn’t change my opinion of you.” She seemed to be reading my mind. Or maybe she just understood that it’s the last piece of information a girl wants her boyfriend’s mom to know.
“It was out of character for me. I wasn’t sure what I was doing.”
“But it all worked out in the end.”
“It did.” I smiled, thinking about how well it had worked out.
“Have you decided whether you’ll be joining us at the lake in May? Chase said you’d be out of class and exams in time.”
What? The lake? “Oh. We haven’t discussed it yet.”
“Really?” Carol looked surprised. “I told him to invite you over a month ago. We have a place up on Lake George. We usually go for a few weeks every summer. Chase loves it there. He practically grew up best friends with the kids next door. Especially Ariana. Those two were inseparable.” Then she must have realized what she’d just said. “But that was ages ago.”
Ariana? The ex-girlfriend? My stomach dropped, and I could feel the tears stinging. Here we go. The beginning of the end. But why bother talking about me to his mom if he didn’t want me to spend time with his family? Maybe it was just to pacify her. She’d been on his back about dating. “I guess it slipped his mind.”
“That doesn’t sound like Chase, but he has been busy lately.”