His dilemma was perfectly clear. What did they call one another in public situations now?
“She’s not what?” his mom asked in confusion.
He cleared his throat as he focused on the garment in his hands. “She hasn’t met Janie.”
Warmth splashed at Stella’s body in unexpected waves. He didn’t correct his mom. Did that mean they were going by boyfriend and girlfriend in public situations?
A desperate yearning gripped Stella, surprising her in its intensity.
“Who’s Janie?” Stella managed to ask. She remembered that name from before.
“Janie is his sister.” There was a thinking slant to his mom’s eyes before she brightened and said, “You should come to our house for dinner tonight. Talk to Janie about economics, ah? She’s studying that at Stanford and is trying to get a job. His other sisters will want to meet you, too. We didn’t know he had a new girlfriend.”
His mom’s words swamped whatever giddiness she’d experienced from bei
ng called Michael’s girlfriend. House. Dinner. Sisters. The words rattled around in her head, refusing to make sense.
“Just come, ah? Even if you two have plans, you still have to eat. Michael can make bún. His bún is very good . . . I forgot to ask. What is your name?”
Dazed, she said, “Stella, Stella Lane.”
“Call me M?.” It sounded like meh, but with an unusual tonal dip in the middle.
“M??” Stella repeated.
His mother smiled her approval. “Don’t eat anything before you come, ah? We have lots of food.” With that, she brushed her hands together like business was settled, filled out the invoice slip for Stella’s clothes, and handed it to her. “This will be ready Tuesday morning.”
In a state of panic, Stella stuffed the slip into her purse, murmured a quiet thank-you, and walked out to her car, passing by his grandmother’s herb garden—at least, she assumed the old lady was his grandmother. As she sat down in the driver’s seat, his mom’s words repeated in her head.
House. Dinner. Sisters.
The front door swung open and Michael jogged to her side. She opened the window, and he propped his hands on the side of the car. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.” A notch formed between his eyebrows as he hesitated. “But maybe . . .”
“Maybe what?” she heard herself ask.
“Maybe it’s the kind of practice you wanted.”
“You’d let me practice with your family?” The fact that he trusted her with the important people in his life touched her in ways she didn’t understand, made her feel off-kilter. That yearning from earlier returned.
“Would you be good to them?” he asked with a searching gaze.
“Yes, of course.” She always strove to be good to people.
“And keep our arrangement between us? They don’t know about . . . what I do.”
She nodded. That went without saying.
“Then I’m okay with it. If you want to. Do you?”
“Yes, I do.” But not because she wanted practice.
“Let’s do it, then.” His eyes fell to her lips. “Come closer.”
She leaned toward him but glanced at the front of the shop. “She might be watch—”
He pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. Just one. And he pulled away. “See you tonight.”
{ CHAP+ER }