He places his arms on the table and leans forward. “I was wondering when you were going to bring dinner with your parents up. You pretty much went silent on everyone for the past couple of days.”
“Sorry about that,” I shrug. “I just needed to wrap my head around what my parents suggested, and it still seems ludicrous.”
Before I can continue, our waitress is back. “Do you know what you want to eat?”
Both of us order a burger and fries. It’s pretty impossible to screw that up, and since this isn’t a fast food place it will take a bit for our food to be ready.
“Let me guess,” Marshall starts. “They want you to give up your rights to Layla.”
I don’t miss that he says it as a statement. “How did you know that?” I ask, heavy on the sarcasm.
“Because your parents are insane and only think about appearances?” He rolls his eyes. “You can’t tell me that you didn’t have any idea they would want you to do that.”
I begin tearing the corner of the napkin serving as a placemat for my tea. “You’re right. I guessed that would be part of it.” I pause. “But they took it a step further.”
“I can’t wait to hear what bullshit they suggested.”
“It’s definitely shit, that’s for sure.”
He leans in even closer, “Which is?”
I sigh, shoulders sagging, defeat in my voice. “They want to basically give her a big enough amount of money to say that the baby isn’t mine.”
Marshall jerks back so hard he nearly knocks his drink over causing the few people in the restaurant to glance our direction.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” His eyes are wide, mouth hanging open, shocked and in disbelief. “They actually suggested that? You aren’t going to agree to it, are you?”
“Hell no,” my voice rises, bring more eyes to our table. “Why would you even think I could do that?”
Our food arrives at precisely that moment. Our waitress, Ginger, according to the name tag I’m just now noticing, slides two baskets holding our burgers onto the table. “Is there anything else I can get y’all?”
I wave my hand, “No, we’re good.”
“All right, if you need anything just let me know.” She winks at me before walking back toward the bar on the other side of the room.
What in the world was up with the winking? She has to know that I’m way too young for her. I take a bite of my burger, and nearly groan because it is that good. It’s not too well done, and the condiments don’t overpower the taste.
I set the burger back in the basket and pick up a fry. “I know I screwed things up with Tonya, and she was a saint when I asked for time, but I couldn’t do that to her. Or Layla.”
“Have you talked to her since dinner with the idiots you call parents?”
“No, not yet. But I’m going to.”
“Dude,” Marshall says with every ounce of authority he can muster. He’s the only one that can get away with using that tone with me. “Youneedto talk to her.” He dips a fry into the pile of ketchup he’s poured on a napkin. “Before your mom gets it in her head to take matters into her own hands.”
I throw my hands up. In anger or aggravation? I don’t know. But now that he’s put that thought in my head, I wouldn’t put it past my mother to show up at Tonya’s house with her checkbook in hand.
“I will…tomorrow,” I say. I just hope she’ll hear me out. And, if I’m lucky, Reaf won’t be there.
Six
Charleigh
Visitingmy parents is different than when I was living here. They make more of an effort when I come over, and it’s weird. The table in the dining room is set with perfection. Place settings in front of three of the four chairs surrounding the table. When I still lived here, the plates were stacked next to the stove, so we could serve ourselves in the kitchen and then bring our food to the table.
There are bowls and platters shoved together in the middle of the table. I glance over them trying to see what they’ve cooked up tonight. Some of my favorite foods, red potatoes, corn on the cob, and grilled pork chops fill the space. I have a feeling they want to have a serious talk tonight. Even though I doubt I’ll want to hear what they say, I’ll suffer through it because I never eat as well at home as I do here.
Mom walks into the dining room, carrying a bowl filled to the brim with salad. She even added bell peppers and bits of bacon to it. “Hi, honey. You’re here early.”