Thinking back on their many telephone conversations, Cat realized she may not have done a very good job of hiding how much she worried about Emma. She was always asking her about the house and if she’d had the furnace checked and admonishing her not to clean the gutters alone or climb a ladder or…a hundred other things. And she’d probably said the big, old house was too much for Emma more than once.
And, looking back, maybe she had relaxed a little when Emma told her she was dating a really nice guy. Once Sean had supposedly moved in, she’d probably stopped using their time on the phone to fret and had talked about herself and how much she was enjoying Florida instead.
Cat sighed and shook her head. “You must all think I’m a pathetic, doddering old woman for my granddaughter to feel a need to put everybody through this.”
“No, we don’t think that at all.” She looked sincere. “Emma loves you and she didn’t want you worrying about her. Obviously it got out of hand. But for what it’s worth, I think Sean’s very attracted to her.”
Cat thought about that for a minute. “Emma’s definitely attracted to him.”
“They make a lovely couple, and I wouldn’t mind seeing Sean settle down. I’m tired of worrying about that boy.”
“If I tell them I know they’re lying, Sean will leave and go back to whatever he was doing before.”
“He hadn’t had a chance to do anything yet. He hasn’t been out of the army very long and he was going to stay over Kevin’s bar until he figured out what to do with his life.” Mary paused and then smiled. “I think it’s a very good idea not to let on you know.”
“This could be fun.”
Mary Kowalski’s smile spread into a grin that rivaled her sons’. “Oh, it will be.”
“Have you two set a date yet?”
Mrs. Kowalski’s question sent Emma’s iced tea rushing down the wrong pipe and she coughed until Sean pounded her on the back—maybe a little more enthusiastically than was required.
“No, we haven’t,” Sean answered while she attempted to clear her throat. “Nothing wrong with a long engagement.”
“But not too long,” Gram said. “I’m ready for some great-grandchildren.”
“I wouldn’t mind a grandnephew or niece, either,” Mrs. Kowalski added.
Emma wasn’t sure, but she thought Sean might have stopped breathing. “We’ll think about it.”
“Hey,” Mike interjected, “you could get married while Mrs. Shaw’s home from Florida! A justice of the peace and a big, rented canopy. Couple of barbeque grills.”
Emma was afraid Sean was going to chuck his glass at his cousin—who was obviously enjoying himself—so she laid her hand on his arm. It twitched under her fingers, but she turned her attention to Mike. “I don’t really want a burgers-in-the-backyard kind of wedding.”
“What kind of wedding do you want?” Mary asked.
“A big one,” Emma said. “They take a long time to plan.”
“And to save up for,” Sean added.
“I bet Stephanie would love to be a bridesmaid,” Terry said with an angelic smile.
Emma squirmed on the inside, though she did her best to hide it. Sean’s family was brutal. They were doing their part in the deception, but they were having way too much fun with it, too.
They were all on the back deck, watching the kids play a very unstructured, rules-free game of badminton. It should have been a relaxing end to a fabulous meal, but all Emma could think about was getting the hell out before she had a total nervous breakdown.
“I still have a stack of bridal magazines and catalogs,” Keri said. “We’ll have to get together and have a wedding planning party.”
They were diabolical, every last one of them. “Maybe. This is my busy season at work, but…maybe.”
“Of course she’ll make time,” Gram assured Joe’s wife, while reaching over to pat Emma’s knee. “Weddings are so exciting!”
“You know what’s exciting? The Red Sox bullpen,” Leo said in that loud voice of his, and Emma wanted to jump up and kiss him for changing the subject as the women rolled their eyes and the men started talking over each other.
Twenty minutes later, Gram yawned and Emma jumped on it like a starving woman jumping on a cheeseburger. “It’s been a long day. We should probably get going.”
Cat chattered about Sean’s family all the way home, while Emma slumped in her seat, thankful the ordeal was over. They’d survived and now she was exhausted.
When they finally parked in front of the house, Gram went in while Emma and Sean took their time gathering the army’s worth of leftovers Mary had sent home with them.
“That went pretty well,” he said.
She laughed. “Your family has a twisted sense of humor.”
“That they do, and they’re going to give us both shit whenever they can. But nobody spilled the beans.”
As they crossed the porch, Emma shifted her leftovers so she could touch his arm. He turned and looked down at her in the fading sun. “Thank you, Sean. For doing this even though your aunt’s not very happy about it and your family’s never going to let you live it down.”
“Don’t worry about it. And that was the biggest hurdle, so it’ll only get easier from here.”
Somehow, she doubted that.
Chapter Ten