Read Online Cart Before The Horse by Bernadette Marie - Free Book Online

waitresses.”
    Holly actually felt her head spin. Perhaps it was the crooked smile it left on his face. “He lives above the restaurant in a nice apartment.”
    “Your boyfriend lives above a bar?” Her mother waved down the waiter, signaling for another drink.
    “It’s not just a bar, Mother. It’s a very nice place.”
    “Then why didn’t we go there for lunch?”
    Holly opened her mouth and then shut it again. How could she have told her mother that she wasn’t ready for Gabe to see her mother in her truest form, not just yet.
    Her father patted Holly’s hand. “Will he be joining us?”
    “No. It’s during his rush. But I was thinking we could all go to dinner in a few weeks.”
    “I think that sounds nice.” He sat back and gave her a look that meant he was reading her. It made her palms sweat and her body heat escalate. She could only hope that, for the first time in her life, he’d be wrong about what he saw. “You’re pretty serious about him?”
    This was the moment. Could she look her father in the eye and tell him? “It’s become very serious.”
    Her mother shook her head. “I can’t believe you’ve been
    seeing someone so long that it’s this serious and I’ve never met him. Really, Holly, is that how I raised you?”
     
    Holly swallowed the words she’d wanted to use and rolled her shoulders forward. “Mother, I didn’t mean to keep him a secret.” That was true enough. It wasn’t as if they’d been sneaking around for years, months, or even days.
    “I just thought you’d have wanted us to meet him, that’s all.” Her new martini arrived and she set into it.
    Another nauseous wave rolled through Holly, but her f ather’s eyes were still studying her. To ease the feeling by holding her stomach would send up red flags. Instead, she straightened her shoulders and eased back in her chair, smiling sweetly at him.
    Her father finally broke the stare and sipped his iced tea. “You look happy.”
    Holly wasn’t sure that’s what he meant, but she would just take it and hope he believed it. “I am happy.” At least she hoped she could be.
    Her mother set her martini on the table, sloshing it onto her hand. “So how serious is this man about you?”
    “He’s very serious.”
    “As in he likes you enough to take you out to dinner, or as in he has a toothbrush at your place.”
    “Mother, I’m thirty years old.”
    “But age has no bearing on what people think of you.” Her words slurred.
    Holly leaned in. “I don’t care what people think of me.”
    “Obviously.”
    That was it. She was tired of being Trudy Jacobs’s scapegoat for her own life. Anger coursed through her veins, and with gritted teeth Holly leaned in closer to her mother. “Would it help you to know we are so serious we’re
getting married?”
    Oh, damn.
    The plan had been to ease them into thinking that was the plan, not to tell them she was getting married. Now she’d lied to them and all because her mother had made her so crazy and
     
    mad. The sickness in her belly was becoming harder to suppress, but she had no choice. Her mother’s eyes flew open wide and her father’s lips softened in to a pleased smile. She didn’t know which reaction to focus on.
    Her mother covered her chest with her hands and groaned. “I can’t imagine.” She reached across the table and yanked Holly’s hands toward her. “Where’s your ring?”
    “We didn’t exchange rings. It was just something we discussed.” Holly pulled back her hands, set them in her lap, and balled them both into fists.
    “What kind of man doesn’t propose with a ring?”
    “Mother, I’m not one for surprises.” And that was the most truth she’d spoken all day.
    “Holly, I think that’s wonderful.” Her father smiled and wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Our little girl is getting married.”
    “There is so much to do. We have to start planning.” Their food arrived as she was dropping names of caterers and