He Said I Was Slow to Commit While He Was Slow to Tell Me About Her Chapter 08

He Said I Was Slow to Commit While He Was Slow to Tell Me About Her Chapter 08

Garrett’s mother’s birthday was three days later.

Every year, I started planning for it weeks in advance.

Last year, I found an Italian silk scarf she had admired online.

The year before that, I knitted her a beret in her favorite shade of blue.

The

year before that, I bought the Le Creuset set she had talked herself out of ordering for months.

Every year at her birthday luncheon, I sat beside Garrett.

I helped with the cake, refilled her wine, and smiled through round after round of wedding jokes

from relatives.

Everyone assumed I was already part of the Hollis family.

This year, I had prepared nothing.

At seven that morning, Garrett texted me.

[Avery, something came up. I can’t pick you up. If the gift is bulky, just take an Uber.]

[Hyatt Grand Ballroom, second floor. Starts at eleven. Don’t be late.]

I did not ask what had come up.

I opened Instagram.

Five minutes earlier, Stella had posted a story from the passenger seat of a car.

[My ride is here.]

I almost smiled.

Of course his last-minute emergency involved her.

I tapped the heart on her story and called an Uber.

The driver checked the traffic on his screen.

“The Hyatt? This route gets ugly around ten-thirty. Could take forty minutes.”

“No rush,” I said.

We merged into morning traffic.

At ten-forty, my mother called.

Her voice had a careful edge.

“Avery, honey, are you at the hotel yet? Your father and I are already here.”

“On my way.”

“Good. Garrett’s mother keeps asking about you. And…’

She lowered her voice.

“That young woman is here again. The one with the long hair. She’s sitting with Garrett’s family and helping with the place cards. His mother has introduced her to half the room already.”

I gave a quiet, “Mm.”

“Avery, who is she? She seems very comfortable with them.”

“Mom.”

I paused.

“When I get there, I need to tell you something.”