MOM: Did she agree? Make sure she puts you on the deed after the wedding. Don’t bring that up yet.
Ethan grabbed the phone so quickly he knocked over the soy sauce.
For three seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he laughed too loudly.
“Mom worries about security. You know how she is.”
I smiled.
Not because I believed him.
Because men like Ethan relaxed when they assumed a woman was too emotional to notice numbers.
I lifted my glass.
“Actually, your idea makes sense.”
His face brightened.
“Really?”
“Absolutely,” I said. “In fact, I have a counter-offer.”
He leaned forward eagerly.
I let the silence stretch.
“Tomorrow night,” I said. “Your mother should come too.”
He grinned, convinced he had won.
He had no idea I had already memorized the message….
Ethan arrived the next evening with his mother, Denise, carrying champagne.
That told me everything.
She hugged me and whispered, “Welcome to the family,” like she was already measuring my curtains.
