Then I read Paige’s text.
“Quick thing about the trip. Call me.”
The next message said:
“We’ve been talking and think it would be better if Leah didn’t come. Nothing personal. We really want this to be blood family only.”
I stared at the screen.
Then I checked the rest of the messages.
Apparently, my family had held a discussion without me and decided my fiancée wasn’t family yet.
Mom tried to make it sound gentler.
“Caleb, honey, we love Leah. We just want this trip to be about family bonding. No plus-ones. Keep it simple.”
I called Paige.
She answered immediately.
“Hey! Did you see the messages?”
“What exactly is happening?”
She gave me a long explanation about keeping things less complicated.
Immediate family only.
“No girlfriends. No fiancées. Just us.”
“Leah is my fiancée,” I said. “She’s going to be my wife.”
There was a pause.
“Sure. Eventually. But technically she isn’t yet.”
Technically.
That word told me more than the rest of her explanation.
I ended the call before I said something I would regret.
When I walked into the living room, Leah looked up from the couch.
She already knew.
