The moment the waitress left their table, Veronica leaned across it and dropped her voice. “So, tell me, what’s going on?”
“What do you mean?” Did her sister already know about Jay?
Veronica made a dismissive gesture. “Don’t give me that. I’m not stupid. First Mom leaves me a bunch of messages, asking whether I’d been in touch with you recently, and when I show up here, you have this far away look on your face as if you’re in some magical fairytale land. Just like when you were younger. Something is up.”
“Have you spoken to Mom?”
Veronica shook her head. “Not yet. Adam and I were too busy and since I knew I was going to see you today anyway, I figured it could wait.”
Tara sighed a breath of relief. It was lucky that Veronica had different priorities in her life now, and being at her mother’s beck and call wasn’t one of them anymore. Her husband now played first fiddle in her life.
“Can you promise not to tell Mom that you saw me?”
Veronica furrowed her forehead and cast her a critical look. “Are you in some sort of trouble?”
“Why would I be in trouble?”
“Because you’re obviously avoiding Mom and haven’t spoken to her in a while.”
“Not true,” Tara protested. “I spoke to her. Yesterday.”
“Well then, why did she leave me all those messages to ask whether I spoke to you when she spoke to you herself?”
Tara shrugged, trying to appear casual. “She’s just annoyed because she can’t push me around anymore.”
“You had a fight with her?”
“Don’t say that as if it’s my fault. She’s the one constantly breathing down my neck about… stuff.”
Veronica’s eyes suddenly softened and she chuckled under her breath. “And by stuff, you mean Mom is busy planning your future.”
Tara crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair. “Exactly. My future. And guess what? I’ve had enough of her interfering in my life. I’m going to make my own decisions now.”
“Haven’t you forgotten one tiny thing when it comes to making your own decisions?”
“Are you taking her side again?”
“Again? I’ve never taken her side. I’m just better at hiding my true feelings than you are, little sis. You’re way too impetuous and don’t know how to manipulate our parents.”
Tara huffed. “Oh, and you do? May I remind you that our mother coerced you into marrying Adam, because he was perfect husband material: rich, handsome, and connected?”
Instead of an angry reply, her sister suddenly broke out in laughter, drawing the attention of several customers.
“What?” Tara barked.
“You don’t get it, Tara, do you?” Veronica leaned over the table, lowering her voice in a conspiratorial way. “I picked Adam, because I wanted him. And then I made sure Mom thought she was the one who pushed me into marrying him. To this day she’s convinced that she made the greatest match for me, when in fact I pulled the strings all along. Adam was my choice. I got the man I wanted. The man who loves me as much as I love him. I would have never married any of the other candidates Mom dragged in.” Her sister smiled. “You just have to learn to manipulate Mom and Dad so they think the guy you want was their choice all along.”
Tara let all air rush from her lungs. “How am I going to do that?” Particularly since she didn’t want some rich guy from their circles. Her parents would never accept somebody like Jay. Not that she should even think that far. That was just a for instance.
“What are you thinking?” her sister asked, interrupting her thoughts. Then her facial expression changed to one of realization. “You met someone!”
Tara lowered her lids, trying to avoid her sister’s scrutiny, but Veronica was nothing if not persistent.
“Who is he? What does he do? Do I know him?”
Tara groaned in frustration. Those were exactly the kind of questions her mother had asked. Because in their society all that counted was who somebody was and what he did.
“You don’t know him.”
“Come on! Tell me about him. I want to know who’s giving my little sister that dreamy-eyed look.”
The waitress arriving with their order gave Tara a few more seconds to construct her answer. When they were alone again, Veronica gave her an expectant look.
“He’s a waiter.”
“A waiter?”
“Well, not only a waiter. He also works in construction.”