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“There is no way being considerate was his idea.”

He shrugged. “I suggested it and he agreed.”

“How do you do that? Both of my parents love you. You must be the Burke whisperer.”

He whispered in my ear. “Is it working with you?”

I shivered. “Definitely.”

My parents wereon their best behavior. So was Jake’s mother. She was sweet and chatty and gave me a big hug and a gift certificate for a spa day.

“This is lovely, thank you so much.”

“Let me know your schedule so we can book our appointment together.” She smiled at me. “Then lunch?”

So we were doing facials at the same time and bonding. I could live with that. It was a small price to pay for glowing skin, and truthfully, I needed to spend more time with her outside of Jake so we could establish our own relationship dynamic. “That sounds amazing. I’m excited.”

My parents mostly avoided each other and my mother kept her snarky comments to one.

When my father was wishing me a happy birthday, he said, “The light of my life for twenty-nine years. When you were born I took one look at those dimples and rosy cheeks and realized I was staring down at a mini-me.”

I didn’t have dimples. And no girl or woman wants to be told she looks like her father. But I knew he just meant that he’d looked at me and thought I was precious so that was heartwarming.

My mother, flicking her tongue over the icing of a cupcake like a cat, said, “At least she didn’t get your honkin’ nose.”

I braced myself for a retort from Dad but he just laughed and tweaked my nose. “That is a very good thing.”

Ryan, however, was not on his best behavior.

He had shown up in the middle of the guests arriving, adding to the chaos.

Typical Ryan, he kept doing things like sitting on people’s laps or pretending to take a bite off of their plate. I ignored him, but it was still distracting.

His vibe felt wrong and I didn’t like it at all.

Especially since he didn’t even bother to say happy birthday to me.

I was getting obsessed with the idea that Ryan wasn’t even Ryan. Which wasn’t logical, but heck, was any of this logical?

Otherwise, I was enjoying myself. I got to show off Jake’s refinished floors and freshly painted walls, and catch up with some of my favorite people.

“Where’s your new husband?” my mother asked Alyssa.

“Oh, he’s working.”

“Well, congratulations.”

My mother didn’t even smirk when she said that. I was impressed.

“Thank you.”

“If you want a background check run on him, I’m happy to help.”

There it was.

“Well, he’s a sheriff, so I think I can pass on that.”

“That doesn’t mean anything.” My mother sipped out of a Diet Coke can with a straw. “What’s his family like? Who are his people?”