Page 36 of Revealing Mark

The room was noisy and filled with bodies. Something smelled so good. I wished I could cook like my mother.

“Matthew Weiss, give it back to your sister,” my mother said sternly. It didn’t matter how old he was, my mother was still very much in charge of our family.

“Coward,” Matthew muttered under his breath when he reluctantly gave her phone back.

“What’d I miss?” I announced in the doorway.

I half expected him to go all protective brother, but he didn’t. He engulfed me in a bear hug that lifted me momentarily off my feet.

“You’re late as usual,” he murmured when he set me back down. Sarah came up to kiss me on the cheek.

Next in line, Sophie hugged me. “Missed you.”

“Me too”.

My eyes found Mark standing to the one side, watching. Was he waiting for my brother to start lecturing me? I exhaled the breath I’d been holding. My mom was busy chopping carrots so I made my way to her and kissed her on her cheek.

“Hi, sweetie,” she exclaimed, her eyes brightening up. She always had a way of making me feel so wanted.

“Hi, Mom,” I greeted. “Anything I can help with?”

“No. I’m almost done.”

The only person missing from the kitchen was my father.

I couldn’t ignore Mark any longer without raising some questions so I inclined my head in his direction. “Mark.”

“Tracy,” he greeted back.

There was tension between us and I hoped no one picked up on it.

“Where’s Dad?” I asked, needing space.

“Watching TV,” Sophie answered.

Which meant he was probably watching some sport. I had no interest in sports so I was clueless the few times I had attempted to watch with him.

“I’ll be back,” I murmured, making a beeline for the living room so I could gather my wits before I had to deal with Mark.

CHAPTER TEN

The wait was torturous. All through the afternoon I was on tenterhooks, waiting for Matthew to pull me aside and have a go at me for being stupid enough to allow a boyfriend to move in with me when I had barely known him, but…he didn’t.

I kept watching Mark, wondering if he was drawing it out to punish me, but he wouldn’t make eye contact with me. Was he angry with me? It was by far the most stressful family engagement I had ever attended and by the time lunch was over I was ready to get out of there.

“You’re not staying for the games?” my mom asked with concern when I bid everyone goodbye.

“Not this time. I have some work I need to catch up on.” A little white lie wasn’t going to harm anyone; besides, if I didn’t get out of the situation soon I would probably have a panic attack from the tension.

“Okay, sweetie.” My mom kissed and hugged me. “I love you.”

“Ditto.”

She smiled and I got my purse. “I’ll call you later in the week and we can chat.”

“That sounds good. Have a good week.”

She saw me off at the door and I waved when I walked to my car.