They introduced themselves—my dad’s look penetrating, my mother’s cool. Tanner shook their hands and gave them each a tight nod, all the while standing by my side. We were all silent for a moment, and I swallowed hard, awkwardness settling over us.
“Thank you for inviting us to dinner.”
“I’m just so happy that you finally brought someone.” My mother gave Tanner a small smile. “After all, we’ve been trying to help her find happiness; setting her up with a few of our friends and people in our close circles. And here she is, bringing you out of the woodwork. Yet we don’t seem to know you. Do we know your family, Tanner? Or are you only here visiting? We’d love to know more.”
“Mom, we haven’t even had a drink yet.”
“Of course, of course. What can I get you? A beer?” Mom said. And, right then, I knew we were already going downhill.
“I’m fine with water. I’m driving.”
“I assume tap water, then,” Mother said as she snapped her fingers. She reminded me so much of the girls at brunch that I nearly staggered back.
A maid came in with a single glass on a tray, tap water with no ice. My mother had planned this. Oh, no, this would not go well at all. And she hadn’t even looked me over yet to see that I was pregnant.
I wanted to run, to spirit Tanner away and save him. I could deal with my parents, but I hated that I was essentially throwing him to the wolves.
“Mom,” I said.
“What? He asked for water. And look at us. We have it.”
“Thank you,” Tanner said, not a single hint of his emotions in his tone. He didn’t sound angry, but I could hear the resignation. I didn’t think my parents could, though.
“So polite. I didn’t think they would teach you that at that school of yours. No, not the school my daughter attends, of course. But your high school. Clemens High? Or perhaps the middle school, Clark.”
I blinked, and my mother smiled as if she were the cat who ate the canary.
“Of course, we looked him up,” my father said, shaking his head. “Our daughter wants to bring home a boy? We uncover everything.”
Not everything, because they still hadn’t looked down, and I knew they didn’t know about Tanner’s job. If they did, there would’ve been sharper tones right away.
No, this was because of his family. I hated this. I had done this. I had put him in this situation, and I needed to stop this from going further.
“No, we’re not doing this. We are not these people.”
“We’re exactly these people, dear. Tanner’s the one who’s not like us. Do you think you can just bring home some boy you find who only wants our money? No. This is not happening.”
“I don’t need any of Natalie’s money,” Tanner put in.
“Was I speaking to you?” my mother asked, and I moved forward, trying to put myself in front of Tanner, but he held me back.
“No, but you were speaking about me, and I don’t do that. Natalie, though? She’s too kind to say what she really thinks.”
I wanted to crawl under a rock, but I wasn’t about to let Tanner do this alone.
“You’re going to let him talk to us like that?”
“I’m going to let him do whatever he wants. He’s an adult, and you’re treating him like crap. Did you know his dad died in Afghanistan? That he was fighting for our country? No, you likely don’t know any of that. Or maybe you do and just ignored it because all you do is say you support the troops while sneering at them. Tanner is a fantastic person, and I hate that you’ll never know that.”
“Of course, we’re not going to know that because you won’t be seeing him again.”
I laughed—outright laughed. “I don’t think you have a choice in that.”
“We’re your parents. Of course, we have a say.”
And then my mother froze, her face going pale, and I knew. “No,” she snapped.
I put my hand over my stomach and raised my chin. Tanner’s hand was still on my hip, keeping me steady.
“Mother, Father. Tanner and I have something to tell you.”
My mother snarled and threw her martini across the room. I flinched at the sound of the glass shattering, and Tanner pulled me closer, checking me for wounds.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his gaze raking over me.
I nodded. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”
“Don’t you dare,” my mother said as she gripped my wrist.
I looked down at where she held me, glaring at the tight hold where my skin was already whitening.
“Let go.”
“You’re going to want to let go of her now,” Tanner whispered, his voice low and dangerous-sounding.
This was going far worse than I had ever thought.
“You bitch,” my mother snapped, and my eyes widened, ice sliding over me.
“Let go,” I hissed. My mom finally did before she started to pace. My dad came over to me and held up his hand. I flinched, but then Tanner was there, standing in front of me as he put his body between my father and me.
“You’re going to want to stop that. You come at her, you’ll have to deal with me.”
“Tanner,” I whispered, mortified. “Let’s just go.”
“Get the fuck out of my house,” Dad snarled. “Both of you. I’ll sue you. I’ll put you in jail for daring to touch my baby girl.”
“It’s worse than that,” my mother snapped as she moved forward, facing us both. “We are not having one of his children in this family. You know what to do. We can call Dr. Jasper right away.”
Bile filled my throat, and I staggered back, only Tanner’s hold keeping me steady.
“What are you saying?” I whispered.
“You know exactly what I’m saying. It’s still early enough. You can end this before you make the worst mistake of your life.”
“Fuck you,” I whispered, and both of my parents froze, shocked expressions on their faces as if they had never heard me curse before in my life.
My mother snarled. “What the hell has this boy been teaching you?”
“You just cursed at me. You just told me to abort my baby. No. Fuck you both.”
“Then get out,” my mother snapped.
“Out,” Dad agreed. “It’s over.”
I raised my chin. “Fine.”
“And don’t think you can come for our money,” Mother snapped, looking at both of us.
“I never needed your money,” I whispered. “Grandfather and Grandmother always took care of me. As did my aunt. And I’m going to have my own job and will have my trust funds. I don’t need you.”
“We’ll do what we have to do for your trust fund,” Dad whispered.
“You can’t touch it,” I said calmly, even though I was anything but.
I raised my chin and turned. “Let’s go.”
“I’m all for that,” Tanner mumbled, and we practically ran out of the house. I grabbed my bag from Ronald, ignoring his penetrating stare because I didn’t want to know what he thought.
I didn’t want to know what anyone thought. We got in the car and left, my entire body shaking.