Joy Ride by Desiree Holt (bill gates best books TXT) 📗

two nights, she’d stayed home trying to separate her feelings from her rational self. A daunting task, no matter how she looked at it. Besides, she needed the sleep. She couldn’t keep dragging herself into work like a limp noodle and catching cat-naps when no one was looking; her saving grace was the fact she had her own office and could close her door. But sooner or later, her boss would catch on and then she’d be toast.

But the band had only one more week at Aftershock, and she had no idea where they were going next. She had such a strong sense of being in over her head with Marc, of falling into a world that was entirely foreign to her. On the other hand, the thought of not seeing him again was too depressing to contemplate.

I am a freaking mess.

“Emma? Are you there?” Her mother’s voice broke into her thoughts. “Are you with us here?”

“Yes, Mom. Sorry.” She glanced over at her mother who was staring at her.

“What on earth have you done with your hair?” She sounded so horrified she might have been asking, why did you paint your face green? It was the old now-you’ve-done-it voice.

“I just…livened it up a little.” Emma tried to keep from squirming.

“With purple? And the rest of the color’s different.”

“Just a little change,” Emma said with a touch of defiance. “I was in the mood for something different.”

Angela smoothed her napkin in her lap. “I thought about inviting Andrew tonight. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t. He’d probably take a look at what you’ve done to yourself and walk back out the door.”

Emma was barely holding on to her temper by now. All her life she’d been her parents’ “good girl” and been rewarded with approval and pats on the head. Now that she was unexpectedly moving into a new phase of her life, changing things about herself, their disapproval was both hurtful and irritating. She wanted to scream that she wasn’t twelve years old any more.

“Well.” She calmed herself with a sip of iced tea. “It’s a good thing you didn’t invite him because we aren’t seeing each other any more. You know that, right?”

“I don’t know what’s wrong between the two of you but your father has convinced me not to stick my nose into your business.”

Emma glanced at her father and mouthed, I owe you, Daddy.

Her father made no acknowledgment, just forked another bite of food into his mouth.

“We haven’t seen you in a while,” her mother went on, “and we just wanted to spend a little time with you.”

“So, kitten.” Her father leaned back in his chair and wiped his mouth. “Your mother tells me you and Andrew had a little spat or something.”

Okay. Here it comes. So you’re not on my side after all. Well, what did I expect?

Through her entire life, whenever she’d done something that violated the boundaries the parents set for her even the least little bit, it was always her father who was supposed to be the voice of reason. He was an attorney and a very good one, but she always felt as if he was prepping her for the witness stand. It had never been quite as obvious to her as it was until now.

“It wasn’t a little spat.” She took a swallow of her cold drink. “It was a lot more than that. But it’s nothing you need to be concerned about.”

They both looked at her with identical bewildered expressions.

“I don’t understand,” Angela said. “Everyone, all my friends, have been expecting a big announcement from the two of you. Andrew’s mother and I—”

“Wait.” Emma held up her hand. “You’ve talked to his mother about this?” Why was that so surprising? In her mother’s circle that was the established pattern.

“Well, of course, dear. It’s proper to consult with the mother of the groom when planning a wedding.” She touched her immaculate hairdo.

“You know how well Andrew has fit in with us,” her father added. “Your mother and I saw such a wonderful future for the two of you. We can’t imagine what went wrong.”

Emma had the feeling she had suddenly stepped into someone else’s life. Or that she’d been sleeping for thirty years and woke up to find herself in someone else’s body.

She carefully put down her knife and fork, refilled her iced tea glass from the pitcher on the table and slowly stirred in two packets of sweetener, giving herself time to collect her thoughts and biting back the angry words threatening to spill out of her mouth. She had to remind herself that her parents truly thought they knew what was best for her, but what defined “best” had changed drastically and they didn’t know it. Taking a small sip before setting the glass down, she looked from one to the other.

“Ifthere was a wedding, it would be my wedding. So don’t you think I should have been the one you talked to first? Not to mention the fact that Andrew and I never officially became engaged.”

“But everyone thought…” her mother began. “That is, the children of our friends followed this pattern and—”

“And you expected me just to fall into place. Right?”

Neither of them said a word, watching her as if she’d just told them she had an incurable disease. And maybe in their world, breaking out of the accepted social pattern was just as devastating.

“I know you and Mom are worried, Daddy, but there’s really nothing to be concerned about here. Andrew and I have just decided our…relationship was a mistake, and it would be better to go our own ways.”

“Not according to Andrew,” her mother said.

“What?” Emma was startled. “What do you mean? Has he been talking to you again?”

Her father nodded. “He came to see me at the office this week to plead his case.”

“Oh, my God.” She threw up her hands. “What is wrong with him? Are we teenagers here or something?”

“Now, kitten.” Her father’s voice had taken on that overly tolerant