Foolish Games(25)

“Um, oh gosh! No! This is Walker. He drove me down.” Sophie turned to the boy and smacked him on the shoulder. “Take off your hat in the house, Walker, and say hello.”

Walker pushed off his hood and removed the ball cap. “Yo,” he said, revealing a mouth full of braces.

Annabeth couldn’t help but smile, remembering those awkward days when Will struggled with growing into his body. Walker obviously still had a while to go in the man-child stage.

“So, um, are you okay? Um . . . ma’am, can I get you something?” Sophie walked over to the box of tissues on the desk and carried them over to Annabeth. “You seem a little upset.”

Annabeth tried not to cringe at being called ma’am. Sophie was apparently affected enough by Annabeth’s distress when she’d entered the study to offer comfort. It was sweet, especially when most teens would probably have laughed.

“I’m better, thank you.” Annabeth gave them a reassuring smile.

Sophie answered with a huge grin of her own. “Oh, good. This is supposed to be a happy occasion, right? I mean, it’s a wedding! How cool. Are you a friend of the bride or the groom?”

“The groom. I’m Annabeth Connelly.”

“Wow! Are you Will’s sister?” Sophie asked, her excitement bubbling over.

Annabeth was used to the question, but it still embarrassed her to answer it. “No, I’m his mother.”

“Man, you’re pretty hot to be a mom of a guy that old.” Walker’s voice was filled with so much awe, Annabeth nearly laughed.

“Wow,” Sophie said. “Like, he must be thirty. And you’re so . . . young.”

“It’s because I was sixteen when I had Will.” Annabeth watched as her words registered with both teenagers. Walker immediately took a big step back from Sophie, and Annabeth had to bite back another smile. She never passed up an opportunity to use the scared-straight approach to make a point against teen pregnancy. Someone should at least learn from her mistake.

“Oh.” Sophie twisted her hands in front of her. “Well, you should be happy, right? Will is getting married and you have a new grandson. It should be a nice ceremony, even if they are doing it in my dad’s family room. So unromantic. I hope he thought about flowers and stuff. He isn’t always tuned in to what needs to be done at a social event. My mom says it’s because he’s socially inept. Too military minded, whatever that means. But all guys are kinda like that, you know?”

Annabeth didn’t think Hank was socially inept. Every time they’d met over the past four years, he’d been the opposite, actually; more gallant, a perfect gentleman. In fact, she’d been guilty of comparing other men to Hank and finding them lacking. Friends said she was too picky, when she’d only been adhering to a standard set forth by a man who would likely only be an acquaintance in her life.

She hated to burst Sophie’s bubble. “Actually, there weren’t any flowers or music. It wasn’t that kind of ceremony.”

Sophie’s jaw dropped. “What? They already had the ceremony? I missed it?” She turned to Walker, her eyes slits in her pretty face. “I told you not to stop at IHOP! Now I’ve missed the wedding.”

Walker took another step back. “Whoa, chill. I was hungry. Anyways, you can still show your earrings to the designer. She’s probably had a few glasses of bubbly, which means she’ll be easier to convince to buy your jewelry. After a few drinks, my mom will let me do whatever. How do you think I got the car for the weekend?”

“I’m afraid that won’t work, either. No champagne.” All in all, the ceremony was pretty bare bones. Annabeth had hoped for at least a photo to preserve the occasion for Owen when he was older—they were doing this for him, after all—but she’d dismissed that idea after glimpsing her son’s tortured face when he’d stormed out of the powder room earlier. “And if you’re looking for Julianne, she’s already left. She wanted to get back to the hospital to see Owen.” The bride’s face hadn’t been much better when she’d exited.

Sophie plopped down on the sofa with an emotional sigh, mirroring Annabeth’s actions from moments before. “Wow. I’m gonna get grounded for sure, and all for nothing. My one chance to get a top designer to see my jewelry, and I blew it.”

Walker sat down on top of the coffee table in front of her. “No, I blew it, Soph. I’m really sorry. We shoulda just stopped at a drive-through or something.”

Annabeth handed Sophie the box of tissues as she sat down beside her. “Your parents don’t know you’re here?”