Later that evening, Keira rang the bell to her mom's apartment. A moment later, the door was opened. But it wasn't Mallory standing there. Instead, it was Bryn.
"I'm ENGAGED!" Bryn screamed.
Keira blinked as her sister held up her left hand, showing off an enormous sparkling diamond ring. Her grin was bigger than ever as she waited expectantly for Keira to say something. But still, Keira just blinked.
"Oh," was all she managed.
Bryn's expression began to change from elation to hurt, when the door was opened fully by Felix coming up behind her. He rolled his eyes.
"She was supposed to announce that when we sat down for dinner," he said, smiling at Bryn in an affectionate but paternally stern way.
"I couldn't help myself," Bryn replied, turning her goo-goo eyes up to him.
Keira grimaced.
Felix turned his attention back to Keira. "Welcome back," he said. "Come in out of the cold."
Keira stepped inside. From the kitchen, she could hear Mallory call out, "Is that Keira?"
"YES!" Bryn shouted over her shoulder before immediately turning back to face her sister. "So? Aren't you going to say anything?" she demanded, testily. "Congratulations, for example?"
"Of course," Keira said, shaking herself from her stunned reverie. "Congratulations. To you both." She kissed them each in turn. "I was just shocked. It's so…sudden."
Bryn narrowed her eyes. "Says the girl who falls in love every month."
"Be nice," Felix warned her. Then to Keira, he added, "I know it seems like a big rush, but I'm not getting any younger."
You can say that again, Keira thought.
Just then, Mallory came out of the kitchen, holding a casserole dish. Her hair was a frizzy mess and she looked as flustered as ever.
"Dinner," she exclaimed. "Everyone take a seat."
Keira quickly shucked off her jacket and took her place at the table. Mallory shoved a plate of macaroni and cheese, salad, and garlic bread toward her.
"Thanks, Mom," Keira said, taking the plate. "And hi."
"Yes, yes, hello, darling," Mallory replied, her attention already shifting to dishing up a portion of food for Felix. "Big news, huh? I never thought your sister would settle down first."
"MOM!" both Swanson sisters exclaimed in unison.
"Well, you can't blame me," Mallory replied, continuing in her usual abrupt, tactless way. "Keira was always more of the homely type and she'd been settled with Zach long enough. I thought you'd been put off marriage, Bryn, because of what happened with me and your dad."
"Oh, Mother, please," Bryn snapped, taking the plate Mallory offered her. "We are not turning my engagement announcement dinner into a pity party about your divorce."
Mallory let out a woeful sigh.
"I think what Bryn is trying to say," Felix said in his calm, grandfatherly way, "is that we're very happy to be celebrating with you both, and that we hope you'll share in our joy and excitement."
Keira couldn't help but let out a derisive snort. She didn't mind Felix as a person, but the fact he was dating-no, marrying-her sister, who was half his age, definitely lowered her impression of him. Adding Bryn's very obvious daddy issues into the mix made it even more ick-inducing for Keira.
"Yes," Bryn agreed, turning her attention to Keira. "And I was hoping that you'd be my maid of honor."
Keira almost choked on her cucumber. "Really?"
"Who else would I ask?" Bryn replied.
Keira was genuinely touched that her sister would want her to be the maid of honor. She decided to put her own judgments out of her mind, and be happy for Bryn. It was her life, after all. If she wanted to spend it married to a sixty-plus-year-old father-substitute, then really that was her own business.
"I'd love to," Keira told her. "Thank you."
Bryn smiled, clearly happy that Keira had accepted. Then she immediately switched to bossy mode. "So you'll have to tell work you can't travel for any more assignments. I can't have you jetting out of the country every five minutes. I need my maid of honor for dress fittings and cake tasting and venue booking. I won't have you ruining my wedding."
She winked, but Keira knew she was only half joking.
"Speaking of assignments," Mallory said, "how was your last trip? Your Swedish Christmas?"
Keira noted the hint of discontent in her mom's voice. She must have been more stung about Keira spending Christmas abroad than she'd let on.
"It was really great," Keira told her. "I had an awesome time."
"Well, he must be The One, then, if he can keep you apart from your poor mom on Christmas day," Mallory said, in her woe-is-me voice.
Keira prodded her food with her fork. "Actually…we broke up."
"What?" Mallory said, stunned. "But I thought…But you were…" Finally, she put her fork down. It clattered against the chinaware. "Oh, for goodness' sake, Keira. When are you going to stop all this silliness?"
"Excuse me?" Keira asked, surprised.
"I just want you to find someone already," Mallory replied. "You keep meeting all these fantastic men but it's never quite right. Never quite enough. When are you going to just settle? It's what everyone does after all."
Keira shook her head. Her divorced mom wasn't the best person to take relationship advice from.
But Mallory's little tirade wasn't over yet. She turned to Felix.
"Do you have any single friends for my daughter?" she asked. "Since it worked out so well with you two."
"MOM!" Keira cried, almost spitting out her mouthful.
"My best man is single," Felix said, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "We've been friends since high school."
It was clear to Keira that he was just winding her up, playing into Mallory's suggestion for the fun of it, but she still couldn't help but be appalled at the thought.
"Since high school?" she repeated. "So for the last hundred years, give or take?"
Felix took the jibe lightheartedly, and let out a chuckle. From the other side of the table, Bryn's cell phone flashed. Keira looked over.
"Did you just take a photo of me?" she demanded.
"You look good," Bryn replied, shrugging. "Thought I could send it to Nathan, Felix's best man."
"Don't you dare!" Keira yelled, leaping up from the table to grab Bryn's cell phone. But her sister shielded her from getting it with her body, leaving Keira flailing. "I'm not going on a date with a grandpa!"
The lighthearted moment ended with Keira's words.
Bryn cleared her throat, looking unimpressed. "I was only teasing."
Mallory shifted awkwardly in her seat. From the other side of the table, Felix failed to hide the look of offense on his features.
"I'm sorry," Keira said, sinking back into her seat. "That went too far. I don't mean that. I'm just a bit touchy about people trying to orchestrate my love life."
She thought of Elliot and his overt disapproval of the way she'd ended things with Milo, not to mention Mallory's bizarre outburst earlier at dinner. It saddened her that her mom was so concerned about her settling down, and that Elliot seemed convinced her readers would hate how things fizzled with Milo. She'd been so certain and confident in her own actions, but everyone else's opinions were starting to shake her. She reminded herself that every relationship was different, and everyone's love journey looked different.
The table was silent for an awkwardly long time, with everyone prodding at their dinner glumly.
"How's the apartment?" Bryn asked finally.
Keira was grateful for the lifeline she was giving her. "Empowering," she replied. "Actually, empty would be more accurate. I only managed to get a mattress delivered while I was abroad. The rest of my boxes and clothes are here."
"Do you need furniture?" Bryn asked. "I'm an expert furniture shopper now, so I'd be happy to assist."
"You would?" Keira asked, grateful that Bryn wasn't holding any grudges. She seemed to be letting her off very lightly considering, and Keira wondered if she was planning some future dressing down. "I'd really like that."
"Cool. Let's go to a store after work tomorrow," Bryn said.
Keira nodded. "Thanks, sis."
"No problem," Bryn replied. "And don't worry, my taste is very modern. Very young. Nothing vintage. Nothing old. There's nothing even remotely grandpa about my taste."
Keira sucked in her cheeks and took a deep breath. Of course. This was Bryn. She was never going to let Keira live her grandpa comment down.
