“Of course I noticed,” he said. “I mean, I don’t support it. This stuff is so thick it looks like—well I won’t mention what it looks like. But I figure since you’ve been at my place in the mornings a lot lately—Dree, why are you crying?”

“I’m not,” she said, wiping at her eyes. “Just stress.”

Stress Love Same thing.

He finally won his war against the plastic wrap. “Okay, you like a dollop, right? Like this?”

He dropped a small blob into her mug.

“More.”

He added another blob.

“More,” she said on a watery laugh.

“Seriously, Dree, this is disgusting. There, how’s that?”

“Perfect. Absolutely perfect,” she said. Then she leaned forward to kiss him. A distraction so that he didn’t realize when she said perfect, she wasn’t just talking about the coffee.

She was talking about the man.

Chapter Twenty-Four

TUESDAY, MARCH 24

So nice of you to be able to squeeze me into the most momentous week of your life.”

“Wow,” Clarke said as he pecked his mom’s cheek, then slid into the chair across from her at her favorite restaurant. “Passive-aggression before I’ve even put my napkin in my lap. A new record.”

“Maybe if you’d learned to put your napkin in your lap promptly, the way I told you to every single night for eighteen years, you’d have beaten me to it.”

“Eighteen years?” he mused. “Was that all? I seem to remember you nagging me about my table manners all throughout my twenties.”

“And it looks like those lessons have finally paid off,” she said with a serene smile. “After all, you’re about to marry a lovely girl, take over the reins of an enormous company— Oh wait. Those two go hand in hand, don’t they?”

“Huh?” Clarke asked, his attention on the menu, happy to see they hadn’t removed the cheeseburger. He set the menu aside and focused on his mother’s words, then laughed as it clicked. “Ah. Dad finally let you in on his role in the game, did he?”

She sniffed. “Please. I’ve known for weeks now that your father tried to outplay me. I confess I’m a little surprised that he won.”

Clarke took a breath out of habit to keep his temper under control. He started to go through the usual pep talk, reminding himself that it was rarely worth it to let his mom get under his skin, especially during his wedding week. But he was relieved to realize he wasn’t even close to losing his temper. His mother aggravated him, certainly, but he found himself decidedly more amused and indulgent today. For that matter, he’d been practically walking on air for weeks now.