Ava frowned, and Cherisse patted her sister’s bare shoulder. “It’s your night, let’s not sully it with thoughts of Keiran. I’ll deal with it.”

“Fine!” The vengeful look in her sister’s eyes cleared, and she leaned over, smile mischievous. “So, tell us about this date.”

Julia perked up. “Oh? Date? Do spill.”

“She’s got a date with one of Eric’s family friends,” Ava piped up before Cherisse could say a word.

Cherisse rehashed how her mother had basically thrust this guy on her, but eventually, she’d given in because really? It was easiest to just roll with what her mother wanted. Fighting it would just make her more persistent. Cherisse should’ve known Ava’s wedding wasn’t going to deter her mother from her mission: seeing all her children hitched and happy. Cherisse wasn’t resting romantic hopes on this date. This was a shiny thing she’d dangle in front of her mother to distract. Act like she was willing to dip her toes back into the dating scene, keep her mother satisfied. Yeah, she was an adult who lived on her own, but when her mother got going, it was best to just let her believe she was making an effort.

Especially since Ava had shown her mother how to install and use WhatsApp. There were only so many photos of random sons of her friends that Cherisse could handle receiving. She figured if she gave in just a bit, her mother would stop.

“What y’all doing?” Julia asked.

“Dinner at Amaretto’s.”

A chorus of oohs went round the table. Amaretto’s was one of the fancier restaurants. She’d never been because it was way out of her price range. Tyler had acted like he frequented the place regularly, and maybe he did. Cherisse didn’t have a clue what to wear, worried nothing in her closet would live up to such a place.

Her mother had been impressed when—after badgering her about where they were going—Cherisse had revealed the location. Her mother’s screech over the phone meant she approved and was possibly already planning a fantasy wedding for Cherisse in her head. She’d gone on about being so lucky as to have two daughters who secured rich men, completely ignoring Cherisse’s reminder that she and Tyler hadn’t even gone on the date yet.

Times like these, she was glad she didn’t live at home anymore. Best decision of her life. She’d used needing her own kitchen to craft her creations as an excuse to strike out on her own. Her mother was overly possessive of her cooking space. As a teen getting interested in experimenting with baking, Cherisse had had to create a schedule that she’d run by her mother before getting the okay to start on her baking. Serious overkill. But what could a teen who lived under her parents’ roof do but comply? Taking on Remi as her roomie to make her mother less antsy about the entire thing had worked better than any other excuse would have. Not that Cherisse hadn’t wanted to live with Remi, she had, but her mother’s soft spot for Remi worked in her favor. Cherisse wasn’t above using it to keep her mother from constantly calling or randomly showing up at her place.