At the engagement dinner, my future mother in aw s…

The first hour was almost pleasant. There was wine and a salad with pears and walnuts and a soft cheese I did not recognize. Bertram told a long story about a fishing trip he had taken in his thirties.

Marigold talked about her children, who were nine and eleven and apparently both prodigies. Evangeline barely ate. She kept looking at me and looking away.

Lawrence reached under the table at one point and squeezed my knee. I squeezed his hand back. For a few minutes, I let myself believe everything was going to be fine.

That the strangeness was just nerves. That I was about to start a life with a man who loved me and a family that would learn to love me, too. The lamb came out around 7:30.

Cordelia made a small speech as it was served, about how cooking for family was the highest form of love, and how she had been preparing this meal in her head for weeks. Everyone clapped politely. Lawrence said,

“To my mother, the best cook in California.”

Everyone raised their glasses.