Charlotte Delaney has sworn off men. After one relationship disaster after another- including turning a guy gay!- Charlotte is so over the male species.
Isaac Fletcher had his heart cruelly broken. Yes, it was years ago. No, he never got over it. I...
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I've been ignoring my family. On purpose.
Since the St. Patrick's Day fiasco last week, my phone has been ringing off the hook while my voicemail is full up with answer phone messages left by my mother, my sisters, my grandmother, my cousins and my aunts and uncles. I haven't listened to any of the messages, though, because I already know what they'll say. And quite frankly, I don't want to hear any of their sanctimonious bullshit.
I'm pregnant and unwed. So what?
"You're scowling again," Isaac tells me as we navigate our way out of the city.
Today is Mother's Day and I'd been forced to attend Sunday lunch with my family. On Thursday, after days of avoiding anyone with the surnames Clément or Delaney, I'd been cornered by my brother while I was at work. Lucas was one of only a few that hadn't yet passed judgement on my situation, not that I really expected him to. He'd greeted me with a warm hug, asked how I was feeling, made small talk and then hit me with the question of whether or not I would be going home for Mother's Day on Sunday. Despite my best efforts to get out of it, Lucas was unwilling to take 'no' for an answer and eventually, I relented. My brother beamed at me and then demanded that Isaac joins us.
"After all," Lucas had said with his wicked smile. "He's going to be a part of this messed up family soon enough."
To placate Lucas, I nodded and said that Isaac would most definitely be coming with me. Only, I had no intention of actually asking. Then on Friday night, the one night that Isaac had been over this week, my stupid brother decided to call and leave a message, telling me that he couldn't wait to see Isaac and me on Sunday. Naturally, I had a lot of explaining to do and once I recalled the story to Isaac, he was more than ready to attend today with me.
"Well, what else am I supposed to do?" I eventually ask Isaac, knowing full well that I was scowling. It was my default setting today and I wasn't afraid to use it on any family member that dared pass any negative or derogatory comments on my predicament. Folding my arms over my chest, I glanced out the window. "Why did I even agree to this?"
Isaac laughed from the driver's seat. "It's not going to be that bad, Lottie," he tried to calm me down. It wasn't working. He sighed heavily and pulled over at the side of the country road we were driving down. When he'd put the car into neutral, he turned to me and reached out his hand to force my gaze onto him. He sent me his charming smile, the one that makes him look boyishly handsome and utterly gorgeous, and instantly, I can feel my face relaxing. "Tell me, what's the worst that could happen today?"
I roll my eye at his question. "I think that's perfectly obvious, don't you?" When Isaac failed to entertain me with an answer, I feel my shoulders deflating, along with my mood. "I don't want my dad to look at me like I've disappointed him. I don't want my mother to freak out at the prospect of becoming a grandmother so young. I don't want Sophie to hate me because of the flack that she got when she was pregnant and unmarried. I don't want Emma to give me The Harlow Look-"
