Page 59 of Noticing Natalie
Yep. He was serious. “Um… that’s great.”
This was weird. Maybe it was time to break up with him. Everything had started out so great, but he’d told me he was done with me if I moved to Baltimore. And there were other red flags, too. Like the conversation we’d just had.
“We’re having lobster tonight. I told them it was one of your favorites.”
I swallowed hard. I’d told him Ineverwanted to eat lobster. I hated the way they had to be cooked. I thought it was inhumane.Was he just a bad listener or what? He wouldn’t have told them I loved lobster as some sort of sick, passive aggressive way of getting me back for dancing with Tim, would he?
***
“Natalie, you look lovely tonight, dear,” Heath’s mother said as she kissed my cheek and hugged me after Heath and I walked up the stairs to their three-story home in Halliwell’s nicest neighborhood. They had a prime location, with their house backing up to the golf course.
“Thank you,” I smoothed down the simple Black Halo Jackie O sheath dress I was wearing. I’d paired it with a pair of Tory Burch slingbacks. Carrie’s mom Diane took me shopping when I told her I needed help with outfits to wear out with Heath, especially to dinners with his parents. After a day with Diane, I’d come away with a whole new appreciation for what was expected of Carrie on a regular basis, and a closet full of ‘appropriate’ clothing.
We were ushered into the drawing room for appetizers and drinks. This was the third time I’d been to Heath’s parents’ home for dinner. It was a formal affair. There was no laughing and joking around like I’d been used to at the Summers’ house.
“How many children would you like to have, Natalie?”
I almost choked on the canapé I was eating and had to suck down a couple of gulps of wine. I wanted water for that, but there was none available.
“I’m sorry—what was that?” I had to have misunderstood her.
“Children,” she repeated. “How many would you like?”
I looked to Heath to save me, but he and his father had stopped talking about work at the hospital and were staring at me.
“I… hadn’t really thought about it,” I said.
They kept staring.
“Nonsense,” his mother smiled and took a sip of her wine. “Every woman has a number in mind at your age.”
I really didn’t. I’d always wanted children. I wasn’t sure how many, though. I knew I wanted more than one since it’d been hard on me to be an only child. “Two?” I hated that it had come out like a question.
Everyone looked disappointed.
“Come now,” Heath’s father boomed, “you need to have at least four. Smart, beautiful people need to procreate.”
I laughed.
No one else did. He wasn’t being funny. I sobered quickly and tried to cover my faux pas with a cough. I looked at Heath pointedly, but he wasn’t being quick to help me out.
“How many would you like, Heath?” Ha. That would put him in his place. I wonder howhe’dlike being putting on the spot…
“Three,” he said calmly.
“Oh. Well, that’s a nice number.” Was it? I wasn’t even sure. What if labor was so horrific I didn’t want to go through it more than once?
“Let’s continue this discussion over dinner,” Mrs. Reyes said. She stood, looking elegant and regal in her emerald dress. She looked perfect as usual. She never had a wrinkle, a stray hair, a lipstick smear—nothing to make me think she wasn’t cast from wax or something.
I wanted to suggest we move to a different topic, but I had a feeling no one else was ready to move on.
At first, things were better. Everyone exchanged pleasantries and ate the first course. Later, as the entrée was served, everyone was smiling at me.
“I was pleased to hear how much you like lobster, Natalie,” Mr. Reyes said. “We actually belong to a service that sends several pounds a month directly from Maine.”
I looked at the poor, cooked beast in front of me.
“These are the very best, I’ve found.” He leaned in a bit closer, even though he sat across a huge table from me. “It’s the cold water there.” He watched me. “Since you’re a connoisseur, too, I want to get your opinion. Go ahead,” he urged, “try it.”
