Cora Hayes sat frozen on the couch, her mother's voice sharp and unrelenting through the phone.
"Do you have any idea how humiliating this is?" Margaret Hayes demanded, her tone icy. "I had to find out about my own daughter's wedding from the news! Do you know how that makes me look?"
Cora winced, holding the phone slightly away from her ear. "Mom, I can explain—"
"Explain?" Margaret interrupted, her voice rising. "What's there to explain, Cora? You got married in Vegas, of all places, to a man I've never even met! And your father and brothers knew about this and didn't tell me? I'm your mother!"
Cora sighed, running a hand through her hair. "It wasn't exactly planned, Mom. It just… happened."
"It just happened?" Margaret repeated, her tone dripping with disbelief. "Cora, you don't just happen to get married! This isn't some… some art project you can throw together on a whim. This is your life!"
Cora groaned and leaned back against the couch. "I know, Mom. Trust me, I know."
There was a long silence on the other end of the line, and Cora could practically feel her mother's disapproval radiating through the phone.
"I'm coming home," Margaret said finally, her tone firm. "And we're going to have a family dinner. I want to meet this… this husband of yours."
Cora's stomach dropped. "A family dinner?"
"Yes, a family dinner," Margaret said, her voice sharp. "Your father, your brothers and your husband. I want to know exactly what's going on here."
Cora opened her mouth to argue, but her mother cut her off.
"And don't even think about saying no," Margaret said. "This is non-negotiable, Cora. I'll see you tomorrow."
Before Cora could respond, the line went dead.
Cora stared at her phone, her mind racing. This was bad. Really bad. One of the first rules she and Jace had made was no family dinners. And now her mother was demanding one.
"What's wrong?" Jace asked, walking into the living room with a cup of coffee in hand.
Cora looked up at him, her expression grim. "Just finished my call with my mom."
Jace raised an eyebrow. "And?"
"And she's furious," Cora said, sighing. "She found out about the marriage from the news, and she's demanding a family dinner."
Jace froze, his coffee cup halfway to his lips. "A family dinner?"
"Yeah," Cora said, running a hand through her hair. "She wants to meet you."
Jace groaned and set his coffee cup down on the table. "This is a disaster."
"Tell me about it," Cora said, flopping back against the couch. "What are we going to do?"
Jace sat down next to her, his expression thoughtful. "We don't have a choice. If your mother's demanding a dinner, we have to go."
Cora groaned and buried her face in her hands. "This is going to be a nightmare."
Over the next few hours, Cora and Jace tried to come up with a plan for the dinner.
"We need to get our stories straight," Jace said, pacing the living room. "If your mother's as sharp as you say she is, she's going to be looking for any inconsistencies."
"Great," Cora said, sighing. "So we're basically going to be interrogated."
"Pretty much," Jace said, his tone dry.
Cora groaned and flopped back against the couch. "This is such a mess."
Jace sat down next to her, his expression serious. "We'll get through it. We just need to stick to the plan."
"What plan?" Cora asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The plan where we pretend to be a happily married couple," Jace said, his tone firm. "We'll be charming, polite, and completely in love. Your mother won't know what hit her."
Cora snorted. "You make it sound so easy."
"It's not," Jace said, his tone softening. "But we don't have a choice. We have to make this work."
Cora sighed and nodded. "Okay. Let's do this."
Later that night, Cora found herself lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. Her mind was racing, and she couldn't shake the image of Jace from her dream.
"Get it together, Cora," she muttered, rolling over and burying her face in the pillow.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about him. The way he'd looked at her during dinner, the way his hand had felt on hers…
Cora groaned and sat up, running a hand through her hair. This was bad. Really bad.
The next morning, Cora woke up feeling like she hadn't slept at all. She dragged herself out of bed and into the shower, trying to shake off the lingering tension.
By the time she got dressed and made her way to the kitchen, Jace was already there, looking annoyingly put-together in a crisp suit and perfectly combed hair.
"Ready for the big day?" he asked, his tone dry.
Cora groaned and poured herself a cup of coffee. "Not even a little."
Jace chuckled and handed her a plate of toast. "Eat something. You're going to need your strength."
Cora took the toast and nibbled on it, her stomach in knots. "What if this goes horribly wrong?"
"It won't," Jace said, his tone firm. "We've got this."
Cora sighed and nodded, though she wasn't convinced.