Silence greeted him.
He frowned. “Hello?” he said again, more assertive this time.
“Hi, uh, is Teddy there?” a female voice tentatively asked.
A girlfriend, Austin guessed, and could only image what the other woman was thinking. “Yes, she is, but she’s busy at the moment. Can I take a message?”
“Who is this?” the voice queried.
Austin hesitated. He had no idea how many people thought Teddy was seriously involved, especially considering she wore a ring all the time. So he decided to stick with the story he and Teddy had come up with.
“This is Austin McBride, her boyfriend.”
“Her boyfriend?” The woman sounded genuinely delighted. “I didn’t realize Teddy was seeing someone. Isn’t it just like her to keep something like this a secret from the family?”
Her family? Austin cringed. “Could I ask who is calling?”
“This is Teddy’s sister-in-law, Susan,” the woman said, introducing herself in a bubbly tone. “Have you and Teddy been seeing each other for long?”
Austin glanced down the hallway, hoping to see Teddy coming to his rescue. No such luck. “We’ve been friends for a while,” he hedged. Three days, at least, he mentally justified. “And just recently started dating.” How recent, he wasn’t going to elaborate on.
“Wow!” Susan released a gust of light laughter. “The rest of the family is going to be thrilled. Teddy hasn’t dated since her breakup with Bartholomew.” She paused as if realizing she’d revealed too much. “Uh, she did tell you about Bart, didn’t she?”
Austin could feel himself being ensnared in a trap of his own making, and wasn’t sure how to escape. “Oh, absolutely,” he replied, certain he was sinking in way over his head.
“Her parents still haven’t gotten over the fact that she’d throw away a great catch like Bart to pursue a career. But for as long as I’ve known Teddy, which is going on ten years now, she’s always been the rebellious one in the family. Not that I blame her, considering how stifling her parents and brothers have been,” Susan added wryly.
All Austin could manage was a quick nod, because Susan-the-talker didn’t give him a chance to respond to her steady monologue.
“Don’t get me wrong,” she continued. “I love my husband and the rest of the Spencer clan, but they are a bit old-fashioned in their thinking. It took me years to knock some sense into Teddy’s brother and make him realize that I’m an independent woman, who doesn’t need to be coddled. Teddy has been trying to prove the same thing to her family, but they just don’t seem to understand how important it is to Teddy to make it on her own, without the influence of Spencer money or connections.”
Austin’s stomach bottomed out, and old bitter memories threatened to swamp him. So, Teddy did come from money, as he’d suspected. He couldn’t help but wonder how someone blue collar like him might fit into her group of Ivy League friends and family. Not well, as he’d learned from experience.
“So, in some ways, I’m not all that surprised that Teddy has been keeping you all to herself. When I was dating Teddy’s brother, Brent, I was the one subjected to the Spencers’ scrutiny. It wasn’t fun.”
Austin pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. As fascinating as he found Susan’s rundown on Teddy’s family, he didn’t like hearing this stuff secondhand. Or maybe he just didn’t care for what he was hearing, period.
“Well, Susan,” he managed to break into the conversation when the woman finally took a breather. “Is there some kind of message I can pass on to Teddy for you?”
“Oh, of course!” She laughed brightly. “Here I am, talking your ear off, and I’m sure Teddy is waiting on you. Tell her that Christmas Eve dinner next week is at six, and to be on time. I think she shows up late just to annoy her mother.” Humor, and understanding, followed up that statement.
Austin grinned at Teddy’s display of defiance, and jotted down the message on a notepad situated near the phone. “Will do.”
“You will come with her, won’t you?” Susan asked hopefully.
Austin’s insides clenched tighter. “I don’t think I’ll be able to make it,” he lied. Not only was he certain he wouldn’t fit in with the Spencer clan, he didn’t think Teddy would appreciate him tagging along to meet Mom and Dad. “I have other plans.”
“Surely you can make the time to meet Teddy’s family, even if it’s just to stop by for a few minutes?”
Was it his imagination, or was there an underlying disapproval in Susan’s words, like what kind of guy was he if he couldn’t even make the effort to meet his girlfriend’s family? He felt like a schmuck, yet it was his own fault for allowing the fabrication to stretch so far. But how was he to know who knew Teddy’s secrets?
The excuse did nothing to ease the twinge of guilt he experienced. “I’ll see what I can do,” he compromised. Hopefully, Teddy would be able to smooth out the mess he’d made of things.
“Great.” Enthusiasm infused Susan’s voice. “It was nice talking to you, Austin. I’m looking forward to meeting you.”
“Uh, same here.” He disconnected the line before anything more could be said. Hanging his head, he shook it in dismay.
Hell, what had he done?
“I heard the phone ring while I was in the bathroom.” Teddy’s voice drifted from down the hall as she approached the living room. “Did you catch the call, or did the answering machine pick it up?”
“Don’t I wish,” he muttered.
“Excuse me?”
Straightening, he faced her, just in time to see her drop a lipstick tube into her small black beaded purse and snap it shut. During her absence she’d put on a pair of heels, lengthening those eye-turning, shapely legs of hers. She looked like a million bucks.
The irony of that assessment wasn’t lost on him. “That was your sister-in-law, Susan.”
Teddy came to an abrupt halt in front of him. “Oh?”
He thrust his hands into the front pockets of his trousers. “And she’s now under the assumption that I’m your boyfriend.”
“Oh, no,” she groaned.
“I’m sorry, Teddy,” he rushed to apologize, not that his own regret could make up for any damage he’d done. “I had no idea who you told about your ‘significant other,’ and it came out before I found out who she was.”
He expected her to be angry, or at the very least upset, but she appeared more worried than anything. “Oh, it’s not all your fault. I adore Susan, but even if you hadn’t said you were my boyfriend, she would have come to that assumption on her own. Everyone in my family wants me to find a decent man and settle down.” The disgust in her voice was evident.
He didn’t get that impression from Susan, but then again the other woman had been quite enthusiastic about Teddy being in a relationship again. Family dynamics were a curious thing.
“I’ll just give her a quick call and explain our one-night arrangement.” Startled by the sound of her own words, she amended hastily, “I mean, set her straight about our business deal.”
So, she was back to business, was she?
Teddy reached for the phone, tucked it next to her ear and punched in a series of numbers. With a forced lightness, she added, “The last thing I’d want is for my entire family to think I’m seriously involved with someone. They’d be all over you like piranhas, picking you apart, piece by piece.”
Her analogy wasn’t a pleasant one, but it served to remind him of where they stood with one another-on opposite sides of the tracks. There was no way her family would approve of a guy who fulfilled women’s fantasies, and was struggling to maintain a landscaping business.
A frown creased Teddy’s forehead, and with a deep sigh, she set the phone back into the cradle. “The line’s busy.” She gave her gold watch a quick glance. “I’ll have to catch up with Susan later. We need to get going.”
Picking up her black shawl from the couch, she settled it over her bare shoulders and headed for the door. Minutes later, they were in Austin’s black Mustang, following Teddy’s directions toward the Bay area.
Silence filled the interior of the vehicle, except for the low volume of mellow music drifting from the speakers. Austin glanced briefly Teddy’s way. She sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window, quiet and subdued. Reserved even. Was she mulling over the conversation he’d had with her sister-in-law? Or was she more worried about the Christmas party ahead?
