Last Diner Standing Read Online Free PDF Page B

appeared at my side, her hand wrapped around the bicep of an average-looking man in his thirties.
    “James Benchley, I’d like you to meet my youngest daughter, Rosalyn.”
    “Hello, Rosalyn, it’s nice to meet you.” He held out his hand.
    Oh crap, a set up. I smiled. “You, too, James.”
    “Your mother tells me you’re a student.”
    I raised my brows. “She did?”
    Usually she liked to hide the fact I’d been in school for the past six years and still didn’t have my Bachelor’s. “Yes,” I said, “I am a student.”
    “I’m a big believer in continuing your education. Going for your doctorate, that’s impressive.”
    I raised a brow at my mother. “Thank you.”
    Her smile hardened. “I told James how important your studies are to you, dear. James is a financial planner.”
    “You don’t say?”
    When a roaming waiter presented us with a tray of salmon and dill covered cucumber slices, James’ attention was diverted. My mother leaned closer.
    “He’s divorced, no kids, and has a decent job. Be nice,” she hissed in my ear. “Enjoy the party, James,” she said in a loud voice.
    With a mouthful of cuke, James smiled and raised his glass to her.
    I then spent the next fifteen listening to his complaints about his bitch of an ex-wife and her new boyfriend, Sven, a tennis pro she’d met at the club. They now lived in the house James bought.
    When he finally took a breath, I said, “She actually ran over your golf clubs, huh?”
    “Yeah, then she backed up and ran over them again. Including my new Titleist irons with steel shafts.” He started tearing up. “I loved those clubs.”
    “James, I am on pins and needles to hear more, but would you excuse me for just a second? I’ll be right back.”
    I squeezed past him and made my way through the crowd to the other side of the room where Jacks nibbled on a cashew.
    “Mom told some bitter divorced guy I was working toward my doctorate.” I set my glass on a side table and snagged a mint. I was starving.
    “Make small talk. Nod and smile and pretend you’re listening.” She grabbed another glass of wine from a passing waiter. “She used to do the same thing with me. Except she told people I graduated summa cum laude and I was only magna.”
    “You know you’re lucky I love you, right?”
    A heavily pregnant woman waddled up to us and began asking Jacks about third trimesters. I moved on.
    I tried to remain unobtrusive. And out of my mother’s line of sight. I thought I was safe, hiding in a corner with an older couple who told me all about their holiday plans in Costa Rica, when she found me again. Did she have me tagged with a homing beacon?
    “Hello, Marie, Donald. I hope you’re enjoying the party.” She chitchatted with the older couple, then took my hand. “Do you mind if I steal Rosalyn away for a moment. There’s someone I want her to meet.”
    Marie finger waved, Donald raised his glass, and my mother pulled me to her side. “How did things go with James?”
    I tried to pull my hand from her grasp, but she tightened her hold. “He spent fifteen minutes telling me about his horrible ex and how angry he is about the divorce.”
    “Rosalyn, a woman can make a man forget a bad marriage. If she puts her mind to it.”
    “I don’t think so.”
    She took a deep breath through her nose, then marched through the crowd again, tugging me behind her. In the doorway of the formal dining room, a man in his late twenties nibbled a chicken satay. Although he was attractive in a buttoned-down way, I’d always preferred the bad boys.
    Except for Sullivan. Sullivan was all man.
    “Tyler, I’d like you to meet Rosalyn.”
    “Nice to meet you, Tyler.”
    He juggled his satay and shook my hand.
    “You and Tyler have something in common,” Barbara said.
    “We’re both blonds, right?” I asked.
    “That, we are,” he said with a smile. “But only if you’re natural.”
    Oh God, please let it end.
    “No,” my mother said, “you