Chapter 21: Playground Elusion

A nervous wave of silence slid into the kitchen like a bolt. How long had Debbie been standing there, and how much of the exchange between Lia and her mom had she heard?

Lia shifted uncertainly. Her usually fast processing brain could not seem to conjure a response.

“Ummm, we were saying that Lia should never tell Ryan that their maid of honor is going to be me,” Bobby piped in. “You know, as a man of honor!”

Lia tittered at Debbie.

“Yes, he might find it a bit weird. So we thought we will just surprise him on the day. Like hey, we have a man of honor. Yippee! Yay….!” Lia wondered if Debbie was buying what they were saying.

The three of them stood and looked at Debbie, waiting for some kind of reaction.

Suddenly, Debbie let out a deep belly laugh.

“That is a great shock to the system for my son. He will not see such a twist coming. I can’t wait to see his face when he realizes you are going to have a man of honor!” Debbie said as she continued to laugh.