Claimed Harder by Em Brown
Chapter 22
BRIDGET
Past
Iput on the summer dress Cheryl bought to meet Mrs. Sharon Lee. I feel a little nervous, more so when I see her for the first time standing with one of the other wedding guests. Sharon is tall, beautiful and has a quiet glamor to her.
“Mother,” Darren greets her.
Her eyes light up upon seeing him, though there are no hugs or kisses. Amy explained to me once that many Asian families are not big on public displays of affection.
She narrows her eyes at her son. “You look dark. How are you so tan when it’s winter?”
“I was in Hawaii not that long ago.”
“You got too much sun then.”
“Mother, this is Bridget Moore.”
She looks me over, and I get the feeling I’m not what she expected, but her tone is friendly enough when she says, “Nice to meet you.”
The other guest, Mr. Liao, is a friend of the bride’s family. He hasn’t seen Darren in a while and asks how things are going. He politely asks a few questions of me, and says, “Go, Bears” when I tell him I go to Cal.
When I tell him I’m studying public health, he asks if I plan to go to medical school. I explain I’m more interested in the policy side of health, and he responds by asking, “Don’t you get paid more as a doctor?”
“You do, and you’re also less likely to receive death threats than a public health officer,” I reply.
“So why would you want to be in public health?”
“I think the last pandemic showed that we need public health expertise.”
He either agrees with my answer or decides it’s not worth talking about anymore, because he turns to Sharon. “You must be proud of Darren. Word is he might follow in his old man’s footsteps.”
I feel Darren stiffen beside me. Is it my imagination or did a chill just fall over us?
Sharon turns to me. “So, tell me more about public health. Besides pandemics, what else does it involve?”
“A lot. Everything from food to hospital care to environmental health to racial inequities. I could go on and on.”
“You sound passionate about it. You must be a good student.”
She raises a brow at Darren.
“‘Unlike my son’ is what that look means,” Darren says to me.
“Grades aren’t as important anymore,” says Mr. Liao. “As we can see from Darren’s success.”
Sharon doesn’t seem to want to talk about her son. She looks past us and says with a grim curl of her lips, “I see that Elaine is here.”
“Of course,” Darren replies. “She’s the bride’s aunt.”
Elaine spots Darren’s mother. “Is that Sharon Lee?”
She comes over and drips with obsequiousness. “I thought you couldn’t make it.”
Sharon looks to Darren. “Something came up, and I had to be here.”
Elaine turns to Darren, too. “You aren’t at the rehearsal dinner.”
“Why aren’t you at the rehearsal dinner?”
“I thought I left my clutch out here. I guess I should go look for it.”
Yes, you should, was the look Sharon gave her. After Elaine leaves, Sharon says, “I should go check into my room. I have one of the cliffside villas. It was nice to meet you, Bridget.”
“It’s nice that your mom could make the wedding,” I comment.
“Yeah.”
I can tell something else is on his mind, but I don’t want to pry. At least not all the time.
The following day, we get to do the touristy stuff like visiting the Big Buddha, a giant statue atop Mount Nagakerd; Wat Chalong, a colorful Buddhist temple; and Jungceylon, the shopping mall that Amy wanted to go to. Although the mall is impressive, with a fountain that one might find in Vegas, I prefer the street markets in Malin Plaza or Bangla Road.
When we get back to the resort in the late afternoon, JD convinces Darren to go golfing with the groom and a few others. I decide to take my laptop to a lounge chair by the infinity pool to work on a grant application. It’s not easy getting into work when there’s such a majestic view in front of me, but I eventually turn on my computer. Being old, it has a battery life of only one hour before it needs recharging, so I need to crank.
“Hey.”
Looking up, I see it’s the guy from the restaurant.
“Hi,” I say cautiously.
He sits down on the lounge chair next to me and extends a hand. “Joseph Mok.”
I shake it. “Bridget.”
“So you Darren’s girlfriend?”
I don’t think I’m in official girlfriend territory, but for some reason I don’t want to say otherwise to Joseph.
“We like each other,” I reply. I’m curious to know what happened between the two of them. “How do you know Darren?”
“Mutual acquaintances.”
“Like the groom?”
“Something like that.”
A server comes by. Joseph orders a drink and sits back.
“Do you guys go back a ways?” I ask.
“Yeah. We met in Vietnam. You can probably tell Darren doesn’t like me much.”
“I noticed you guys looking at each other the other day.”
“I got angry with him because he slept with my girlfriend.”
Oh. That would explain the lack of love lost. I’m surprised Joseph just came right out and said it.
“Darren serious about you?” Joseph asks as he appraises me.
“I can’t answer for him.”
He looks disgruntled. “Where’d Darren find you?”
“Find me? You mean, like on the discount rack at a secondhand store?” Not wanting more pointed questions from him, I turn to my computer. “I should get back to my work.”
“I asked a simple question. No need to get bitchy about it.”
Deciding I’d rather work back at the villa, I close my computer. But then I spot Sharon coming my way. “Hi, Mrs. Lee.”
She sits down on the lounge chair on my other side. Next to her stunning gold sheer caftan worn over a stylish plunge-neck one-piece, I feel frumpy in my t-shirt and gym shorts. Joseph gets up and leaves without a word.
“Where’s Darren?” Sharon asks.
“Golfing.”
“He’s not much of a golfer. Swimming is his sport.”
That explains his broad shoulders.
“Really? I didn’t know that.”
“I’m sure there’s a lot of things you don’t know about my son.”
I’m not sure how to take that.
She eyes my laptop. “What are you working on?”
“A grant application for my internship. We’re trying to get funding to purchase refrigerated vans.”
“What for?”
“Our food recovery program. There’s a ton of food that goes to waste each day that low-income families could use. Our goal is to collect the food from places like restaurants and retailers, and transport it to distribution programs.”
“That stuff doesn’t exist already? Don’t soup kitchens do that?”
“Surprisingly, we’d be the first to do this at a county level. The local food banks aren’t able to house fresh fruits and vegetables. They distribute canned and packaged foods, but people can’t subsist on that kind of food, which tends to be nutrient deficient and contains additives and other ingredients that are detrimental to health. Because something as simple as not getting fresh produce leads to chronic illnesses, low-income families end up needing more medical care. That’s why another program we have is called a food pharmacy.”
Sharon stares at me. “How did you and my son meet?”
“My friend, Amy, is dating JD.”
“Right. JD likes them young and cute, like your friend.”
Wondering if Sharon might be more informative than Darren, I ask, “Has he had a lot of girlfriends that are young and cute?”
Sharon looks out at the view. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s really none of my business who he dates.”
“Actually, I’m curious. I’d like to know my friend’s dating a good guy.”
“What is a ‘good guy?’”
“Someone who will care about her and treat her right.”
“Do you feel like Darren is a ‘good guy?’”
Is that a strange question for a mother to ask? For some reason, I want to ask the same of her.
“I haven’t seen any indications to suggest that he isn’t a good guy.”
“Couldn’t you say that about most men you meet?”
“You’ve got a point. I guess it’s just an instinct I have.”
She brings her knees up. “What if you’re wrong?”
I shrug. “Then I’m wrong. We move on.”
“Are you in love with him?”
It’s a pointed question not unlike the ones Joseph was asking, but as the mother, she has a right to ask it.
“Honestly, we haven’t known each other that long,” I reply. “I’m not sure why he chose to invite me, but I’m appreciative that he did.”
“What do you mean, you’re not sure why he invited you?”
“I just picture him with a woman more like his ex-girlfriend, Kimberly. Someone a little more glamorous. I think I’m a little nerdy for his usual tastes.”
By her brief silence, I think she agrees with my assessment. “You don’t think you’re good enough for my son?”
“Not at all! I know I’m not the prettiest or wealthiest person he could be dating, but I bring a lot to the table. Not to be immodest, but maybe I’m a breath of fresh air for Darren. Someone different.”
She seems to weigh what I say. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you are different.”
Kind of hard not to take a statement like that the wrong way, but I don’t detect any antagonism in her tone.
“Darren and I haven’t known each other long enough to be too serious,” I assure her. “And if we were to become more serious, you don’t have to worry about me. I care deeply about the people in my life, my family and friends, and I’d always have their interests at heart.”
I must have spoken with more earnestness than I’d intended because she doesn’t respond right away.
“Tell me about your family,” she finally says.
I tell her about how my grandmother raised me because my father had passed away when I was just a baby.
“She lives in Europe with her boyfriend,” I answer, when she asks about my mother.
By the end of our conversation, I can’t tell if Mrs. Lee approves of me or not.
