Invitation to Love by Groovy Lee

they had exhausted the topic of her successful role in Charming.
    “That
long, huh?” Chris replied before sipping from his glass of Chardonnay.
    “Don’t
start, Chris,” she pointed her fork at him. “Now, be honest with me, Michael.
We’re all friends here.”
    “What
do you want me to be honest about?”
    “Well,
yesterday you were an eligible bachelor. Today, you’re a married man with a
ready-made family. Did this have anything to do with those nasty, nasty rumors
about your being gay?”
    Taryn
paused from placing another portion of salad on Remi’s plate. She and Michael
exchanged glances while a smug Raven waited.
    “If
I told you that I don’t care about those rumors, and that I married Taryn
because I love her, would you believe me?”
    Taryn
thought she heard a humph under her breath as she focused on putting seconds on
Remi’s plate.
    “Of
course, she wouldn’t believe that,” Chris spoke up. “All that’s good and pure
is too boring for Raven. She’s more into scandals and backbiting.”
    Raven
shot Chris an indignant eye causing him to chuckle. Taryn just wished the topic
would go away.
    “If
that’s what Michael’s says, then I believe him,” she stuck her fork into a
lettuce leaf and swirled it around in the air to inspect.
    “Momma,
what’s gay?” Remi’s whisper could still be heard around the table.
    Taryn
quieted her and urged her to eat.
    “Have
you heard anything from Karen?”
    “For
heaven’s sakes,” Chris leaned back in his chair and grunted.
    “What?”
her thin shoulders lifted as if baffled by that reaction. “What did I say?
Surely, Taryn isn’t put off by that harmless question. After all, she already
has Michael. You don’t mind, do you, Taryn?”
    Taryn
simply smiled and signaled for her to continue.
    “See,
Chris? Well, Michael?”
    “No,
I haven’t heard anything, Raven,” he fixed his apparent frustration on
refilling his glass with wine.
    “I
got an email from her the other day. Want me to fill you in on what she’s been
up to in the land of fog and boiled food?”
    “Sure,
Raven,” that frustration was now targeted on her. “Why don’t you tell us what
she’s been up to. I’d love to sit here while you go on about it.”
    Raven
gulped softly, turned straight in her seat, and filled her wine glass to the
brim. To Taryn’s relief, the rest of dinner was spent on topics of business, a
new restaurant, and which direction the wind blew today.
    “Help
me clear the table, girls,” she said when dinner was over, and everyone stood
to return to the living room.
    “You
and Raven go ahead, Michael,” Chris rose from his seat and began piling empty
dishes together. “I’ll help Taryn.”
    Raven
slid her arm through Michael’s before he could object, and promptly led him
from the room. Taryn and Chris loaded the trolley with dishes and followed the
girls as they wheeled it away to the kitchen.
    “Don’t
mind her,” Chris said when Remi and Rachel went back to the dining room to wipe
the table clean. “She’s just being herself tonight.”
    Taryn
took a dish from him and placed it in the dishwasher. “Who? Raven?” she said
matter-of-factly. “She’s not bothering me.”
    “That’s
good, because you’ll probably be seeing a lot of her.”
    She
stood upright from those words, then caught herself and resumed loading the
dishes. “That’s fine with me.”
    “Liar,”
he teased, causing laughter to burst out.
    After
adding the detergent, she snapped the door close then pushed the button that
sent the machine into motion.
    “Since
you possess such a high threshold of tolerance, then I’d better prepare you for
the rest of the night.”
    “Prepare?”
Taryn thought what an odd thing to say.
    “Yeah.
You see, she and Michael have been friends since high-school. She used to
double-date with him and Karen. When they called their engagement off, she up’d
her periscope and set her target right on him; With Karen out of the picture,
her