“Trust him, Ingrid. He's going to handle it.” Josephine interrupted Ingrid and took her by the hand.
Ingrid fell silent without attempting to press her point, having already given up.
The sky was beginning to turn dark when Hannah returned.
“I hope you're hungry, Jared,” she announced. “We're heading over to Aunt Sarah's. Ingrid's fiance is buying dinner!” “Dog?” Jared asked, perking up at once.
Hannah was taken aback by her son's audacity but recovered quickly. “Doug's not the same boy as he used to be,” she warned. “He's a big shot now. Don't call him that when you see him, it's rude.”
“What else am I supposed to call him? When I see him, I'm going to-”
“Aunt Hannah,” Ingrid interrupted. “Please tell my mother that we will be right over.”
“See you all over there. Hurry, please. We mustn’t keep him waiting.”
Without another word, Hannah turned on the spot and left.
As soon as her aunt disappeared around the bend further down the road, Ingrid turned around to face Jared. “All of them know nothing about this, especially my parents. I told them that it was voluntary so that they wouldn't worry.”
Jared marveled at his cousin's maturity as he gazed at her with pity. “Don't worry, Ingrid,” he consoled whilst stroking her hair. “Nobody will force you to do anything against your wishes anymore with me back here.”
When everybody was at last ready,
Jared drove the party over to Ingrid’s house. A Toyota was hogging the middle of the road in an obnoxious fashion when they arrived. Leaning on the bonnet was a man with a gold necklace around his neck and gold rings on his fingers. A cigarette dangled from his lips as he was engaged in lively conversation with Jared's and Ingrid's parents.
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