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"Iris, I just don't know if you should get involved with a man whose life is clearly upside down. You are barely back on your own feet after everything that happened."
This was exactly my mother. She'd been on me to date for ages. She'd told me it wasn't normal for someone to take so long at my age to find a new spouse. I was certain she'd gotten that from some talk show host she watched. Now, here we were. I had a date, and she was trying to talk me out of it because she didn’t like some information some gossip queen had passed on.
"Mom, you don't even know him," I whispered, so the boys didn't overhear.“I also don’t know his story, so before we jump to any conclusions, I think it’s best if we stop this conversation right now.”
"Iris, I know enough."
“No, you know what LuAnn Billings has spread to Beth. Which from word in this town could be just a pile of stuff she made up on her own.”
“Iris, please.”
"Mom, tell me, why the change of heart? You have been on me to date for almost a year. So, tell me, why should I not go out with this man?"
"Iris, do you not think it's odd that a woman came to the bed and breakfast and that LuAnn could hear yelling and screaming? So much so she felt the need to tell your sister about it?"
I let out a breath. "Mom, LuAnn Billings is noted to be one of Willow Valley’s largest gossip centres. I'm going to take that information with a grain of salt. It's not a secret that Zach has a past, just as I do. He has an eleven-year-old daughter, so somewhere in his life, I'm certain he has an ex-wife. He didn’t have her on his own."
I could hear my mother take a sharp breath. "You know?"
"Yes, Mother, I know he had to have been in a relationship prior to asking me out for dinner. In fact, I’d have been more worried if he hadn’t. I'm also not going to jump to conclusions," I said with my jaw clenched. The seed of doubt had been planted and watered, and now I wondered if not only I shouldn’t change, but if I shouldn't just cancel as well.
"Iris, I wish you'd just listen."
"I am listening, Mother. I'm finally dating again. Now, I have to go, or I’m going to be late."
We said goodbye, and I hung up the phone, ran my hands over my dress, smoothing the fabric one more time.
I could already hear Ava in the kitchen talking with the boys. I popped my head in and said goodbye and made my way out to the car. Nerves fluttered through me as I started the engine and backed out of the driveway.
All the way to the restaurant, all I could hear in my mind was Beth talking about Zach's neighbour and the woman who had shown up. I also heard the voice of my mother. I really hoped that I wasn't making a mistake by accepting his invitation to dinner.
Zach
I climbed out of the hot shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. With the hand towel that lay on the counter, I wiped at the fogged-up mirror, my reflection finally coming into view. I didn’t know why I was so nervous about tonight. It probably had a lot to do with the way I'd been feeling most of the week. My worst fear was that Iris would be another Valerie.
My sister told me I was being silly, that most women were not like Valerie in the slightest. However, it was what I'd known. We’d divorced two years ago, were separated for two before that, and I'd been ready to date for a while, but this irrational fear had kept me from even trying to meet someone. In fact, it had kept me from even attempting to let my guard down enough to even ask someone to go out with me for a simple coffee.
I’d conquered that mostly because I’d felt like an ass for being so short that day in the bookstore. However, the more I got to know Iris, the more I liked her, and after spending that one morning together at her place fixing things around her house, I somehow let my guard down completely. So, dinner was a big step for me and one I hoped wouldn’t be a mistake.
I dried off, made my way into my bedroom, slid into my boxers and then my dress pants. Then I grabbed my phone from the dresser and dialled my sister. The phone rang and rang, and I was just about to hang up when she finally answered.
"You two stop the fighting now," Kristy growled into the phone.
"I'm not doing anything." I chuckled, knowing full well she was talking to her two kids."How's things?"
"God, Zach, these two are going to be the death of me. Grant should be home soon, I hope. Then I can take a break, go out for a bit, and he can look after these two."
I chuckled. "Remember how the hell we used to fight? Probably drove Mom nuts. I’ll have to ask her."
"Let me know what she says. I like to think our arguments kept her young." We both burst out laughing. "So, what's up? What’s going on?"
I ran my fingers through my hair and picked up the can of shaving cream on the counter, quickly spraying a pile into my hand and rubbing it onto my cheeks. I placed my phone down on the counter and hit the speaker phone. "I did it."
"What did you do?" she questioned.
"I asked a woman out for dinner."
"OH MY GOD. Give me a second to sit down before I faint."
