Henry runs the only store in town, along with a couple of other businesses. He’s well known and generally well-liked by everyone. That doesn’t mean I want to date his second cousin.
“Wonderful,” I repeat without too much inflection.
If I have even a remotely polite tone, he’ll think I’m interested. And it’s not even his fault.
It’s my mother’s.
“Carter was just telling me that he would love nothing more than to settle down and start a family. Isn’t that nice?”
“So nice.”
Dad walks out of the living room, still on the call. He catches my eye, and I try to plead for help telepathically. He either doesn’t get my message or he’s on a mission to save himself.
I catch his eye one more time and mouth the wordcowardto him. He still leaves.
I’m stuck in a house with a single man and a mom who dreams of having grandkids who live close by.
This is not going to end well.
This is the longest night of my life. It feels like a hostage negotiation just to go to bed without committing to a date with this man. Carter finally leaves, and I can breathe deeply for the first time since coming home.
Mom follows me as I trudge to my room. “You could have been nicer to him, Bliss,” she scolds. “I tried so hard to have him here before you got home. He was tired too and took time out of his busy schedule because he wanted to ask you out! You could have been at least a little pleasant.”
“Mom, if I’d been nice to him, he would have never left me alone.” I sigh.
“He asked you out multiple times! You turned him down. At my kitchen table too!” She ends on a wail as she sits down on my bed.
“Mom, are you ever going to stop trying to set me up with every single man who shows up in town?”
“Not until you find someone for yourself.”
I make sure my scream is internal, and I barely refrain from banging my head against the mirror hanging on the wall.
“I will find someone when the time is right,” I assure her as calmly as I can.
“But you’re not. You haven’t found anyone. And you keep turning down anyone I introduce you to.”
“Mom, you’re bringing in random strangers! What do you expect me to do?”
“I want you to at least try!” She huffs and sweeps out of the room, slamming the door in her wake.
Well, this is a change. Usually, parents are upset when their daughters get overly involved with boys. Mine’s angry because I refuse to.
It’s not a peaceful home to come home to anymore.
I pull off my jeans and put on a pair of sweats. I flop onto my bed like a starfish.
This isn’t relaxing, coming home after a long day of work and being ambushed by strangers and my own mother. It’s been two solid years of this, and it’s building to a fever pitch.
I need somewhere to live where I can feel at rest.
Zane’s house was so peaceful this evening. That back deck was gorgeous.
The bedroom and bathroom … it’s somewhere I could see myself retreating to. Zane’s offering me an oasis to spend the rest of my life.
I guess the solution to my problems is looking me right in the face.
Rolling over, I reach for my phone on my dresser and send off a fate-sealing text.
