Page 16 of Never Let Go

“To eternal youth,” I said playfully.

Mom chuckled and winked at me before she went back to the chicken. “That’s easy, my dear. A good skincare routine and having a child like you.”

I laughed and poked at the pasta sauce, deciding it’d gone long enough for now. I turned down the heat. “I guess it’s all in the skincare routine, then.”

“Most parents get their wrinkles and their gray hair from their kids. You’ve never given us any, so it’s not just the skincare routine. It’s because you’ve got a good head on your shoulders.”

My heart stammered. Right, now might not be the time to mention that I’m considering signing up for Sight Unseen.

“How’s work going?” she asked easily. “Are you still happy at the new firm?”

I nodded, leaning against the counter and deciding to talk to her about the dating agency if and when an opportunity presented itself rather than forcing the issue. “Yeah, it’s great. My first account went really well, so I’ve been given a couple more of their bigger estates to settle and I’ve also received a few accounts that are going to be trickier. I’m pretty excited for the challenge.”

She tossed me a grin and then brought the chopping board with the slivers of chicken on it over, scraping them into the waiting pan. I moved out of her way but stayed close enough to keep talking. “You’re going to excel at those tricky accounts. I know it. You’ve always done well when you’re challenged.”

“We’ll see how it goes,” I said. “Ashley had her first dress fitting on Friday. You should see her, Mom. She stayed true to herself with the dress and she’s going to be a radiant bride.”

An amused smile tugged at the corners of my mom’s lips. “I love that girl. Of course, she stayed true to herself. A woman always should. None of this pandering to the man in their lives or making themselves smaller just to accommodate the man’s ego.”

I chuckled. “Ashley would never do any of that. She’s way too confident in who she is.”

Mom hummed her agreement, then glanced at me. “And the fiancé? Is he okay with her being who she is, or is he going to expect her to make herself smaller for him once they’re married?”

“Chase loves her to bits exactly the way she is,” I said, seeing my opening to segue into the Sight Unseen conversation. “The dating agency sure worked for them. I’ve never seen a couple more in love.”

Mom shrugged. “I’m sure Ashley would’ve found him all by herself eventually. If you ask me, all this online dating stuff is a bit silly. The only way to meet people should be the real way. Where you go out into the world and meet people instead of swiping on a profile.”

“Well, I think there’s merit in both,” I reasoned. “Online dating works really well for some people, while others strike it lucky in the real world.”

“It might seem like it works for some people, and don’t get me wrong, I truly hope that it works out for Ash. I just don’t see a manufactured relationship working out in the long term.”

My head slanted as I stared at her. Mom seldom had such strong opinions about things she’d never tried or done herself, and I wondered why she had such a strong opinion about this. “I don’t know, Mom. The company has been around for a few years and their success rate is through the roof. They even did a docuseries following one of their own employees through the process a little while ago. It seemed legit.”

She turned up the heat on the pan and picked up a spatula. “That may be true, but what’s their failure rate? How many people go on dates and never find the loves of their lives? I’d be interested in knowing.”

“The company appears to be quite transparent. I’m pretty sure they published it somewhere, how many people fall out of the process without ever meeting their perfect match.”

Mom shrugged. “Well, good for them. Transparency is always better than the alternative. Why are we talking about this, anyway? You’re not thinking of signing up, are you?”

“Uh, I actually may be thinking about it,” I rushed out. “Just for a date to Ash’s wedding.”

Mom’s shoulders stiffened. She stared at the chicken starting to sizzle for a beat before she cut a stern glance at me. “You need to be able to look a man in the eyes, Shelby. That’s how you know if he’s feeding you a pack of lies or if he’s the real deal. You won’t find that out by talking to him in the dark.”

I frowned at her. “The dark only lasts for the first four dates. After that, you do look him in the eyes, but from what I’ve heard, you know each other pretty darn well by the fifth date.”

Mom scoffed. “You mean you know everything he wants you to know. Honestly, darling. I don’t know why you’d subject yourself to something like that. It could even be dangerous.”

“It’s not,” I protested. “They have stringent security measures in place.”

“And you’re in total darkness with some person you don’t know for hours at a time. That’s dangerous.”

I sighed as she pursed her lips and gave me another stern look. “You’re an adult, Shelby. I can’t tell you what to do, but I will advise against doing this. For God’s sake, don’t start giving me gray hairs now. My skincare routine will never be able to keep up.”

I laughed. “You’ll be fine, Mom. I’m not saying I’m definitely going to do it. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about. It sucks to be the last single person at every wedding, and I’m Ashley’s maid of honor. I want someone to dance with at my best friend’s wedding. I don’t think that’s so wrong.”

Her gaze softened. “That’s not wrong at all. I just don’t think you need to turn to blind dating to have someone to dance with. In fact, Trevor will be coming to town soon. I could speak to Marge. See if he’d take you.”

My nose wrinkled of its own accord. Marge was a friend of my mom’s and her son, Trevor, was the absolute worst but neither of them seemed to see it. He was a cocky, self-absorbed snob for no good reason and he was always between jobs.