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“What if I don’t find someone who lights that spark within me?” I asked. “What if that person never comes, and I lose out on my chance of having a family?”
Her head tilted to the side, regarding me with that motherly smile. “Surely, you can see the greater mistake would be rushing into something for the sake of having a family, only to lose out on that connection when it appears in the future?”
Again, came that tightening in my chest. No, I didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity. But there was no guarantee that opportunity would ever come. The closest I’d ever come to feeling that way about anyone…
I ignored those thoughts.
Any thought about Lyndsey Saunders was enough to give me a headache. Sure, the opportunity to feel the way I did with her might arise with someone else, but what if it didn’t? It was all about taking risks, wasn’t it? That meant seizing my moment when I saw it. Finding the best candidate among the group, even if it meant never finding anyone who set my pulse racing quite like Lyndsey did.
I could still taste her on my lips and still felt her body within my embrace. No. There was no way anyone would ever make me feel the way she did. So, what was the point in even trying?
The door slamming echoed down the hallway like a roar of thunder. As if being announced in a whirlwind of nature’s power, Vanessa materialized in the doorway. “What did I miss?”
“You told Mom I signed up for the matchmaking service?” I asked, holding nothing back.
She shrugged, unphased and indifferent. “We needed something to talk about other than business.”
“Isn’t that still technically business?” I asked.
Our mother nodded beside me, reaching up to squeeze Vanessa’s hand. “Honey, you really should try out a hobby.”
“I like working.” Vanessa flipped an errant gesture through the air. “Look, I came here to check in on you. I didn’t come for a lecture.”
“Check in on her?” That was rich. Vanessa never checked in on our mother unless she wanted something. I was always the one responsible for her. Vanessa only cared about herself. “Yeah. That sounds like you.”
Vanessa scoffed, glaring at me across the coffee table now separating us. “I can come visit our mother whenever I like. I don’t have to run every visit by you first.”
“My God, please stop,” Mom said. “I feel like one of those people in an old folks home whose children talk about them like they’re not even there. I have news for the two of you. I don’t need a babysitter. I don’t need someone checking in on me, and I certainly don’t need this stress that you’re bringing into my house.”
Mom stood, waving her hands at us in an attempt to shoo us out of the house. Neither of us stood.
“Now get out,” she added. “So, I can burn some sage and start my morning over.”
“Mom, stop,” I said.
“Then the two of you better behave.” She turned toward the door in the direction of the kitchen. “Now just sit there and play nice. I’ll bring out some sweet tea.”
Silence lingered between us. Only one thought reigned in my mind. Though, how did anyone start an accusation of arson when it was directed at their sister?
“So…” I drew out the word. “Start any fires lately?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Vanessa asked. “You just go around asking people stupid questions like that? Is this a fireman thing?”
“No. Vanessa, I was with Lyndsey when she received the note.”
She peered back at me through the thin slats of her glare. Her head jerked in little agitated jolts. “What note?”
“She got a note from someone threatening her,” I explained. “It said, if she didn’t leave town, something worse than the fire would happen to her.”
Vanessa’s eyes widened.
She poked a hand into her chest. “And you think I had something to do with that? You’re even crazier than I thought.”
“You’re ambitious, and Kyle is the truly insane one.”
I wouldn’t put it past either of you to torch a place and then lie about it.
In the least, they’d capitalize on the tragedy by sending a note that made the fire look like more than it was. “Put the two of you together, and there’s no telling what might happen.”
