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“I’m not sure I believe that. But I’ll rephrase that as they aren’t as positive as you.”
“I told you why,” she said. “I’m not sure it’s a bad thing, but please don’t think I’m some saint. I can get mad at people or frustrated like the next person. It just wears off faster on me.”
“Name a time that you got mad or upset,” he said. “Let’s see how fast you can come up with one.”
“When my father says one thing and does another,” she said. “Which happened often in my life.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have asked that.”
“It’s fine,” she said.
He could see in her eyes now, the humor and happiness had dimmed just a tad. She wasn’t making this up. She was being completely honest.
“That was insensitive of me to ask.”
“Not at all,” she said. “You should know if your fun partner has any flaws or loses her temper fast.”
He laughed. “We all have flaws. I don’t see you losing your temper, but we all have the ability.”
“Then let’s be fair. Name one time in your life when you’ve been mad or upset.”
“Just one?” he asked. He was tapping his chin and making her laugh. He should offer up something personal at least. “When people compare my brother and me.”
“Ahhh,” she said. “I bet that happens or happened a lot. Who is the older one? Wait, it’s got to be Hudson since you said that comment.”
He grinned. “By a few minutes, he is older.”
“You’re both successful doctors. What is the comparison?” she asked.
“Pretty much everything. The good part is, Hudson and I are as close now as we were in the womb. We’ve been this way our whole life. Even went to college together.”
“Since you don’t live together anymore, no one can say that you don’t have your own lives.”
“I stayed longer than I needed to,” he said.
“Never,” she said. “There is no such thing. If you and Hudson made it work it’s not too long.”
“See, always positive,” he said. “Until Delaney came along, it did work. Hudson’s house is big. It had a finished basement. Neither one of us dated anyone seriously. When we were dating, if he had someone over, I went down to the finished basement then up to bed. We were hardly home at the same time with our jobs so it wasn’t a big issue. There were plenty of weeks we only saw each other coming and going or knew the other was in the house because someone finished off the last of the milk.”
“I’ve only ever lived with someone in college,” she said. “I like my privacy and space.”
“That cheerfulness you possess probably got on people’s nerves.”
She laughed again. “Actually, it did bother some people. But I need my space to create and I like to have my own atmosphere to do it.”
“Loud music to dance to?” he asked.
“Definitely that. Sometimes the light is better in one part of the house during the day and I move to that spot. Not always, but it’s happened. I want the freedom to make those decisions and not worry if I’m upsetting someone else. There is no compromise when it’s just me.”
Hmmm. He wondered if that was why she was still single. That she didn’t like to compromise? He’d have to see how that played out. No one was perfect.
“That’s a good point,” he said.
“You’re humoring me,” she said lightly. “It’s fine. I’m not a selfish person. At least I try not to be. I’ve seen that with my father. I know how it can hurt.”
“Do you want to elaborate on that?”
“Maybe another date,” she said.
