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I didn’t miss the way she tried to navigate past the current topic, but I’d let it slide. For now, at least.
“You remember my friend Marjorie from book club,” she started, and I had a feeling I was going to like this new topic of conversation even less. “Well she was just telling us about her son’s recent divorce. He’s about your age, and we got to thinking, wouldn’t it be nice if the two of you went out on a date?”
Yep, I was right. I’d have rather talked about my serious lack of money than have my mom try to set me up onanotherblind date.
“God, Mom. Not this again.”
“Oh, Shirley, let the girl be,” my father said in my defense. “You’re always trying to fix her up, and it never works out.”
I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.
Mom slapped a hand on her hip and kicked out a foot. “Well excuse me for wanting my daughter to be happy. It’s not like she’s putting herself out there. Someone’s gotta do it or the only grandkids we’ll end up with is a whole mess of cats.”
“Hey,” I cried in offense. I didn’t even like cats.
She gave me a look like she didn’t want to hear it. “Oh please, all you do is work, work, work. If you can’t find a man yourself, I’ll have to do it for you.”
Sure, because that would make for an incredibly healthy relationship.
I crossed my arms over my chest, my bottom lip sticking out in a pout. “That’s not true at all. As a matter of fact, I went to my high school reunion last night with Colbie. So there.”
Her face instantly lit up. “Oh, that’s great! How was it? Did you guys have fun?”
“It was, um... Well, it was good. I actually ran into the guy I had a crush on back then and he’s moving back to town in a few weeks.” I smiled as I remembered my unexpected and pleasant run-in with Mike the night before. Before the whole thing went sour, thanks to that asshole Beau. But I wasn’t going to give that guy another moment of my time. “We have a date planned when he gets back, so I don’t need you to set me up with your friend’s divorced son.” I lifted my chin in the air. “I’m perfectly capable of finding a man on my own.”
My father spoke then, turning the conversation toward an even worse topic. “You know, speaking of the reunion, I heard that little punk made an appearance.”
So much for not giving him another moment of my time. It was almost laughable to hear my father refer to Beau Wade as alittle punk. My old man was no slouch, but Beau still managed to beat him out in height and brawn. Even before arthritis put a hunch in his strong, capable frame. But he’d been alittle punkin my father’s eyes when we were kids, and clearly nothing had changed.
“He didn’t give you a hard time, did he?” Dad continued, his voice almost threatening, like he would have given anything to hunt Beau down and deliver one hell of an ass whooping. “Because so help me, I’ll?—”
“It’s fine, Dad,” I said quickly, cutting him off before he could get good and riled. To say my parents weren’t fans of the boy who’d made my school days a misery was putting it lightly. “All that stuff happened years ago. We’re adults now. There’s nothing to worry about.”
But as I thought back to how his sudden appearance the night before had initially left me flustered, and how off-kilter I felt after our little run-in, I wasn’t so sure about that. But my parents had enough on their plates as it was. They didn’t need to worry about the petty little squabbles their daughter had with her high school bully.
It would be fine. It had to be.
“Honestly, I doubt I’ll see much of him around town. I’m sure he’s got a lot going on with his new job, and it’s not like we run in the same circles.”
“I never understood why he seemed to target you the way he did,” my mom said with a shake of her head. “I swear, he was like a little boy on the playground pulling the pigtails of the girl he had a crush on.”
A startled burst of laughter fell past my lips as I turned to give her a bewildered look. “Believe me, Beau Wade never had a crush on me. Not for a single, solitary moment. The only feelings between us were hostility and contempt.”
I was leaving out some key details from my and Beau’s extremely tumultuous, confusing past, but they didn’t need all the gritty details. It was better for the sake of my sanity if I just pretended like it never happened. I’d spent the past ten yearsdoing exactly that. There was no reason that had to change just because he had unexpectedly popped back up in my life.
Mom lifted her shoulder in a shrug as she turned and went back to the few remaining dishes in the sink. She picked up a glass and began to dry it. “If you say so.”
I jumped at the loud clang my father caused when he dropped his wrench back into his toolbox with far too much force. “Of course she says so, Shirley.” He snorted indignantly. “My girl’s smarter than that. She’d never get involved with that boy.” He shook his head as he rummaged through the tools again, snatching at things in agitation. “Always said that boy was from bad stock. I highly doubt the apple fell far from the tree.”
My head whipped in my father’s direction, my brows pulling together, the skin between puckering as I tried to make sense of that last statement. As far as I’d always known, Beau’s parents, Hank and Catherine, were as much Whitecap royalty as their son. A wealthy family who lived on the right side of our little town. A doting stay-at-home mother, and a business-savvy father who ran not one, buttwolocal car dealerships. My dad’s comment about bad stock was the first I’d heard to the contrary. Then again, I’d always gone out of my way to avoid the Wades. The few run-ins I’d had with Beau’s father always skeeved me out a little. I wasn’t sure why, but the guy just gave me the creeps.
I felt my mom’s attention on me and quickly smoothed my expression out, giving her a tight smile as I resumed unloading the grocery bags. The last thing I needed was for her to start suspecting I cared about anything related to Beau Wade.
Chapter Seven
PRESLEY
Past
