Hooked by Brenda Rothert

Author:Brenda Rothert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Loveswept
Published: 2016-12-06T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Miranda

Paige drives us home in the beat-up Honda she’s had since high school. She gives up on conversation after about half an hour and turns on music instead. I’m not ready to talk about the way I left things with Jake because I’m still replaying our conversation in my head and thinking about it. But even after a few hours, I’m still not any clearer on anything.

It had seemed like a good time to put our cards on the table. I figured if he met my family he’d find a reason to bolt, but I hadn’t expected him to say he’d rather not meet them at all.

“Not a word about Jake,” I tell Paige as she pulls up in front of our parents’ home.

“Got it.”

She doesn’t press me, probably because she knows I’ll tell her about things in my own time.

My mood lightens as soon as we walk inside the house. It feels good to be back at the home I grew up in. I’ve missed my mom’s warm laugh and my dad’s corny jokes.

Jake creeps back into my thoughts, though. As my family gathers around the table in my parents’ tiny dining room, sitting elbow to elbow, I think about Jake alone in his massive suite at the Dupont.

We haven’t spoken since our argument Monday. He texted me yesterday but I didn’t respond. I decided I need some distance. If I open myself up to a man who doesn’t want to open himself up in return, I’ll end up hurt again.

“Are you girls seeing anyone?” my aunt Maryanne asks me and Paige.

I shove a roll into my mouth and look at Paige expectantly. She kicks me beneath the table.

“No,” she says, drawing a collective groan of disapproval.

“Are all the men up there sickos?” Uncle Jerry asks.

I’ve swallowed my food, so I clear my throat and take this one. “No, they’re not all sickos. I mean, some of them are, but—”

“Has anyone gotten fresh with you?” Uncle Jerry demands. “Because if they have, I’ll come up there and—”

“No,” I assure him. “We’re fine. Both of us are in school and working, you know. We just don’t have time for dating.”

Grandma Sandy throws her hands in the air. “Well, you girls aren’t getting any younger! Your parents want grandbabies.”

“Someday,” my mom says. “We’re very proud of the girls for working their way through school.”

“Not in my day,” Grandma Sandy says, shaking her head so hard her gray curls bounce. “No, thank you. I was proud to be a wife and mother. That should be enough.”

Paige sighs heavily.

“Is there pecan pie?” I ask.

Mom is trying not to smile at my effort to avoid this conversation with her mother-in-law.

“Yes. And pumpkin and cherry, too.”

“One of each for me,” Paige says.

“Are you girls eating enough?” Grandpa Will asks.

“Of course,” Paige tells him. “Don’t worry about us.”

I pick up an empty bowl from the table and follow my mom into the kitchen. After I set it on the counter, I stare out the window over the sink for a couple minutes.

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