“How long are you going to mope, sweetheart?”
Raven glanced her way. “I’m not moping.”
“So the sad face is for...?”
Raven sighed. Her mother was always so insightful. “I just miss him, that’s all.”
“And you will for the rest of your life if you don’t do something about it.”
“Mama. He needs somebody equally yoked.”
“Do you think you’re not good enough for him?”
“No. I just think he needs someone different.”
“Because you can’t set a fancy table?”
Raven set her eyes on the horse leading them down the road so she didn’t respond in a way that would draw her mama’s ire. “It’s not just about fancy tables.”
“Then what?”
“It’s difficult to explain.”
“Indulge an old woman, and try.”
“I just don’t want my shortcomings in things like fancy tables to reflect badly on him.”
“That’s our turn up ahead,” her mother pointed out.
When they reached it, Raven reined the horse and buggy off the main road and onto a smaller one.
Her mother continued, “You’ve been a chameleon your entire life. Are you saying you can’t be one for that sweetheart of a man?”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, you are smart enough to have posed as any number of people. You’ve done jobs that took courage and guile. Has Brax ever not let you be yourself?”
“No. He’s taken me, rough edges and all.”
“Does he attend or give social events every weekend?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t believe so. At least he didn’t while we were there.”
“So you’d be spending most of your time with him and a small portion with the people in his circle.”
“Yes, I suppose.”
“Then if you want him, you’ll learn the things you need to learn, pretend like it’s a job when you must rub elbows with his circle, and then come home with him and be yourself the rest of the time. Seems very simple from here. There’s Viola. This must be the cabin.”
For a moment, Raven let her mother’s advice sink in. She’d never thought about the problem in that way. And now that she had, her mother was right. It really was simple.
“Having an epiphany, are you?”
Raven chuckled. “I love you so much.”
“You’d better. Now, let’s go see about buying you a home.”
The interior was small. There was only one bedroom but she needed only one. In many ways the size and layout reminded her of the cabin she and Brax had shared in Charleston.There was even a porch for a rocker and the flowerpots she wanted to have. When Viola quoted an easily affordable price, a happy Raven handed over the money and Viola handed her a key.