“I’m going to the country music festival at the beach with Dani. As much as I love concerts, I’d rather sleep in and lay low this weekend.” Dani’s family owns the local country music radio station, and they work with a ton of artists to put together concerts and festivals. The entire town has been buzzing about this one with Mason Hall and Sutton Wright.
“You say you’ll sleep till late, but you’ll get up early anyway. You’ve always been that way.”
“Eh, one day I’ll surprise you,” I joke.
“I birthed you, I know you too well,” she teases.
“Oh, whatever.” I roll my eyes and take a bite of lasagna.
She’s right, though, she does know me well. Sometimes I hate it because it doesn’t give me time to process when I’m feeling upset since she picks up on my mood.
If I’m not careful, she’ll pick up on my crush on Nate and tell the whole town her daughter and the new deputy are getting married. She exaggerates things like that, and I’m usually the victim of her elaborate misunderstandings.
“That new deputy is quite handsome.” Her eyes gleam as if she was reading my mind. I look around the dining room in case there’s a tap to my brain that feeds information to my mom.
“What?” My eyes widen.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed. I was at the market the other day talking to Shelly, and we saw him walk in wearing his uniform. Oh, boy, what a hunk.” My mom fans herself, and I don’t know if to laugh or be horrified by this conversation.
“Ew, mom, he’s like thirty years younger than you and you’re married to Gary!”
“Not for me, for you! You need a man like that who can protect you.”
“Here we go…” I mumble.
“It’s true.”
“You overdo it in your mind, Mom.”
“Look at what happened to your father.” She frowns.
“Mom, what happened to Dad was an unfortunate accident. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. No one expected that criminal to be loose and with a weapon.” I shake my head, hoping she finally gets it.
My dad’s death is a terrible case of the justice system gone wrong when a criminal was given time off for good behavior and then committed murder.
Taking a deep breath, I scoot my chair back and clear the plates.
“I brought brownies from Sprinkles of Joy. I’ll go grab them.”
I head into the kitchen, breathing evenly as I rinse the plates and place them in the dishwasher. I may not remember my dad, but his death is something that has haunted me my whole life.
Shaking those thoughts away, I grab the box of brownies and smile as I return to the dining room with the delicious dark and gooey chocolate treat. Avery makes the best desserts.
“Brownies and wine?” I smirk as I hold up the box.
“My favorite combination,” she says, and I see a glimpse of the sadness lift. “I still think dating that new deputy would be good.” She winks.
“Mom, I just broke up with Sean a few months ago. I am taking a break from relationships.”
“Sean was never good enough for you.” She scoffs. “But a man like that deputy would be.”
Just when I thought I’d stop thinking about Nathan Moore so I can do my job without making it more complicated than it already is, my mom pokes the sleepy bear of attraction trying to hibernate.
Chapter 9
Nate
“Imaybeworkingwith kids now, but I sure don’t miss the calls about neighbors bickering and complaining about one another over stupid things,” I tell Luke, my co-worker, as we walk toward the boardwalk.