“Baloney.” Mom crossed her arms. “You’ve been gloomy since yesterday, and I suspect it has less to do with theBeaconand more to do with a certain young man.”
“Young?” Hannah snorted. “He’s my age.”
“All the more reason to snatch him up. Everyone in town can see he’s gaga for you.”
“Everyone?”
Mom shrugged. “Well, if you’re going to make out on Main Street, you’ve gotta expect an audience. So, what’s the holdup?”
Hannah’s phone pinged with another message from Xander:
I could really use your help. 3 o’clock? 11A Schooner Lane
Hannah quickly tucked her phone away, but not fast enough to escape her mother’s eagle eye.
“Is that him?”
She nodded—because Mom would see through a lie in an instant.
“You know darn well why I can’t date him.”
“Uh-huh,” Mom deadpanned. “Tell me, are you really hung up on your ethics, or are you just scared?”
“Me? Scared?” Courage and determination were her life’s blood. Avoiding Xander had nothing to do with fear. It was just common sense.
Mom tutted. “You haven’t let yourself fall for a guy since Nathan. Who was very nice, by the way.”
“Moo-om.” She cringed inwardly at her whiney, adolescent tone. “He didn’t get me at all. He wanted me to quit working so hard, settle down, and make babies.”
Guilt pinched her painfully. As an only child, her decision to forego motherhood meant that Mom would never be a grandmother—and she would’ve made an excellent grandma.
Mom pulled up a rolling chair, turned Hannah so they sat knee to knee, and grasped her hands. “Listen, this is not about grandbabies. Sure, I’d like one or two, but I have friends’ grandchildren to spoil and your cousins’ kids. What I care about most is your happiness.”
Another pinch, this time closer to her heart. “Not everyone is meant to be paired up.”
“True. Some people get everything they need from work and friends.” She chuckled. “Since your dad left, I find I’ve lost interest in romance. But I had my great love. Even if it didn’t last, I wouldn’t trade those good years for anything.”
Hannah stared agog. After the awful bitterness of their divorce, Mom still held love for her cheating, family-abandoning ex? Inconceivable.
“In my experience,” Mom continued, “most people are happier with a mate. You certainly seemed happier when you were with Nathan. I hate to think you’re putting your heart on hold to save theBeacon.”
Like the good years before Dad left them, the good times with Nathan were something she hadn’t let herself dwell on. She had to protect her heart.
Living with him had been nice. No, that was too wishy-washy a word for what they shared. Their three-year union was comfortable, cozy, safe. She’d liked having someone to come home to, someone to hold her after a hard day. But their balance was off. He wanted to be her main focus.
She’d never recapture that cozy feeling until she found a man as driven as she was, one who didn’t see her passion for journalism as a rival. And maybe that could be Xander, if not for this stupid conflict of interest.
The cruel irony struck her like a slap. Xander probably would understand her in a way Nathan never could because his passionate determination to rebuild his business matched her drive to protect theBeacon. And though he was a thousand percent wrong about dumping the aliens, knowing his family history, she understood why he’d want to change the shop’s focus.
If it weren’t for their botched kiss the other night, she might’ve had a shot at changing his mind about that too.
Mom interrupted her useless mental wheel-spinning with a gentle arm-squeeze.
“It’s your life, darling, and your decision. But let me lay a little old-woman wisdom on you.” She cupped Hannah’s cheek. “All this talk of ethics is a smokescreen. You like that man. He likes you. So get on with it already.”
A phone rang in the back. Almah hollered, “Linda, it’s the mayor.”
Mom pushed to her feet with a faint groan. “Think on it, kiddo.”
