Obsession Falls(21)

His gaze swept over the bar in a quick arc. I couldn’t be sure in the dim light, but it seemed like his eyes might have narrowed when he saw me.

I was probably imagining it. But it left a tingle in my stomach just the same.

Actually, Josiah Haven did scare me. But I kind of liked it.

Sandra let out a dramatic sigh. “If only I were younger.”

“You like big burly angry types?”

“Who doesn’t?” She laughed. “The Haven boys are all far too young for me, but I do enjoy looking.”

I watched, twisting in my chair as Josiah stalked to the bar and took a seat. Rocco came over to take his order. I might have been imagining things, but it almost looked like Rocco was watching Sandra watch Josiah—and he didn’t seem too pleased about it.

“I just realized I don’t know if you’re married.” I turned back to Sandra, hoping she didn’t think I was rude for the way I’d been staring at Josiah. “You mentioned that you have kids, but I don’t think you said anything about a husband.”

“Divorced. He thought he could do better elsewhere. Now he’s alone after being divorced twice and yes, I’m very smug about that.”

“That’s too bad.”

“It is. I shouldn’t have married him in the first place but I was young and stupid. You’re smart to wait.”

“Tell that to my mother.”

“Mothers can be opinionated, can’t they? I’ve tried to let my kids live their own lives but it’s not always easy.”

“How old are your kids?”

“My daughter is thirty-two and my son is almost twenty-nine. They’re both married but neither have made me a grandma yet, unfortunately. Hard to keep my mouth shut about that one but I do try.”

“Do they live close?”

“No, they both high-tailed it out of Tilikum as soon as they could. Some people love this place, myself included, but it was too small for them. They both live in the Seattle area. And I don’t mind, although it would be nice if they were close enough that I could pop in and annoy them.”

A hint of jealousy pricked at me. Sandra’s kids had left their hometown and stayed gone.

“I bet your mom is happy to have you living so close,” she said.

“Yeah.” I paused. “She is.”

She tilted her head. “Let me guess. It’s complicated.”

“A little. It could be a lot worse. I’ve known people with real mother horror stories. We get along most of the time. I just can’t help but think she wishes I would have turned out differently.”

“How so?”

“My dad was a politician, so my parents were very image conscious. The most important thing was always how we looked to everyone else in town. And when I was in school, I played into all that. I was an overachiever. You know, the girl who always got good grades and joined all the clubs. I was a cheerleader and in student government. I made them look good.”

“But?” she prompted.

“They had very lofty, and very specific, expectations. They encouraged me to go to college, but then I was supposed to come back to Pinecrest to serve in city government and marry Colin Greaves, my high school boyfriend, so we could be some kind of small-town power couple or something.”

“Obviously you didn’t do that.”

“No. I broke up with Colin and declared I was going to have my own life and it was not going to be anywhere near Pinecrest.” I sighed. “And yet, here I am.”

“Took a hit to your pride in coming back.”

“That’s an understatement. But I was laid off and I couldn’t find a job. Lou was the first person to reply to one of my applications in months. I’m trying not to let that hurt my feelings but it still stings.”

“It’s tough out there. My son was out of work for a while, too.”

“So tough. My old boss was really apologetic when she had to let me go. She kept saying she knew I’d land on my feet, so she wasn’t worried about me. Little did she know.”

“But you did land on your feet. Just not where you expected.”

“I guess that’s true. And it’s probably good for me to be close to my mom for a while. My dad died a couple of years ago, so I know things have been hard for her.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Thanks. It was tough but also not unexpected. His health had been deteriorating for a while.”

“How’s your mom doing with such a big change?”

“She seems fine. Honestly, this might sound terrible, but in a way, I think she’s relieved. My dad wasn’t a bad guy, necessarily, but he wasn’t easy to live with.”

“Wait, Young. Was your dad Darryl Young?”

“Yeah. Did you know him?”

“Not personally. But wasn’t he mayor of Pinecrest for years?”

“Oh yeah. Twelve years, I think.”

“I remember his name being in the paper. Your mom, too, I think. Patrice?”

“That’s her. And yeah, I think press coverage was his favorite thing ever.”

The door opened again and I had to do a double take. Colin? What was he doing here?

“Speak of the devil.”

“Who’s that?” Sandra asked, looking over her shoulder.