“Do you like to travel, Brandon?” I ask while trying my hardest to block out the man beside me most definitely chewing wintergreen gum. His kiss would taste incredible right now.
Brandon grimaces. “I used to. But I traveled a ton in my twenties—I’m honestly pretty over it. I’m ready to finally settle in somewhere and just explore my own life around me.”
One Month Ago Annie would be jumping for joy. Current Annie is deflating—especially as I realize I’m not sure what I really want anymore. Who I was and who I am becoming are meeting at an intersection and deciding who should proceed. All I know is, for Brandon getting so many check marks on my Perfect Soulmate List, I don’t feel any physical reactions while sitting beside him.
It doesn’t help that Will leans forward suddenly and addresses Brandon directly and with zero shame for eavesdropping. “But, uh, your girlfriend just said she wants to travel. Surely if she wants to, you’d go with her?”
Oh. My. Gosh!
Discreetly I reach behind me and pinch the back of Will’s arm. His jaw jumps, but he doesn’t retreat like I hoped.
Brandon looks just as startled as I do by this question. He laughs lightly to cover his unease. “Oh, well, she’s not my girlfriend, actually. This is our first date. But, um, I guess if she really wanted to travel we could…figure it out.” The way he says figure it out tells me he’s just being polite. He has zero desire to travel. That’s fine, though, right? I’m fine staying put.
“Great,” Will says in a bland tone.
Amelia—or should I say Joe—sits forward. “You know? I’ve been known to do some traveling m’self. And to sing a few tunes as well. It’s always been a big dream of mine to make it onto the big stage one of these days.”
She’s clearly having too much fun with this. I’m absolutely going to have to murder her later.
“That’s…nice. Don’t give up on your dreams,” Brandon says, and he definitely gets extra points for not immediately shunning these two goons.
I stand up. “I’m so thirsty! Who needs a drink?”
Brandon stands too. “I can go get some bottled waters.” Ugh, he’s so nice.
“No! You sit down. Your nephew is about to bat, so you don’t want to miss it.” And then as I pass Will, I widen my eyes and flare my nostrils at him in a get-your-butt-up kind of way that he doesn’t miss.
“Oh, uh, Joe, I’m going to get us something too. Keep your eyes peeled for Timmy.”
“Well, hurry back now.”
“This is not as charming as you think it is,” I tell Amelia quietly as I pass. She pinches my butt cheek, and now I really hope Brandon isn’t watching.
I storm toward the concession stand with Will following a few feet behind me. When we’re finally out of eyeshot, I whirl around on him. “What in the Mary Poppins do you think you’re doing?! Are you trying to sabotage me? Get in my head? Ruin my date?”
“No,” he says firmly. “You were never even supposed to see us.”
“Oh please,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Joe back there could never go under the radar.”
“I told her to leave the mustache in the truck.”
“William.”
“Annabell.”
“You’re ruining my date.”
He scoffs. “That guy was doing it already.”
“No! Don’t do that.” I wiggle my fingers in front of his face. “You don’t get to say things like that and make me second-guess anything. Brandon is a perfectly nice guy. He’s kind, he wants a family, he wants to put down roots. He wants everything I want. This date was going perfectly, and he’s exactly what I’ve been looking for!”
Will’s blue-gray eyes skewer me, and then he puts his thumb against my chin and tugs it back down. Neither of us say anything for a minute. No need to acknowledge that I didn’t truly mean any of that—we both know it wasn’t true.
Will inches closer so he can talk quietly. “If you want marriage and a family and all of that—fine, great. But don’t try to delude yourself into thinking that you are still happy to settle for an unadventurous vanilla relationship. You’ve been living in this town doing family events your whole life, Annie. You don’t need a husband for that. What you haven’t done yet is see the world. Experience new things. Live by your own desires. And if you settle for someone who’s going to keep you from doing that, I’m going to be very upset.”