So, what to do with the rest of her weekend? At four o’clock on a Sunday in Seattle, a woman could do just about anything. Erin had decided to bake Smith cookies.Oh yeah, I’m a rabble rouser, all right.
She swallowed a sigh, allowing herself to become the new Erin by increments. Still a lady, but one who intended to own her sexuality, Erin planned on having sex if it felt comfortable, whether or not she planned on dating her partner. It would be safe but fun, and she refused to feel guilt afterwards.
Considering the only man in the city she knew of—not counting despicable Cody—was Smith, she wondered if she ought to go out and expand her horizons. But who could she ask to introduce her around? The question bothered her while she worked, so she turned toward other avenues of change.
Social life—working on it.
The job—time to get a few more editing clients.
Cooking show—request to use Tilly’s kitchen and hope she says yes.
Family—answer the phone.
“Hello?” she answered as she finished placing the baked cookies on a tray to cool.
“Erin? It’s Mom.”
“Hi, Mom.”I will be patient. I will. And I will get her to treat me like an adult.“How are you?”
“Oh fine, honey. I just thought I’d check in.” As she’d checked in the day before. And the day before that.
“Mom, we talked less when I lived down the street from you.”
Her mother laughed. “I know. I just miss my baby.”
Erin rolled her eyes. “What’s new in Colby?”
Twenty minutes of small-town gossip from the dentist’s office, where her mother worked as a hygienist, followed by another fifteen minutes of her father’s antics at the hardware store he managed, had given the cookies enough time to cool.
Erin tested one and moaned.
“What did you say?” her mother asked.
“Just tasting one of the cookies I baked for my neighbor.” And kind-of-not-really lover.
Hmm. Should she ask Smith to volunteer his time and body for her sexuality self-help project? Or should she ask him to introduce her to friends? He hadn’t said anything to her since their mutual kissing on the couch. She took that as a sign of disinterest.
Just as she started to feel a tinge of embarrassment for her behavior, she knocked the shame away. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Instead, she’d taken charge of her life and had fun for once.
“Erin? Erin, are you there?”
She realized she hadn’t heard anything her mother had been saying. “Oh, sorry. I think I lost you for a minute.”Due to my girl power fantasy.“What did you say, Mom?”
“I asked about your neighbor. Are you making friends? Have you talked to Cody since you broke it off with him?”
“No.” She’d given her mother a brief explanation about Cody, mostly stating she’d made a mistake, not that Cody had been two-timing her. Bad enough her mother now knew she’d been right about Cody not being the man for her daughter. Erin didn’t want to compound her mother’s I-told-you-so moment by letting her know she’d been correct about his loose character too. “Cody and I are done, I think. It’s for the best.”
“The best. Right.” A large pause. “When are you coming home?”
“Mom, we talked about this. Seattle is my new home. I want to see what it’s like to live in the big city, away from family for a while. I need to be independent.”
“But you can still be independent here. You could move to cousin Edna’s apartment, the one over her garage? She’s on the other side of town.” A whole fifteen minutes away. “Bob? Bob, come here. It’s Erin on the phone.”
Erin sighed. Great. Now she had to talk to her father again. She loved her parents, but they acted as if she was still in high school. Her father refused to believe his youngest daughter could live on her own. At least her mom trusted her to be able to balance a checkbook and fend for herself.
“Erin,” her father said as he took the phone from her mother. “How are you, honey? We miss you. When are you coming home?”
“I’m not, Dad. I’m good here.”
