“It’s fucking ridiculous that if we tell my family we’re engaged, they won’t give you the time of day either,” I add.
“If we . . . what?”
“We’ve been dating for a year,” I say slowly.
This could work.
I broke up with Vanessa a year and a half ago. I’ve taken a few solo trips while I worked through it all.
Amanda eyes me the same way I should be eyeing myself right now. “I’ll set the record straight as soon as Grandma’s home tonight. But I wanted to tell Lorelei—you—before you heard it from someone else. Because the whole Jingle Bell Fest committee might’ve heard. And then kicked me out while they tended to Grandma’s heart—indigestion.”
“When was your last serious boyfriend?” I ask.
“Psh.My roommate is the best friend a girl could ask for, and I get to spend my days with dogs and my nights exploring the city. Who needs a boyfriend?”
“Your family knows that?”
“They don’t always believe me, but I also haven’t dated anyone in—why are you smiling? What’s going on? What’s with the questions?”
“Days with dogs ... Are you a veterinarian? What happened with acting?”
Her mouth works like she doesn’t know what to answer first, and then she sighs. “I’m a dog walker,” she grumbles out. “And I love it. I do. I just—my family doesn’t understand why I love it so much. As for being an actress, it wasn’t—let’s just say the stage and I are soulmates, but the rest of the gig wasn’t in line with my personality.”
A protective streak sparks to life inside of me. “Did someone—”
“No. No. No one hurt me. It just—the constant rejection, the uncertainty, and sometimes the personalities of the cast and crew. I have the world’s best roommate now, and I made enough connections when I was trying to break into the theater that I was able to get hiredby a company that only services high-end clients. But I’m stilljust a dog walker. Not areal job. Of course I cangive that up for my family.”
Protectiveis rapidly morphing intofury. “That’s what they said to you?”
“More or less. But for real—one of my cousins is a cancer researcher. The other is doing amazing things as mayor of his wife’s hometown in Oregon. My brother just got a job at a high-end bakery in Italy after eloping himself. Being a dog walker ... it sounds lame in comparison.”
“Does it make you happy?”
“Yes.I love my job. I’m outside all day, every day. My dogs are hilarious and fun, and they’ve introduced me to so many amazing people. I can pay my bills and have time to be involved in my neighborhood and there’s a never-ending supply of new things to see and do in the city, and—I know it sounds silly, but when I’m in New York, I’m just—I’m where I was meant to be. And Iamacting. We just restarted a community theater, and we’re about to have auditions for our first show.”
My mind is made up.
We’re doing this. “We should stay engaged.”
Her eyes go comically round.
Relatable. I’m goggling at myself internally too. This isn’t like me.
It’s not like me at all.
But then, itislike me to dislike coming home more every time I do it. And that’s not a recipe for happiness.
“Dane, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—” she starts, but I interrupt her.
“How stupid is it that our families are holding on to a generations-long fight when no one knows what it’s about anymore?”
She doesn’t immediately answer.
“Do you know what it’s about?” I press.
She shakes her head, and there’s something firm enough in it that I believe her.
“I don’t either. And it’s fucking ridiculous. You like Lorelei. She likes you. You should be able to visit her when you’re in town withoutclimbing through a back window while you hope the neighbors don’t notice. So we stay engaged. We make our families work together if they don’t want to lose both of us. We end the damn feud. Are you in? Or do I have to tell Lorelei you broke my heart because your family didn’t approve? You know she’s likely heard by now. It’s how Tinsel works.”
