“Now, you, Martha Ann, you’re gonna simply roll your eyes and ignore the next crude joke you hear. And you, Daphne Claire, you’re gonna mind your mama’s sensitive constitution. See, was that so hard?”
“I’m sorry, hang on a minute,” I say, interrupting Aunt Verna’s speech. “Did you just call herDaphne?”
Claire crosses her arms. “So what if she did,Athanasius?”
My mouth tugs up on one side. “You do know what this means, right?”
“Jeepers, Fred, should I?” she retorts.
“Daphne shrubs make beautiful flowers,” I drawl, grazing a finger over her tattoos and making her do that fluttery-eyelash thing I love so much.
“It’s my great-grandmother’s name, the one you met at the sixtieth anniversary party,” she declares in a gravelly voice, pulling her arm out of my reach and lifting her chin.
She’s probably thinking no one’s noticed the way I affect her, but I know the truth. And I’m hoping that by helping Claire work out some of her issues with her family, I’ll have finally earned her trust. So she might actually believe me once I work up the courage to tell her I love her.
Then again, I could be wrong.
The ride home is much too quiet. I’m not sure what I’ve done, but Claire’s barely acknowledged me since we packed Frankie and Oscar into the truck. And although she doesn’t seem angry with me, I can tell I’ve hit a nerve at some point tonight.
“Is everything okay?” I ask after a while.
“Fine,” she says shortly, scrolling on her phone.
I sigh. “You’re not fine. Can we please just cut to the chase so you can tell me what’s really bothering you?”
“No,” she replies. “I’d actually prefer not to leave you with the impression that you’re the answer to all my problems.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She growls and puts her phone down. “It means you need to buttout. You forced me into so many uncomfortable situations today that I lost count.”
“Are you mad at me for convincing you to see your parents, even after you had that big breakthrough?” I ask incredulously.
She hesitates before she says, “I am. I’m also annoyed because you can’t keep your hands to yourself every time we’re around your family—or mine, for that matter. They all think we’re some mushy, lovey-dovey couple, which also means they assume I’ve been seducing you and treating you like my sex slave.”
I bite my lip to stifle a laugh, although the urge to tell her I’m not opposed to any of that is just as strong. “So you’re upset because I like you.”
“Yes, because I told you not to. And because you basically gave your niece ‘the talk’ and left her with the false hope of serving in our imaginary wedding.” She has to pause for a minute and collect herself before she goes on. “Then you practically did the same thing at my parents’ house, right before you helped them figure out that I can’t have kids. You know Verna’s never going to let me live any of this down.”
My expression falls. “I’m sorry. Well, not about liking you or flirting with you, but I am sorry for the last part. I should have been more careful not to out you to your family, and I could have spoken more kindly to your mom. I guess I got a little too overprotective.”
“But I’m not yours to protect!”
“That’s not how I see things,” I mumble.
She growls in frustration. “You’re not getting it, Rowan. You can’t keep wasting your time with me. For all we know, you’re missing out on finding the girl you’re supposed to marry because you’re chasing a dead end.”
“The time I spend with you is never wasted,” I reply evenly, determined to show her how patient I can be.
“Your sisters were right, and you know it,” she mutters.
“I don’t know exactly what you overheard earlier, but my sisters don’t know anything about us, and neither does your Great-Aunt Verna,” I argue. “I’m here with you because I want to be near you,because I enjoy your company, not because I feel sorry for you or for myself, and not because I’m trying to trap you in a relationship with me. But I honestly think you like me, too, even if you’re too afraid to admit it. And I don’t know when you started caring so much about what people think, anyway.”
She crosses her arms and stares out the window. “I’m sorry. I enjoy your company, too. But that’s not enough, and I don’t see the point in torturing ourselves when we both know how this ends.”
I huff and shake my head as I turn into her driveway. “There you go again, putting words in my mouth because you want me to say something that will make you feel better about keeping your heart locked away.”
“I don’t want to hurt you. But I keep saying the same things, and you’re not hearing me.”
