Dangerous.
Everything in a man she despised.
So why can’t I stop thinking about him?
A deer ran into the road and froze right in front of her. Her heart rocketed up into her throat and she slammed on the brakes. “Jesus Christ!”
Her phone went flying. Her bag flew off the front set, spilling all of her clothes into the floor board. Her venti latte shot out of the cup holder and exploded over everything. Her clothes, the dashboard, her.
Fingers numb from the death grip she had on the steering wheel, Kate stared through the dripping coffee in shock at the large doe as she bounced off into the woods on the other side of the road like a near death experience hadn’t just happened.
“Katherine Elizabeth!”
Her attention jerked to her feet, where her cell lay next to the gas pedal, having momentarily forgotten all about her mom. She snatched the phone back to her ear in time to hear her rant continue, “You do not use the Lord's name in vain. I'm going to have to add you back to the prayer list at church, and all the ladies at Bible Study will be asking me what you did this time.”
“I almost had a wreck, Mom.”
“Not an excuse. There are plenty other nice young ladies out there who don't use curse words when they're upset.” If Mrs. Georgia Elise were ever held up, she'd probably lecture the person holding her at gunpoint on manners.
“Sorry, mom.” She stuck her phone between her ear and shoulder and reached for her bag, praying her clothes weren’t ruined. She pinched a shirt and lifted, her hope dying as the dark coffee dripped from the button up and into all of the equally wet clothes beneath it.
Ruined. Everything she’d bought for the training was completely ruined.
“Are you okay? You didn't really have a wreck, did you? Do I need to send your father?”
Fighting off a mild panic attack, Kate said, “It's okay, it was just a deer.”
“There should be a law against those animals. Your sister had one actually run into the side of her car last week. Little Robbie was in there too, scared my poor grandbaby to death. Nearly gave us both a heart attack.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
“No, thank heavens. They'd just pulled to a stop.”
Kate slapped her lips together. Her mother freaked out about a deer hitting her sister’s parked car when Kate could've died. She sighed...and so the world turns, her mother would never change and Kate would never be the perfect daughter.
Kate used the small dry portion of her jacket sleeve to wipe her face dry, leaning up to glance into the rearview mirror, only to groan. Great. She had to go train withhimand not only was her power suit soaked, her hair was plastered to her temples.
“Anyway, the reason I called was to tell you that your sister is pregnant! Isn't that wonderful? I'm going to be a grandmother.”
“Mom, that's her fourth kid. You're already a grandmother.” Her little sister had done the dutiful thing, marrying a nice local farmer and settling down a mile from her parents’ house, proceeding to pop out kids left and right and stay home and raise a family.
Georgia huffed. “Oh Kate, if you had children you'd know that every single one of them is special and precious and the most wonderful gift God could ever give us. Why you must deny me that joy, I haven't figured out.”
Kate shut her eyes for a moment, trying to block out her mother and her desires. If only she'd been born complacent and happy with her lot.
Kate opened her mouth, ready to cut the conversation short, but she had no hope of stopping this roller coaster. Her mom had already started the downhill swoop and she wouldn't stop until she hit the end.
“Your sister's husband won Farmer of the Year for Cleburne County, and you know what? They come over to eat every Sunday after church. I get to see them all the time.” Her mother's voice wobbled and Kate sighed. “And I don't stay awake at night worrying about her safety.”
Kate bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. She'd have to rideit out or hang up on her mother altogether, something that would earn Georgia's unending animosity.
“Honey, it’s just that I want you to get out those books and start trying to live a little. You’re a beautiful woman, even if it’s not with Matt, I wish you’d at least try dating. Your child bearing years are narrowing by the minute.”
Definitely time to nip this conversation in the bud. “Mom, listen—”
“You can’t put me off forever.”
Leaning her head back against the head rest, Kate stared blankly at the overgrown trees and dirt road stretching out in front of her. She was literally sitting in the middle of a gravel road in the middle of nowhere listening to her mother lecture her on approaching spinsterhood.
