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They weren’t wrong about that.

The truck returned to the station. No other calls came in. The shift was so uneventful that Jace couldn’t be blamed for taking some time while he ate lunch to check Marlowe’s social media. Her status said single. That was surprising. Every photo highlighted her beauty, self-confidence, and playfulness.

A bunch of pictures showed her with graduates from Lark Springs High. It was interesting to catch up on what people were doing. That’s the only reason he spent so much time scrolling through her feed.

She posted a message that she was searching for someone who wanted to make a little cash by spending three hours with her grandma every Wednesday night. Light duties, she wrote. Mostly just talking to the sweetest lady in town.

Well, that was almost deceptive advertising. Light duties in this case included keeping said sweet old lady off the roof and away from hornets’ nests.

Jace’s phone pinged with a text from his mother. She’d sent a picture of her with one of her friends and a twenty-something woman smashed between the two. The younger woman had straight brown hair, a high forehead, and glasses that looked too large for her face. She smiled in a forced, uncomfortable way.

A text from his mother came through. Remember how I told you about Donna’s daughter, Yvette, who’s visiting for the summer? She’s a nice girl and almost done with her master’s in accounting. While they were over here, Lucas came to the house, and I mentioned he had an identical twin brother who was single. She seems very interested. I’m forwarding you her picture and her number so you can ask her out.

Jace let out a long sigh. He never should have told his family that he and Jennifer were taking a break. They’d never liked her, and his mother had immediately come up with a list of people that Jace should date.

He didn’t want a summer fling, let alone a six-week one.

Was Yvette still at the house waiting for a response? Did his mother not understand how awkward she made things by setting up expectations? No wonder Yvette looked so uncomfortable in the picture.

While Jace was deciding whether or not to pretend he hadn’t seen his mother’s text, Lucas messaged him.

Just a heads up, I would pass on Yvette. The girl can drone on for an amazing amount of time about the differences between accrual versus cash accounting.

Jace wrote back Are you still at the house? Can you take Mom aside and tell her to stop?

Lucas: Sorry, bro. I left during Yvette’s discourse on audit trail maintenance. But speaking of dating, I can set you up with one of Riley’s roommates. Annie is a nurse. The two of you could talk about blood and gore or whatever it is you medical people discuss when you’re together.

So his brother was at it too. Great. When had he become a project?

Jace: Annie sounds like a fun dinner conversationalist. I’ll pass on her as well.

Lucas: I didn’t say that’s what she talked about. Just that you could if you wanted to.

Was this what the entire summer would be like—his family constantly throwing women at him? What was the best way to put an end to this?

He sent another message saying, Got to get back to work. See you at dinner tonight.

Carson, their older brother, had a few weeks before football training started again, and he’d come home for a visit with his wife, Olivia. Their mother was preparing a big family dinner.

Maybe his mom would be so excited to see Carson and Olivia that she’d forget about Jace for a while. Lately she’d taken to dropping hints about how fun it would be to have grandchildren.

Jace probably didn’t have to worry.

It was a nice theory, anyway.

CHAPTER 3

Dinner at Jace’s parents’ house went well enough. Yvette was nowhere around, and the conversation stayed on safe topics. His little sister, Elsie, had come home for the weekend to see her brothers. Although really, since Elsie had never had a sister, she was happier to see Olivia than any of them.

Carson was full of stories about NFL personalities and spent a good portion of the meal talking with Lucas about the Riverside Inn, an investment he’d bought a year ago. Lucas worked as the manager there, keeping the business in the black. Carson also owned a luxury cabin an hour away and had tasked Lucas with renting that out as well. Nice safe topics.

Jace’s two brothers were so effortlessly extroverted that he found himself reverting to the place he’d always had in the group, the quiet brother. The one who usually stayed in the background. It didn’t bother him that much. At least not tonight.

But then after dinner, the family moved to the living room, and the conversation morphed into an intervention about Jennifer. Oh, it started out as a generalized discussion about the importance of getting to know many different types of women before settling down, but it quickly became a treatise on all of Jennifer’s faults.

Jace slouched deeper into the black leather couch while his mother paced in front of the fireplace like she was preparing for a TED Talk on “Terrible Girlfriends and the Sons Who Love Them.”

“I’m just saying,” his mom said, her voice gentle but insistent, “if a woman can’t be bothered to speak with me without checking her phone four times, she might not be the one.”