Page 71 of Surprised By Her

“You are shameless,” I said, narrowing my eyes at her as she widened them innocently. “You’re just using me to get a commission. I feel so used.”

“ABC, sweetie. Always Be Closing,” she said with a smile.

“You are shameless,” Mom said with a laugh.

“You love it when I’m shameless,” Mama said, reaching for Mom’s hand and then leaning over to kiss her.

“I am begging you not to make out in front of me and Ryan right now,” I said.

“We’re not making out,” Mom said, tearing her attention away from Mama. “Everly, why don’t you give Ryan a tour?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” I said, getting up. “You want a tour?”

“Of course,” Ryan said, rising to her feet. “Thank you so much for the coffee and the food.” She hadn’t touched any of the snacks, so I’d have to talk to her about that when we were alone because if she didn’t eat something, Mama was going to think that it was something she’d done and I would never hear the end of it.

I took Ryan around the downstairs and then pretty much skipped the second floor and took her to the third.

“This is pretty much all mine,” I said. “Perks of being an only child.”

My room was a little messy, but there was no dirty laundry on the floor or anything embarrassing left out.

Ryan looked around the room and I waited to hear what she thought. She walked by the bed and looked at a framed picture of me and my parents on vacation together from a few years ago.

“This room looks like you,” she said finally, facing me.

“Does it?” I asked. I had picked out everything in here and decorated it the way I wanted with lots of color and chaos and fun.

“Your family is great,” she said, sitting down on my bed.

“I’m sorry if Mama was being a little weird about the house thing. She can’t turn her realtor brain off,” I said, joining her.

Ryan shook her head as she stared out my window. “No, it’s fine. I might actually want to find somewhere else. It feels too empty for just me,” she said.

“Yeah, I could see that. This house always feels weird when it’s just me. I love it during the day but at night it makes me nervous,” I said.

She was quiet for a while and I was dying to know what was on her mind.

“Your family is wonderful, Everly,” she said, and I realized there was a tear drifting down her cheek.

“Ryan?” I asked, “what is it?”

She sniffed and wiped her face. “Nothing. It’s nothing.” She still wouldn’t look at me. I used her chin to turn her head.

“Talk to me,” I said.

She took a shaky breath and looked up at the ceiling, as if she was trying to compose herself.

“Your parents love you,” she said in a soft voice. “They love you and they love each other.”

“I know,” I said.

“I don’t know why this is happening,” she said, sniffing again and swiping at her eyes.

“Hey, it’s okay,” I said, putting my arms around her. “You’re allowed to have emotions and you’re allowed to cry.”

Ryan pulled me closer, hugging me so tight it was hard to breathe, but I knew that was what she needed. She might be nearly forty, but those hurts parents inflicted on you for decades didn’t go away just because you were an adult.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice muffled.

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