Page 51 of Stay with Me

I wonder what charity she’s working on now. No one can deny she has a knack for raising money and throwing outstanding events. It’s why she’s always asked to be on some type of committee.

“Hey, honey. I’m so happy to see you,” she coos as she looks up at me.

I kiss her cheek, then turn my attention to what she’s working on. Something on the top page catches my attention. I pick up the page to read a little more.

“What are you working on?” I ask.

“It’s a charity event for one of the youth centers. They’re losing their funding. The biggest donor had a fatal accident.

“For whatever reason he didn’t write the charity into his final wishes. Then there’s the unfortunate mess with the director who ran off with what funding was left. Those poor children don’t deserve any of this.

“I’m going to do my best to raise some money for them and I’m going to personally find them a new director. Someone with a heart for them and their well-being,” she replies.

“That fucking sucks. Have the police tracked down the thief? Are they sure nothing was in the will?

“It sounds a bit shady to me. I could look into it if you want,” I offer.

“Your father is right. You will always be a detective at heart. They are investigating, but these children need help now.

“I’ll let the police handle all of that. My goal is to make things right for the center. It used to be such a nice resource in the community.”

“How’d you hear about it? This isn’t a part of town you would frequent.”

“Madison told me about it. She used to volunteer there. Then she joined the staff for a while once she received her degree,” she replies.

“Oh, the counselor with the little laugh,” I muse aloud.

I remember her from the party. A bit too shy for me. I did get the feeling mom was trying to push her on me.

“Yes, she did make an impression then.”

I knew it. As soon as I caught on, I made sure to steer clear of her. Mom loves playing matchmaker. She’s gotten worse now that Bishop is married with kids.

“I was hoping you two would have hit it off, but you took more interest in Harper. How did that go? Have you two been out on a date?”

“Who?” I furrow my brows.

“The brunette with the pretty smile. Harper. You chatted her up quite a bit at the party.”

“Oh, yeah. We went on one date. It was a bust. Not my type,” I mutter.

Mom sighs and turns to look up at me. Oh boy, I didn’t come here for this. I thought she would be after me about the job, not my dating life.

“Honey, maybe if you found someone to settle down with, you’ll see you don’t need to be out there chasing bad guys. Things didn’t work out with Harper, that’s fine. I didn’t think they would.

“Maybe I can set something up with Madison. Yes, she’s soft spoken, but I think you will like her once you get to know her.”

“Mom, I’m already interested in someone else. I don’t want to be set up.”

“Your father is right. You’re still seeing Reminisce.”

I drag a hand down my face. “Yeah, well. No. I mean, it’s complicated,” I say in frustration.

“Can you explain it to me?”

“I don’t know. I can try.”

She stands from her chair and leads me over to the sofa in the room. She pats the seat beside her the way she used to do when I was little and she wanted to have a talk with me. I remember those talks like they were yesterday.

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