Page 50 of Caffeine & Chaos

“Well, that sounds like a job for a rancher, and I’m sure I’d just get in the way,” she forced a smile, her nerves betraying her as she turned to exit the barn.

“Good day, ma’am,” the young rancher bid her farewell as she stepped out into the late afternoon sunshine.

Pressing herself flat against the side of the barn, Nadia craned her neck to scan the area for any sign of Justin’s presence. She scolded herself inwardly for her jittery nerves. Yes, he was nasty and mean, but she was a grown woman and should be able to stand her ground in spite of him.

She stepped away from the barn and strode down the dirt path to the house. To her relief, Justin was no where in sight. To hell with him if he was too, she told herself indignantly.

Nadia settled herself at the table on the porch, a glass of iced tea and her cell phone before her. The rude messages from her mother were piling up, and she knew she couldn’t keep avoiding them.

“No time like the present,” she muttered to herself, steeling her resolve as she pulled up her mother’s contact information. With a reluctant sigh, she jabbed her finger onto the green call button.

Valentina picked up on the second ring, though Nadia couldn’t help but roll her eyes at her ridiculousness. She most likely already had her phone in her hand, but Valentina lived by her motto: ‘never answer on the first ring, Nadia, it reeks of desperation.’

“It is about time,” Valentina said haughtily.

“Yes, well, I do have a life mother. It’s not the life you wanted me to have, but it does have its own demands, you know,” Nadia snapped back.

“Never mind all of that now,” Valentina declared triumphantly, “I’m so proud of you! I just knew that you had it in you to land a real winner, darling.”

Darling. Valentina could turn on the charm like a faucet when she wanted to, but Nadia was too familiar with her antics to imagine any real warmth there. Clearly her mother had seen the headlines regarding her and Ryan, but Nadia decided to play dumb. “What are you talking about?” she asked.

“You are such a nuisance Nadia, honestly. I hope you don’t play these games with Ryan, he won’t put up with it for long,”

“Actually mother, he happens to like my sense of humor,” Nadia shot back.

“Of course he does darling, what’s not to like? You are a Moore woman after all,” Valentina back tracked, making nice. “I am just so relieved that you dropped that hopeless boy you brought to dinner. He was such a waste of your time, honey.”

Valentina’s casual dismissal of Travis made Nadia’s skin crawl, “even though it didn’t work out, I would prefer you left Travis out of this discussion,” Nadia said coldly.

“Oh Nadia, please. I know you only brought that boy to get under my skin. It is your favourite past time after all. But since I don’t wish to fight with you, I won’t bring it up again,” Valentina conceded, turning her attention to more important matters. “The description of the relationship as casual is fine for now, but you will need to move that to something more exclusive, as soon as possible, of course. Have you given any thought to how you plan to move it forward?”

Nadia groaned inwardly, she was likely already planning the wedding. This was everything Valentina had ever wanted for her, after all.

“I’m not sure it’s too serious, mom,” she lied, smirking as she imagined Valentina’s face turning beet red.

“Is that so?” her mother questioned rhetorically, before sighing heavily, “Listen to me. You’d be a fool to blow this just to spite me.”

“Alright, fine, we have a lot of chemistry and I do have feelings for him. Happy now?”

“I will be once you’ve locked in your future with him,” Valentina circled back to her earlier question, “how do you plan to move it forward? I have some ideas.”

“Oh, I’m sure you do mother,” Nadia sneered, “but I’m not interested in manipulating him into anything.”

“It’s a woman’s right to manipulate a man, Nadia,” Valentina snapped. “Do you think they are all walking around looking to lock themselves into a monogamous relationship? Their brains don’t work like that. You can simply tell him that you don’t want your name scandalized in the papers, after all you are a respectable woman of good stock and have a reputation to consider,” Valentina said.

She was so detached from the emotions tied to romance, so calculated and controlled, it was infuriating. Nadia recognized that it was also futile to argue with her about it or to try to change her mind.

“I’ll think about it. I am getting to know him and enjoying his company. You’ll have to settle for that for now,” Nadia stated, trying to sound final in her resolve.

“Well, I suppose I will, but don’t wait too long, Nadia” Valentina warned, sighing heavily.

As Valentina prattled on about life in New York, Nadia sat on the porch, her gaze drifting to the dirt path stretching between the house and the outbuildings, worn, and weathered from years of use. In the distance, she spotted Melanie making her way up the path, her figure small against the vast landscape. Nadia’s heart skipped a beat as she watched Justin jog up to meet her.

The sight of him sent a surge of anxiety coursing through her veins, her blood pressure rising with each step he took.

As Melanie and Justin conversed, their voices were barely audible over the wind whistling through the trees. Nadia couldn’t help but feel a knot of dread forming in the pit of her stomach, knowing that a confrontation with Justin would be inevitable.

“Nadia?” Valentina’s impatient voice shattered her concentration.

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