Page 107 of Loathe at First Sight

Mom pats me on the shoulder. “Not really. But that’s okay. It doesn’t matter how you start out—only where you end up.”

She gestures over to the small dining room table where we all take a seat.

“So, how long have you been seeing Joseph?” I ask.

She waves her hand at me like it’s a ridiculous question. “Joseph and I are not seeing each other. We just hang out every now and then…sometimes without pants on.”

“You have to stop saying things like that,” I tell her. “But isn’t that what seeing someone is. You hang out…and other stuff?”

She says, “Well, not when you’re doing it with more than one person, I suppose.”

“Who are you?” I practically scream.

Liz is looking back and forth between the two of us like she’s watching the most interesting tennis match she’s ever seen.

“Jackson, you grew up and moved away, and I got a life. Please don’t make a big deal out of this.”

Swallowing down everything else that I want to say at this moment, I decide to just keep my mouth shut. I’m here for my mom’s birthday. No need to ruin it by continuing to harp on her.

Instead, I watch her turn her attention to Liz as the two of them get to know each other a little better.

I spend the rest of the evening completely entranced watching my mom fall in love with Liz. Liz’s wild hair, big smile, and fun energy are all it takes for my mom to see in her what I now see.

I haven’t brought a woman around my mom since I was in high school. None of them were ever serious enough to take the leap. With Liz, it’s different. She somehow has found a way to calm me in a place that is my literal nightmare. Hell, she even managed to make me forget that earlier this very same day, I saw my mom in a position I never hope to see her in again.

Liz and I may have had a rocky start to our relationship, but now that I know her, I can’t minimize how amazing I think she is.

By the end of the night, she and my mom have become fast friends. They even exchanged numbers to keep in touch.

On the way out the door, Mom whispers in my ear that I better not let this one go.

“I don’t plan on it,” I reassure her.

On our way back to the rental car, we walk hand in hand. When I stop walking, I pull her back so that she’s looking up at me.

“Yes?” She says with a smile.

“You’re incredible. Do you know that?”

“Oh, stop.” She rolls her eyes.

“I’m serious. I know that this is probably a really stupid time to say this, but I’m going to say it anyway. I love you. And I’m not just saying that because you impressed my mom. I’m saying it because I’ve been thinking it for a while, and I think it was about time you heard it.”

She looks up at me, and for once, I can’t tell what’s going on in that big brain of hers. My heart feels like it may explode out of my chest as I wait for her reaction.

Finally, she smiles. “I love you, too, Jack.”

I lean down to give her a kiss. When I pull back, in typical Liz fashion, she slaps me on the shoulder. “Now, come on. Let’s go back to the hotel, so you can take me to poundtown.”

thirty-seven

Fake News

Liz

“Hey, Ronnie,” I answer my phone as I struggle to hold it with my full hands. “Can I call you back? I’m a little busy. I told Esther I would help her get the inn ready to sell, and Jack and I just got back from Miami—”

She stops me. “Oh my gosh, you haven’t seen them.”

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