Page 40 of The Proximity Factor

“It’s no wonder I haven’t really dated since my divorce. It’s not only because I feel like I’m a loser, but I can’t stand the thought of one more person I love letting me down. Then you pair me with Lanie.” I sank into my chair and breathed so heavily in and out, my shoulders lifted and fell dramatically. “She has me feeling things I haven’t felt for a long time. She reminds me I have a life to live. But she also scares me. I guess to sum it up, I’ve learned I have some work to do. What the next six weeks will bring, I don’t know. But I know I can’t keep going on with my life as it is now. You can take that for whatever it’s worth. See you next week.”

I DRAGGED MY SORRY SELF up to the customer service counter after cheer practice on Tuesday afternoon, not ready to go back to Athens yet. “Hi, Mama,” I sighed.

Mama gave me a knowing smile. “That boy has gotten under your skin real good. Come on back here and talk to your mama.”

I stepped up and back behind the counter.

Every customer in the store moved in a little closer. My life was apparently intriguing. Or maybe they thought Mama was going to go all hellfire and brimstone on me since I was living with a man. Honestly, I’m surprised she hadn’t gone more ballistic over it.

Mama waved her hands in front of her. “Y’all mind your own business. Shoo now.”

A collective groan of disappointment went up in the small crowd.

I had to smile. “Don’t worry, I’m sure word will get around.” It always did in Goldenville.

I got several smiles.

“That new fella of yours is the cat’s meow,” Miss Lulu declared before going back to looking at paint samples.

I wanted to say he wasn’t my fella, but I knew it would fall on deaf ears. Besides, it wouldn’t take long for them to see, once I moved back home, that Parker and I were nothing but an experiment gone wrong.

When it satisfied Mama that we could talk freely, she wrapped her arms around me.

My head fell on her shoulder. “I’m fine,” I assured her. “It’s just a little crush.”

“Uh-huh.” She wasn’t buying what I was selling. “I see the way you look at that man.”

My head popped off her shoulder. “How do I look at him?”

She let go of me and tapped my nose. “Like he’s meant to be your grand adventure and you can’t wait to explore.”

I shook my head. “No. How could I know that? We barely know each other.”

Mama patted my cheek. “Darlin’, when you know, you know.”

“I don’t know that,” I stuttered. It was true, I didn’t. But there was a part of me that really wanted to figure Parker out. It was almost primal. I’d never felt like that before.

“Well, I do,” Mama declared.

I stepped back, stunned. “What?”

She shrugged like it wasn’t any big deal. But it was the biggest deal of my life.

“Mama, what are you saying?”

“I’m just saying, when the man walked into my house, I was ready to tear him up. But I got one look at him and that little voice inside that’s never wrong spoke to me.”

“What did it say?”

Her lips ticked up. “It said that’s the one we’ve been waiting for.”

“Are you thinking of getting remarried?” I sassed her, not believing what was coming out of her mouth.

She playfully swatted me. “Not unless Gary LeVox comes a calling.”

“He’s married, Mama, and I hate to say it, but I don’t think Rascal Flatts is ever getting back together again.”

She slapped a hand across her chest. “Don’t say dirty things like that.”

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