Page 113 of Tangled Up In You

"Yes. I'm not sure how long she'll be here."

"Probably until she persuades you to go to Paris with her."

His dark-blue gaze settled on hers, and she could see a mix of emotions in his eyes. "I'm sure that's part of her strategy." She blew out a breath. "Are you angry, Adam?"

He gave her a long look. "Should I be?"

"I don't know. My mother dropped a bomb at dinner last night, and I'm sure you have an opinion."

"Do you want my opinion?"

She really wasn't sure. "I—yes. I would like your opinion."

He shook his head. "That wasn't at all convincing, Molly. Why don't you tell me what your opinion is? Your mother sold Paris hard."

"She does everything with full force."

"You're like her in that way. Whatever you're doing, you put all your energy into it." He paused. "You're just getting started, Molly. Your business is doing well, but it can grow a lot more. You already have good friends, but you have many more to meet. You could have a life here. I know you think roots can hold you back, but you've been flying your entire life. Maybe your new adventure is to stay somewhere, build something that will last."

"I'm not sure I can do it," she murmured.

"Maybe you won't know until you try."

"What if I try and I fail, and Paris is long gone?"

"You'll get there another way. There's always another way. Except for death, the chance of starting over is always there." His lips tightened. "But I can see why you have a hard time turning down your mother. She is very persuasive. I almost wanted to go to Paris with her."

She gave him a small smile. "She always makes the new adventure sound great, and most of the time it is. Even when it's not, like the time we moved to Florida, and the apartment we rented didn't exist. We ended up sleeping in a hostel, but then we met these two musicians. They were traveling to Nashville. We ended up going along and my mom got a job in their music video. It all worked out. She always makes things work out."

"How old were you then?"

"Ten or eleven. I can't remember."

"Do you think you missed out on anything because you traveled all the time?"

"Yes. I know my mom didn't do the best job raising me. I had no bedtime. I was around a lot of people who drank and smoked and did God knows what. But she loved me, and I loved her. We had fun. We were there for each other."

"Are you sure you weren't the one who was always there for her?"

She frowned. "You always ask the difficult questions."

"I just think she shortchanged you."

"I was there for her more than she was there for me," she admitted.

"And this trip to Paris. Is it really for you? Or does she just need you to be there for her? Or is there something else behind it?"

"I think she's afraid that I'll want to stay in Whisper Lake, and that I'll never take another trip with her. She doesn't want to lose me."

"You each need to have your own lives. And you like it here, don't you? I thought you said that having your own business was a dream of yours."

"Paris was a dream, too." She didn't know why she was arguing. She didn't disagree with him. But they were talking about more than Paris, about more than Whisper Lake. They were talking about their relationship; they were both too afraid to admit it. "I need to think about it all."

His expression filled with disappointment. "Well, if you need to think about it, you've probably already decided."

"That's not true, and I don't like the pressure of having to come up with a decision on your timetable."

"And I don't like having a relationship with someone who can't commit."

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