Page 42 of What If I See You

“Mom!”

“And I suppose now you think you don’t need a job or a name for yourself because you’ll just mooch off this man? Do you even have a plan?”

“Yes, Mom. For now, I’ll be working on my book while?—”

“Oh, my God, Layken. Get your head out of the clouds!” she shouts. “Writing your books does not pay the bills. It’s not a stable line of work. It’s not respectable. You need stability. You need structure. Did he make you sign a prenup?”

“What?” I rear back even though she can’t see me over the phone. “No.”

“Well, that’s good at least. When he leaves you, you’ll get a large sum of his money.”

“Mom! I don’t want Griffin’s money! That’s not why I married him.”

Of course, this would be the moment Griffin walks through the door with dinner in his hands. I can feel his eyes on me while he sets our dinner on the small table in the corner of his living room.

“Oh? Then please, tell me, daughter, why you ran off with the man for the weekend and came back married to him?”

“Because I love him, Mom.” My cheeks flush when I say the words out loud. It’s weird saying it when I don’t really mean it and I instantly feel guilty.

“Oh, I’m sure you do, Layken. I’m sure you do.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“And just when are we going to get to meet this mystery husband?”

“He’s not a mystery Mom. His name is Griffin Ollenberg. Look him up if you want to. And I don’t know when you’ll get to meet him because he’s in the middle of his season and we’ll be traveling a lot.”

“So, no time to visit your parents but you certainly had the time to get drunk and create a night of bad decisions for yourself.”

Taking a deep breath, I pull my shoulders back and tell Mom exactly what she needs to hear. “Mom, marrying my literal soulmate was not a bad decision. I would make the same decision over and over again if given the chance so I suggest you get used to the fact that your daughter is married now. I’m sorry it wasn’t in the cookie-cutter way you had always dreamed of, but thanks anyway for being happy for me. Now if you’ll excuse me, my husband has dinner ready and I’m not going to disappoint him by letting it get cold. Goodbye, Mother.”

I tap the button to end my call and toss my phone onto the couch. Then I blow out a breath and deflate against the cushions.

“Literal soulmate huh?” Griffin says with a sympathetic smile.

I raise my hand to silence him. “Don’t even start with me.”

“You should put all that in a book.” He gestures in a circular pattern. “All that you just said. The cookie cutter stuff. That was good.”

“Thanks, I guess.” It’s an odd feeling taking a compliment from Griffin. In any other instance, he’s right. I love reading books where the characters so easily profess their love for each other. And one day I hope to find my soulmate. The man who loves me for who I am instead of someone I’m forced to be to appease my parents. One day I’ll find my happily ever after, but I don’t think that day is today. I’m hardly Griffin’s type.

Not when there are gorgeous Barbie-type women willing to fall at his feet in any town he plays in.

He offers me a hand off the couch and I take it, letting him pull me to my feet.

“I meant it, you know. You’re good with words. You shot her down better than I would have had I been talking to my parents.”

We sit together at the small dining table and Griffin opens the box of tacos from one of our mutually favorite restaurants. The savory smell wafting through the air makes me salivate.

I grab a tortilla chip from the bag and dip it into the nearby queso. “Tell me about your family,” I say, popping the chip into my mouth and reaching for my first taco.

“I’m not really sure you want to hear what I have to say about my family.”

“Uh oh, why is that?”

He takes a bite of his taco. “Because my family and I are really close.”

I gasp and smile, “You are?”

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