Page 25 of Fierce-Hyde

He looked into her eyes. “Can you?”

“I’m not sure where home is,” she said. “It’s the one I make, so I guess I’m always home.”

He’d have to store that away too.

The server came over and took their appetizers away. He’d stopped eating because he wanted to make room for his steak and baked potato.

Tori had pushed her plate aside too.

“They say home is where the heart is,” he said. “Sounds corny, but to me it should be where you feel the most comfortable.”

“I agree,” she said. “I grew up in South Carolina. Just outside of Hilton Head. After college, I moved to Florida. My father is still in South Carolina, but I haven’t talked to him in over ten years.”

“Can I ask why?” he asked.

“Because he never reached out after I turned eighteen. It’s like once I hit that magic number he stepped back. When I realized that, I stopped reaching out to him to see what he’d do.”

“That’s it?” he said. “You just stopped talking and he has no idea why it stopped?”

She laughed, but it wasn’t a funny sound. “No. I’d text now and again, and he’d do the same. Maybe we get one text a year, I don’t even know. But we haven’t talked. Like you, I got a lot of lectures about letting my mother stand on her own two feet. He doesn’t realize his leaving caused a lot of those issues.”

“Do you blame him?”

“No,” she said. “What happened in their marriage is between them. I was young and only knew my mother’s side and it’s one-sided. My point is, we were talking about me not having a home. My mother followed me to Florida years ago. When I moved here she was upset. She’s still upset.”

“Got it,” he said. “She wants you to go back there or she wants to come here?”

“Yes to the first, no to the second. I hope she doesn’t ask to come here, but it’s not like I can stop her either. What I can dois say she can’t move in with me, and when that happens, it’s too hard for her to financially do it.”

“Hopefully she doesn’t bring it up,” he said.

“Here’s hoping,” she said. “So tell me, how did you end up returning home? Or is that something you’d prefer not to share?”

He picked his beer up and took a long drink.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to say it, but if he wanted another date with her, it should come out sooner rather than later.

“My previous girlfriend died and my life went to hell fast, ending with me being fired from my job. Not good first date conversation, is it?”

9

HARD CONVERSATIONS

“I’m trying to decide if I need to put my counseling hat on or not,” she said.

“What is there to decide?” he asked. “Tell me your thought process.”

“Said no man ever,” she said, snickering. “But here you go. You brought it up so that means you are willing to talk about it, but I’m not sure youreallywant to. Or you’re saying it judging to see if I’ll back away and think, wow, this guy has so much baggage it would have been cheaper to buy a second plane ticket.”

She was looking into his eyes as she talked, hoping to see his body language more than his words.

“I wouldn’t have brought it up if I wasn’t willing to talk about it. If you’d rather not, that is your choice, but no judgment. It’s a lot, I know. Just don’t like having secrets.”

She liked he added the last part.

“I want to hear it,” she said. “I’m not one to shy away from hard conversations.”

“I didn’t think so,” he said. “And maybe I was hoping to earn some points with you for a second date.”

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