Page 63 of More Than a Blind Date

Any talk that opens with those words is probably going to go in a direction I won’t like. But I play along. “I know you do.”

“After a lot of thinking, I’ve decided it’s necessary to lay out a few boundaries. And I know you’ll be quick to blame your mother, but this was my idea, so please hear me out.”

“I’m listening.” I make sure my plastered smile hasn’t slipped.

“I don’t like Dallas. He’s a bad influence on you. And I know how much you want to run this location, and I want that for you, but you’ll need to break off your engagement to Dallas and stop seeing him before I’ll agree to letting you run this place.”

Worry had my stomach acids bubbling before. Now fury has them at a rolling boil. “So you want me to choose between working for the family business and Dallas?”

I’m done playing games. My parents don’t need to know that my engagement, which was never real to begin with, disintegrated last night.

Dad shifts his stance. “I wasn’t going to put it like that, but yes.”

I grab my keys and twist the store keys off the ring. “I quit. Here are the keys.”

“You’re choosing Dallas over your family?” The angry edge in Dad’s voice is one I haven’t heard before.

Shaking my head, I stop at the door. “No, Dad. I’m choosing me.”

“Dallas is the one putting all this nonsense in your head. If this is how you are going to behave, you can forget about gettinghelp from us. And until you come to your senses, you aren’t invited to family dinners. We love you, but this is ridiculous.”

“Bye, Dad.” I push through the door, dart to my car, and back out before he has a chance to run after me. Not that he’ll even try to catch me.

Thankfully, Sweets is nearby. I could use a donut or five. And a giant cup of coffee. At least now I know why Dallas ended things. That rat.

The rumor he heard included the part about breaking up in order to get the store. How could he think the store was more important to me than he is?

But jobless, my broken heart is way down on my priority list.

I park in front and see the schedule. Sweets is closed on Mondays. Of course it is. And the barbecue place doesn’t open until eleven. What am I going to do with myself until then?

Ice cream is the answer.

I drive back to the house and serve myself a giant bowl. And I add a few Fritos to the top. This is the day to try new things.

I’m five bites into my snack when a text pops up.

Tandy:What if I bring food to your place, and we can talk there?

Me:Great idea. I’m here. Come whenever.

Tandy:I’ll be there in 15 min.

It’s not anywhere near lunchtime. I must give off desperate vibes even through text.

Fourteen minutes later, she’s knocking on the door.

Tandy sashays into the house. “I brought burgers.”

“What place sells burgers this early in the day?”

She grins. “Any place will if you tip them enough.” She peers into the bag. “Mustard or mayo?”

“Mayo.”

She hands me a wrapped burger. “Start talking. I’m guessing this isn’t a good news bad news sort of discussion.”

“It’s just a lot of bad news.”

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