Page 47 of Burning Love
“Mom,” she said, sighing. “Have I ever done that before? I’m not going to spend my time with someone that I don’t like just to get under someone’s skin.”
“True. You did take a lot of beer. Is this guy an alcoholic?”
She rolled her eyes. “Noooooo. I don’t know which ones he likes. I just took one or two of a bunch of kinds. In the three dates we’ve had, he’s had no more than one beer at a time and one time he didn’t have any.”
“I’ll trust you.”
“Thank you. But something tells me you really don’t.”
“That’s not true, Talia. I’ll admit you’re my baby and the last one home. I know you’ll leave at some point.”
“You worried I’d move to New York, didn’t you?”
“I did. I had hoped not, but I knew you’d be fine there. Part of me feels in my heart it’s not the place for you though.”
“It’s not. I don’t mind visiting. That’s exciting and fun, but not for me. I don’t like the small town vibe thing with Elias either. Not even Foster.”
Her brother Foster lived in Merrick on Long Island. An hour from New York City but still a small town vibe.
“You like where we are. It’s a big enough city for you to find everything you are looking for, right?”
“I do. That doesn’t mean I’ll stay here forever. I can work anywhere, but for now, I want to stay close to my mom. Is that wrong of me?”
It was as if her mother needed to hear that. “No, sweetie. It’s not. You can stay as long as you want. The house is going to be lonely when you move out, but I know the day will come.”
“Not too soon, don’t worry.”
“As long as I continue to give you your space,” her mother said. “Got it.”
She laughed. That couldn’t have worked out any better.
15
CAUTIOUS ABOUT WHO YOU DATE
“That’s a lot of beer.”
“Too much?” Talia asked on Tuesday. She’d sent a picture of a few cans and said she picked some up when she was visiting Elias, but it didn’t show she had a case of it that she brought over today.
“It’s never too much,” he said. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that. How much do I owe you?”
She laughed at him. “Really, Jace. Do you think I paid for it? I used to work with Elias. We went to his house for dinner on Sunday and I asked him for some beer. He told me to take what I wanted in his house and that is what I did. I just mixed and matched.”
“I appreciate it. Did he ask who it was for?”
“He did. I got a lot of questions about the mysterious man I’ve been on a few dates with this weekend.”
“The same.”
She’d sat down on his couch, but turned to stare at him. “You’ve been dating a mysterious man that I don’t know about?”
He squinted at her joke. “Hardly that. I went to dinner at my father and stepmother’s on Sunday. My father saw your car atmy house on Saturday a week ago when he was going to pick up some tools. He didn’t stop.”
“Oh. How come you’re just saying something now?”
“It hasn’t come up and isn’t a big deal.”
“Got it,” she said, her head dropping down some.
