Page 44 of Lucky in Love
“Blossom?” Alex’s heart rate jumped. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to visit,” Alex’s mother said. “And why are you calling me Blossom?”
“Habit,” Alex muttered. She hadn’t spoken to her mom in almost five years, and in that time had taken to referring to her by her first name.
Blossom moved in for a hug, like they hadn’t just gone half a decade without seeing each other.
“I’m here to see my baby girl and show my new fiancé where I grew up.” She waved a hand triumphantly at a middle-aged man standing behind her.
Pudgy, graying, and plain, the man had a used-car-salesman look about him, causing Alex to assume they’d just met coincidentally on the porch. Him, here to sell her a vacuum cleaner, and her mom, here for who knew what.
“Wesley,” Blossom said. “This is my daughter, Alexandra.”
“Alex,” Alex corrected, wondering if Wesley actually preferred Wes.
Wesley gave a chin hitch in greeting, but Alex barely acknowledged him. Her mind was already racing to figure out her mother’s angle. Therealreason for her sudden appearance.
“Aren’t you going to invite us in?” Without waiting for an answer, Blossom pushed past Alex into the living room, Wesley hot on her heels with two suitcases.
Alex fought to not lash out.
“So, honey, how have you been?” Blossom said. “We have so much to catch up on.”
“Yeah. About five years worth,” Alex mumbled.
Uninvited, her mother sat on the couch. Guess this was happening. Alex perched on the edge of a chair, ready to bolt at the slightest provocation.
“Does Pops know you’re here?” Alex asked. She would kill him if he’d known and hadn’t warned her.
“Oh, um, not yet.” Without any coaxing or segue, Blossom launched into listing all the cities she’d been to since leaving Green Valley Falls—Boston, Cincinnati, even Nashville—as if they were exotic, wondrous places that warranted jealousy.
Alex said as little as possible, hoping her mother would lose steam and they could promptly end this charade.
“You should get out and see the world, honey. There’s so much beyond GVF. So many men.” She paused to wink.Yikes. “I don’t know how you stay in this dinky town.”
Alex didn’t need a reminder of how Blossom felt about Green Valley Falls. “Getting out of town” had been her mantra Alex’s whole life.
“I stay because I like it, and because Grandpa is here.”
“You still running this place for him?”
Alex hesitated. Could Whispering Pines have something to do with this out-of-the-blue visit?
“Yup.” Until she unveiled Blossom’s true motives, she’d play her cards close.
“I know it’s hard to meet men here,” Blossom said. “But do you have a boyfriend?”
“I was dating someone from New York, but it didn’t work out.”
“Because you wouldn’t move, no doubt. You’ll never find anyone special living in this godforsaken town.”
The words, though maybe true, raised Alex’s dander. This was her town, and whether or not her mom was right about the scarcity of men, she felt compelled to defend it.
“That’s not true. Holly got married last year, and Faith, a few months ago.” She omitted the fact that Holly had indeed moved to make that work.
“Oh, well, but, honey,” her mother started. “They’re much prettier than you. For someone like you, it’s going to be tough.”
Therewas her mother! It had taken her long enough to come out. Subtle—sometimes not-so-subtle—digs, always aimed at keeping Alex in her place, were classic Blossom behavior.
