Page 21 of All You Want
What if Todd stands me up tonight?
Should I text and remind him or show up and wait?
I hate that I can’t even talk to my bestie because she’s his sister. As for my mother, I can’t get her hopes up, especially since I’ve been friendzoned by all the desirable men in town.
Well, there are the town deadbeats, but I’m not that desperate.
“Tami, is that you?” Mom calls from the kitchen. “I packed the picnic basket for you. Aren’t you going to tell me who you’re seeing tonight?”
She’s so supportive that it makes me cringe, and of course, she packed the basket with all of Todd’s favorite goodies. She runs the town’s bed and breakfast, The Over Easy, and insists on doing the cooking. I know I’m lucky, because she’s loving, caring, busy, and domestic—the ideal mother who read me bedtime stories, brushed my hair until it shined, and dressed me in pretty clothes and shoes. She also encouraged my talents, including playing piano, singing, and trying out for beauty pageants, despite my weight.
It's hereditary. Both my mom and dad are on the heavy side. Dad looks blocky, like the ex-football player he is, and Mother hides her figure behind flowing skirts and jumbo dresses. Her gray hair is cut in an old-fashioned bob, and she wears orthopedic shoes with arch supports. People say that a man has only to look at his mother-in-law to know how his wife will age, and even though I love my mom to pieces, I don’t want to resemble her in the future.
“It’s business.” I give her my customary hug. “Thanks.”
“They’re lucky to have you on the planning commission,” Mom says. “I wish they appreciated all the effort you go to be hospitable. Is this enough food for all the committee members?”
“Actually, this is a one-on-one meeting.” I fold up a tablecloth and place napkins in a plastic bag.
“With who?” Mom’s radar perks unnecessarily.
I might as well tell her. No one can hide a thing in our town, and someone might spy me driving out to Rainman’s Falls.
“Sheriff Colson. He’s fretting about spreading the two-man police force too thin for Spooky Fest and doesn’t want me to have the Graveyard Party outside my hotel—or at least keep it off the streets.”
“I tend to agree with him.” Mom closes her family heirloom recipe notebook and peers at me over her reading glasses. “Your hotel should be for guests only.”
“But I want a lot of foot traffic so people can spread the word.”
“Not if it means trampling mud over your rugs, breaking your decorations, and causing a traffic jam. I had several cancellations at the bed and breakfast because of the ghost selfie thing you did last night.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. How many did you lose?”
“Three couples. Said they couldn’t get through traffic, so they went somewhere else.” She gives my shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t look so disappointed. I know you want to make a big splash, but it might be wiser to start out small. People will be more curious about what’s going on there if they aren’t allowed on the premises. You don’t want to give all your secrets away, do you?”
I plop down on the barstool in front of the counter and let out a breath of tension. “It’s just that I want everything to be perfect, and my HEX sisters are coming to stay. I want them to be impressed.”
“Believe me, they’ll be more impressed with the privacy. If you have the entire town traipsing through your hotel, they might scare the ghosts away.”
“Guess I don’t need to bribe the police chief to approve my non-event permit then.” I open the basket to see what my mother packed. “Maybe you should take this to the bank and surprise Dad. He’s been working so hard with the planning commission. We don’t have a long building season here, and he wants to break ground on the theme park as soon as the snow melts.”
“You should go ahead and bribe that handsome sheriff.” Mom chuckles knowingly. “God knows you two are made for each other. You had a crush on him since you were a tiny tot.”
“You make it sound so sleazy,” I protest. “Todd’s six years older than me, and there’s no way he would have noticed me.”
“I’m sure he did,” Mom says. “He always came to your piano recitals in the city hall.”
“Like that means anything. He treats me like a kid sister or friend,” I declare hotly. “Like all the other guys in town. Frankly, I’m not interested in the local guys.”
“Then why did you come back after college?” Mom hefts her heavy frame onto an adjacent barstool.
The two of us spent many hours around the old-fashioned Victorian kitchen’s center island rolling out dough, cutting cookies, and frosting cakes. Maybe that’s why we both have a weight problem.
“I missed you and Dad.”
“You sure it isn’t because of a certain sheriff?” Her voice takes on a teasing quality. “Come on, cupcake. Everyone can see how much you like him.”
My mom and I are almost best friends, but there are things I can’t tell her. When a small-town girl goes away to college at sixteen, she’s bound to do things she’s ashamed of, and the fact that Todd wants to keep me as a bad secret might have something to do with it. I wonder if anyone clued him in, since no one but the creep involved knows.
