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CHAPTER
ONE
Courtney
Have you ever wanted to escape? Not forever, but for a break from life? That’s not too much to ask for, right? That’s all that keeps running through my mind as I listen to my mother drone on and on about how I need a date for my sister’s upcoming wedding.
“Courtney, are you listening to me?” my mom asks, her tone disapproving.
“I’m listening,” I assure her. Thankfully, she can’t see me roll my eyes.
“You can’t go to your sister’s wedding alone. You’re not getting any younger, Courtney. I mean, Chloe is two years younger than you and she’s getting married.” I can hear the displeasure in her tone.
My mom is great. Both of my parents are. My dad is a teacher who’s very chill. I guess he has to be working with teenagers all day. He teaches high school math and science. He and my mom are opposites in that way. My mom is... not chill. She’s a worrier by nature. She works for the city of Willow River in the water department.
When my mom gets her mind set on something, it consumes her. Hence the reason she feels as though I need a date for Chloe’s wedding. The wedding is three months away. I have time. To make matters worse, my sister is starting to agree with her, but for different reasons. Chloe is twenty and is marrying her high school sweetheart. She started dating Rodney when she was fourteen and he was sixteen. Something my mother also stressed over, but here we are, and she couldn’t be happier about the union. Anyway, Chloe wants me to find the love and happiness that she has with Rodney. She’s half camp Courtney and half camp Mom. Dad, well, he’s Switzerland.
That’s great for Chloe and Rodney. I’m happy that they know their love is solid, and I know those two are meant for each other. Everyone who knows them will tell you the same thing. They’re going to go the distance.
However, at two years older, I’m twenty-two, not forty-two. I don’t see the urgency of finding a man and settling down. My mother wants grandkids, and she knows that Chloe and Rodney are taking their time on that front while Rodney starts his career. He’s twenty-two, my age, and just graduated from college. Rodney works on computers. I’m not exactly sure what he does, but I know he’s going to excel at it because he’s a wiz, and his entry pay is nothing to shake a fist at. My sister and her future husband want to be husband and wife for a few years before they have kids.
My mom sees me as complacent. I went to community college and got a two-year associate's degree in arts. It’s basically useless. Knowing what you want to do every day for the rest of your life is a big deal. Chloe’s a medical assistant and loves it, but needles—no thanks. Besides, I’ve been working here for Jordyn for a couple of months, and I love it. She’s a great boss, and I love helping customers find the perfect gift or outfit when they visit the boutique.
It’s not that I don’t want to be married and settled down. I just don’t see the urgency.
“Mom, there is nothing wrong with me going on my own. I don’t have to have a date. Besides, I’m the maid of honor. I’ll be too busy taking care of Chloe’s every need to entertain a date.” I cross my fingers, hoping she finally buys the excuse I’ve been giving her nonstop.
“Nonsense. Everything will be done. Courtney, you should let me fix you up. Tammy’s son, Johnny, is single.”
“Isn’t Johnny in his thirties and doesn’t he still live in her basement?” I shiver at the thought.
“He’s finding himself,” Mom defends, and it takes everything I have inside me not to burst out laughing.
“I don’t need your help finding a date, Mother.” I sound like a broken record at this point. I’ve repeated that very same line to her more times than I can count since Chloe set a wedding date six months ago.
“Oh.” The change in her tone is instant. “Does that mean you have someone in mind?” She sounds hopeful. My mother loves me. She’s just... a helicopter mom. Something Chloe and I have both vowed never to be when we have children of our own.
“I’m at work,” I remind her, avoiding the question we both know the answer to.
“You’re on break,” she tosses back. “Courtney, you need to take this seriously.”
Tears prick my eyes. Not from sadness but from anger. I know she means well, but her constant nagging is tearing me down. It’s stressing me the hell out, if I’m being honest. Not only that, it makes me feel like I’m not good enough. Her nagging always does. I know that’s not her intention, but knowing doesn’t change how it makes me feel.
My eyes land on a picture of my boss, Jordyn, and her family. She married Ryder Kincaid, who is one of nine siblings. They’re all in the photo. Even their parents, Raymond and Carol Kincaid, and all of her nieces and nephews. They’re all happy and functional. Why can’t we be that way? Every family photo we have has a memory of “stand taller girls” or “smile wider girls.” Again, I know my mom means well, but it’s been twenty-two years of constant hovering, and it’s wearing on me.
She’s smothering me with her love, and it’s only pushing me away as I get older.
I know that’s who she is and she’s not being mean, but damn, a girl can only take so much. My eyes land on Merrick Kincaid, one of the twins. The twins are the youngest of the nine brothers. He’s the only one not married or attached. At least I don’t think he’s married or attached. I’m certain in this small town if he were, I would have heard about it by now.
In the picture, Merrick has his niece Blakely in his arms, and she’s got her arms wrapped around his neck. Every single person is smiling widely, and I’m certain there was no one there whispering to them out of the corner of their mouth to do so.
Guilt washes over me. My mom means well; however, she’s just too much. She’s taking this whole “Courtney must have a date” campaign too far.
“Courtney, are you there?”
“I’m here, Mom.”
“Well, how about I set you up with Johnny? Tammy and I were talking about it last night.”
