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“I’m dating someone. I have a date,” I blurt and cringe when I realize what I’ve done.
“What?” she screeches with excitement. “Why didn’t you tell me? Who is he? Do we know him? Is he from Willow River? Oh, I bet he’s handsome. Is he good to you?” she rattles off what feels like a million questions.
“Mom,” I say loudly to get her attention. “Take a breath.”
She takes an audible breath and blows it out. “Tell me more.” Her voice is calm and her tone even, but it does nothing to hide her excitement. “Who is he?”
Panic hits me. I open my mouth to tell her I lied, just to get her to be quiet, but her words stop me.
“I’m proud of you, Courtney. I just worry, is all. I want you to find the happiness your father and I have. I want you to have what Chloe and Rodney have.”
Guilt. It sits heavily on my chest like an elephant. My mind races with how to break the news to her. She’s going to be hurt and pissed all at the same time. If I thought her nagging was bad before, it’s going to be brutal once I make my confession.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Courtney? Honey, are you still there? Did I lose you?”
“I—I’m here.” Although I wish I wasn’t. I should have sent her call to voicemail.
“Oh, I thought we lost connection. I can hear you clearly. Now, tell me everything.” I can picture her in my mind, doing a little victory dance as she prepares to hear about my fake dating life.
She sounds happy, and I’m about to smash that feeling to bits. After months of her nagging me to find a date, and pressuring me to put myself out there more, I lift her up with news to only shoot her back down.
I’m never going to hear the end of this. My eyes go back to the picture of Jordyn’s family and the word vomit is flowing over the line before I even understand what I’ve just said.
“Merrick Kincaid.”
My mother gasps, and I curse under my breath, slapping my hand over my mouth.
What have I done? I’ve officially lost my mind. She’s driven me to tell lies about an innocent man just to get her to stop her insistent nagging about me finding a date.
I’m going to hell.
This lie is just getting deeper.
“Mom, I need to get back to work.”
“Oh, honey. I’m so thrilled for you. I’ll call you later and you can tell me everything. Including why you’ve kept this to yourself.” The line goes dead before I can agree. I drop my phone on the counter and bury my face in my hands.
“Fuck my life,” I mutter. Tears burn my eyes. I’ve royally screwed this up, and I’m not looking forward to admitting that to my helicopter mother. Why, oh why, did I have to open my big mouth? This is going to suck. Maybe I can just get in my car and drive? Take a few days to decompress and figure out how to break my mother’s heart and admit that her oldest daughter is a liar.
“Courtney?”
I lift my head and give a half smile to my boss, Jordyn. “Hey.” I exhale a heavy breath and square my shoulders. So much for disappearing. It’s time to face the music. I might as well start with my boss. It’s her brother-in-law I attached myself to.
“What’s going on?” Her tone is guarded, yet there’s concern there as well.
“Oh, you know, just me spitting out lies to shut my mother up, and me trying to figure out how I’m going to tell her about it when she calls me back tonight after work, wanting more details.”
“I know it’s none of my business, but I heard you talking about Merrick. He’s my family, so I need to know what’s going on. You look stressed, and if Merrick is in trouble, I need to know. Our family needs to know. We need to be there for him. And for you,” she adds.
I smile at her. It’s genuine because the Kincaids stand behind one another as if it’s their job to do so. “Merrick isn’t in trouble. That’s all me.”
Jordyn tilts her head to the side to study me. I groan because I know she’s not going to leave this conversation with that simple explanation.
“You want to talk about it?” Her gentle tone has me wanting to tell her, even though she’s probably going to be pissed, but it’s the right thing to do. Especially if this lie makes its way back to Merrick or anyone else in their family. Jordyn will be able to explain what happened while I hide under a rock with shame.
“No, but I feel as though I need to explain myself.”
