“What do you mean?”
Laura searched for a way to describe feelings she didn’t understand herself. “I mean that…” Thoughts and sensations bumped up against each other. “I’ve been out of school for over a year and I feel like I’m just lost.” She waved at Rose’s round stomach. “I see you and Kenny, and you’re having a baby. You’re getting on with your life. But I’m still at home, working at my parents’ accounting business.”
She hated how difficult it was for her to simply be elated for Rose, instead of thinking about her own situation. Why couldn’t she just be glad for her friend’s happiness?
“It’s a good job,” Rose pointed out, echoing thoughts Laura had already entertained.
“I know,” she said. “But it’s their job, not mine.” She picked up a mug of tea. “I’m just scared that I’m going to wake up some morning and see my mother staring back at me in the mirror.”
It wasn’t that Laura’s mother was a bad person or even a boring one. But her mom was her own person, and Laura wanted to be herself. Whoever that was.
“Okay.” Rose nodded. “So what do you want to do with your life?”
“That’s just it,” Laura answered, barely holding back her frustration. “I have no idea. At all.”
Rose looked at her with sympathy, and though Laura knew she could rely on her friend to see her through the toughest times, there were some things a person had to figure out for themselves.
Chapter Five
Dinner was a solitary affair for Spencer. It was also cold—literally. Eating raw meant finding new and different ways to make vegetables exciting, which wasn’t an easy feat. He struggled through lettuce tacos filled with nuts and corn salsa, telling himself the whole time that it was the healthiest option. Last week, he’d read an article that claimed a raw diet increased brainpower, and he needed as much of that as he could get.
“Maybe I should just eat your food, huh, Moz?” he asked his cat as he carried his plate to the sink.
She stared at him as if to say, You’re human. You can eat whatever you want, dummy.
Just before he turned on the tap to rinse his plate, his computer on the counter pinged, letting him know that Susan was calling.
He answered the call, and Susan’s face appeared on the screen. “Are you in the middle of something?” she asked, eyeing the plate in his hand.
“It can wait.”
“We can talk while you clean,” she said.
I guess I’m doing the dishes. He slung a dishtowel over his shoulder and went to the sink.
“So,” Susan said, “how’s the house?”
“It’s beautiful,” he said as he rinsed his plate. “Right on the water. I’m going to get so much work done when they’re gone.”
“When who’s gone?” Susan asked.
Whoops. He took his time as he shut off the sink and dried his plate.
“Spencer,” she said with that warning tone he recognized as a precursor to an explosion. “I thought you were alone in the house.”
“I will be,” he said with a false smile. “It’s just…the rental company, they messed something up. Double-booked the place.”
Was that the front door? If it was, Laura hadn’t announced herself. She must have taken Frank right upstairs.
“With who?” Susan pressed.
His mind spun. Obviously, he couldn’t tell his girlfriend that he was sharing a roof with a freewheeling—but pretty—blonde. “It’s just this old guy. He’s kind of smelly. He’s got this mutt, but they’ll be gone tomorrow.”
Okay, maybe he’d laid it on a little thick, but a harmless little lie never hurt anybody, right?
“Well, that’s good,” Susan said. She fixed him with a cautioning look. “You really need to concentrate, Spencer. My father is counting on you. And so am I,” she added.
As if he needed reminding about the massive pressure he was under. “I know. I will.” Hopefully. It would get better once Laura and her dog were gone. No more distractions. “I miss you. Do you miss me?”
Susan looked slightly exasperated by his question. “It’s been pretty busy around here—”
Not what he wanted to hear.
“—but of course I do.”
He exhaled.
“Good night, Spencer.”
“Good night,” he answered. Then, trying again when his earlier attempt had failed, he said, “I love—”
She ended the call. Again.
“You,” he said to the empty screen. He sighed. So much for having a heartwarming moment. He and Susan had been dating for almost a year, and he’d finally gotten up the courage to tell her that he loved her. But whenever he tried, she found a way to cut him off, and the sentiment was never fully expressed. Was she doing it on purpose? Or maybe she was just so busy focused on getting things done that it was accidental.
Maybe it was better that she wasn’t clingy and emotional. They could lead their lives with a minimum of drama.
With Laura, he’d bet there would be a lot of drama. Excitement, too.
He glanced at Mozart, who seemed to look at him with judgment in her golden eyes.
“What?” he asked the cat. “It wasn’t exactly a lie.” But it totally was.
If he was looking for Mozart to forgive him, he was out of luck. She licked her muzzle as she continued to stare at him.
“Besides,” he said as he walked out of the kitchen toward the stairs, “she’ll be gone tomorrow. Nobody will ever know, and nobody will get hurt.”
His foot connected with something solid and he nearly fell over his suitcases. They were stacked up at the foot of the stairs.
Laura strolled out of the bathroom at the top of the stairs. She wore a bathrobe and was in the middle of brushing her teeth. “Oh!” she said cheerfully. “You found your luggage.”
Luggage that he hadn’t taken from the master bedroom.
“Yes,” he said drily. “Thank you. Good night.”
She smirked at him. “Good night.” Then she ambled back into the bathroom.
He planted his hands on his hips. So, that was how she wanted to play things. He wasn’t a quitter and he didn’t back down from challenges. And Laura was definitely a challenge.
Spencer had trained himself to wake up early and get a start on the day. Most people who complained about a lack of productivity were wasting valuable hours by sleeping. Fortunately, Susan fully supported his habit and they often went for a jog almost an hour before the sun came up.
Just because he was here in South Haven didn’t mean that he’d abandon his routine.
When his alarm went off at 5:45, he hopped out of bed and threw on his workout clothes. Mozart accompanied him as he headed downstairs with his jump rope and exercise mat.
He quickly began warming up by jumping rope in the living