“I’m not caring for my mother all the time. Even when she lived at home with me, we had caregivers who helped.”
“Still, I’m sure it’s a big burden. That’s a lot of responsibility on your young shoulders.”
No matter how broad they might be.
“I date. I’m not currently seeing anybody on a regular basis, but I’ve had a couple of serious girlfriends over the past few years.”
Who? Anybody she knew? She wanted to ask but wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.
“What happened? Why didn’t any of those serious girlfriends turn into anything more?”
“Why are you so interested?” he countered.
She felt her face flush and hoped he couldn’t see under the floppy beach hat she had to use because of her coloring.
“Curious. That’s all.”
“You know how it is. One reason you date people is to seeif you fit together for the long haul. Neither of those relationships did.”
“Why not?”
He didn’t answer immediately. “One of them fell in love with another guy, a coworker,” he finally said. “The other one wasn’t crazy about the situation I was in.”
“What situation? Your mom?”
He nodded. “This was a year or so ago. I can’t really blame her. I had to back out of a hiking trip in Canada we had been planning for months because things were coming to a head with my mom. Her condition was progressing quickly and her needs were becoming too much for the assisted living facility she was in prior to her current care center. It wasn’t a good time. My girlfriend at the time was overwhelmed by it all.”
She was outraged on his behalf. “That’s awful. Who was it? Anybody I know?”
He sent her a sidelong look. “Again. Why do you want to know?”
“So I can ban her from my bookstore for being a horrible person.”
He shook his head. “You don’t know her. Carly isn’t from here. She lives in Eugene. Long distance wasn’t really working out either.”
“Still.”
“And she’s not a horrible person. Over the years, I’ve learned I can’t judge somebody else’s reluctance to put themselves in a tough situation, for whatever reason.”
Emma could. And did. She wanted to find this Carly and punch her in the throat for hurting a good man.
“My mom’s situation made her frustrated and uncomfortable. But that’s not the only reason. There were other problems between us.”
He gazed at the girls, who were now pretending a couplepieces of twigs were people living in their castle, then back at Emma. If she wasn’t mistaken, a hint of color crawled up his neck. But maybe it was the beginnings of a sunburn.
“Carly was finishing up law school with plans to be a criminal defense attorney. She knew what she wanted and I think she was looking for somebody... smarter.”
Emma stared, aghast. “Are you kidding me? All the more reason I need to ban her from my bookstore if she ever comes in. I might ban everyone named Carly. You’re one of the smartest people I know.”
“You don’t have to patronize me, Emma.”
“I’m not! Trust me, I’ve met a lot of not-smart people in my life, not to mention people whose life choices have taken away even more brain cells. As I’ve watched you work on the bookstore renovation, I’ve been amazed at what you do. You’re precise, you’re detailed, you’re a creative problem solver. You’re bringing things together in ways I never could have imagined.”
“That’s different.”
“It’s not. It takes math to figure out the angles of cuts, the layouts, the construction materials you’re going to need. Most people find that difficult but you handle it like it’s second nature.”
He looked pleased at her words but she felt compelled to go further.