Chapter One
Talk about a family reunion from hell, Sara Ryan thought as she smiled politely through yet another introduction. Her aunt Lydia had relentlessly marched her around the room like a drill sergeant for the last hour. Her brother, Chris, had been smart enough to make up an excuse that got him out of coming, but true to form, Sara let her mother guilt her into it. The bathroom door was only inches away, and she was so close to making a break for it, when her aunt’s voice rang out loud enough for the people in the next town to hear. “And this is my niece Sara, Joan’s daughter. You know, the spinster. She lives with her brother.” Horrified. That’s the only way to put it. Or perhaps “mortified” was a better word. The entire family appeared to be staring at her with equal parts pity and disapproval. While Sara was frantically trying to compose herself, her aunt patted her on the back before adding, “She spends a lot of time with her mom, since, you know, she’s never had a boyfriend. I’ve told her time and again that she needs to get her nose out of those trashy books she’s always reading. Men like that don’t exist.” Sara wanted to object. There had been some boyfriends. It had been a while, but there had definitely been a couple. Back before the time of electricity and vehicles. Heck, she’d had sex before. But how exactly could she go about denying something so personal without making herself sound worse? Could this get any worse?
She opened her mouth, intent on clarifying some of the misinformation, but her aunt Ivy suddenly appeared at her other side. Shit, what now? Her mother’s oldest sister had always been the more outspoken of the three of them, which was normally amusing—but Sara was already at her limit and couldn’t take much more. Ivy gave her an exaggerated wink, which resembled someone having a seizure, before saying, “I sure love that Christian fella. Now there’s someone who seems like he’s got it all figured out. Ana is one lucky gal. He’s rich, hot, and knows how to take care of his business.” All eyes turned to stare across the room when Ivy pointed to her husband, who appeared to be sound asleep sitting up. “Even Fred likes listening to those audio books.” Oh, dear God, she can’t possibly be talking about Fifty Shades of Grey. Sweet Aunt Ivy? Uncle Fred? From the snickers around the room, Sara could only deduce that Ivy wasn’t the only one who’d been doing a little reading on the wild side. Or was it doing a little wild reading on the side? And while the things being whispered among her relatives might result in years of therapy in the future, it had shifted the attention away from her.
“That’s disturbing,” an amused voice murmured behind her. Sara whirled around to find her cousin Chloe standing there with a grimace on her face. “Sorry about Mom. She means well for the most part.” Chloe was the only child of Ivy and Fred, and two years younger than Sara. She was also single, but no one had called attention to that fact. At one time, she had been very close to her cousin, but Chloe traveled often for her job with a local investment company. And Sara rarely had a night away from taking care of Kaylee, her niece. Truthfully, she had always been a little jealous of her attractive cousin. If her Facebook page was any indication, she had a large circle of friends, whom she was always going on amazing trips with. She was successful, drove a new BMW, and lived in a condominium in the ritzy downtown district of Charlotte. In short, she was living the life that Sara had always imagined for herself—yet had given up on somewhere along the way.
Sara smiled, taking a step closer to her cousin. “Are you kidding? She saved my ass. Everyone looked terrified that my ‘spinsterhood’ might be contagious. I swear I saw Tasha ready to douse herself in hand sanitizer. Who knew that being single was the equivalent of having a raging STD?”
Chloe snorted as they stared across the room at their cousin. “Trust me, nothing else has touched that body lately—if ever. Now, she’s a spinster poster girl. Why in the heck was Lydia calling you out? What’d you do, forget to send her a Christmas card? You know how petty these old hens can be. I swear they all get together and compare notes. If you screw up and miss a birthday for one, but not the other, you’re in big trouble.”
Sara rolled her eyes, “Happened to you too, huh? Swear to God, I’ve never heard news travel that fast.”
Chloe shook her head, “Um no, not in years. I don’t bother with it anymore, and it’s the best decision I ever made. Sure, there was some bitching for a while, but now they have no expectations where I’m concerned. If I listened to them, I’d be like Tasha. Just talking about life instead of actually living it.” Ouch. Sara knew that remark hadn’t been aimed at her, but it hit home just the same. She felt like a fake who’d managed to snag a seat at the cool kids’ table. Any minute now Chloe would tell her to move her ass back to the other side of the room with Tasha. Heck, come to think of it, even she had brought a guy to the last family gathering. It’s official, I’m a spinster. Is there a Facebook group I should join? Sara’s pity party was in full swing when Chloe elbowed her before saying, “Stop obsessing over it. Lydia’s full of crap.”
For a moment she considered acting dumb, but why bother? Her pride had already taken a hit, and she didn’t feel like pretending the comment hadn’t hit home. “I can’t say she’s totally off the mark. I mean, I do live with my brother’s family. And I haven’t brought a guy around the family in—it’s been a while.” More like never. But really, who wanted to subject an innocent person to this kind of dysfunctional situation unless things were serious?
She’d been afraid of seeing yet more pity, but Chloe simply gave her a blank stare before shrugging. “Even if you were a lazy freeloader who never had a date in her entire life—which you’re not—it shouldn’t matter to anyone here. What happened to family supporting each other? It’s bad enough that the world passes judgment without knowing all the facts, but who appointed our aunts as judge, jury, and executioner? If you’re happy, then screw ’em. If you’re not, then change.”
While she appreciated Chloe coming to her defense, Sara felt as if she was listening to a self-help seminar. You’ve got this, girl. Just go do you. Release your inner power and conquer the world. Blah, blah, blah. People who had it all couldn’t fathom why everyone didn’t. “You make it sound so simple to alter your life. Last time I checked, there weren’t a line of men waiting at my door, to take me away from all this.”
Chloe studied her for so long she had to resist the urge to run a hand over her hair to smooth it. “You really have no clue how attractive you are, do you? I mean sure, you dress completely wrong for your body type and coloring, but even with that, you still have that elusive girl-next-door beauty that most women dream about. If you put yourself out there, you wouldn’t lack for attention.”
So didn’t see that coming. Is she bullshitting me? But there appeared to be nothing but sincerity in her eyes, which was almost more unsettling than a lie would have been. Even more bizarre, she sounded almost envious. Sara resisted the urge to argue, not wanting her lack of self-confidence to be even more apparent than it already was. But she couldn’t resist admitting, “I wouldn’t know where to start. It’s been so long since I’ve been on a date that the mere thought of it terrifies me.”