“That’s great, Mom,” Zoey said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
“It is! He’s different from anyone I’ve ever met before. He’s so good-looking, and has a great job too.”
“Are you sure this is what you want, Mom?” Zoey asked, knowing what her mom was going to say before she said it.
“Yes! This is it, Zoey. I feel it in my bones!”
“I’m happy for you then.”
“Thanks, baby. I’ll call when I get settled in and give you my new address.”
“Okay.”
“I’m glad you’re okay!”
“Me too. Drive safe.”
“I will. Love you.”
“Love you too, Mom. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Zoey handed the phone back to Ace and scooted up on the bed. Most of the towels had been folded, and she felt six pairs of eyes on her.
Making sure no emotions were on her face, she looked up and said unnecessarily, “That was my mom.”
“She’s not coming to see you?” Rex asked with a frown.
Zoey shrugged. “Apparently, she’s moving to Fairbanks with her latest boyfriend.”
None of the guys said anything, and it felt extremely awkward, so Zoey tried to explain. “It’s just how she is. We never stayed in one place long when I was growing up. We moved from town to town when Mom met guys. She always thought they were ‘the one.’ I’m used to it. It’s fine.”
“She should be here,” Phantom said harshly.
Zoey flinched, but shrugged. “She does her best. She hasn’t had an easy life. We were even homeless for a while when we lived here in Anchorage. I was in middle school and we stayed in our car for about three months, until she found a job and we could move into one of those rent-by-the-week motel rooms. The only thing she wants in life is a guy who will take care of her.”
The more Zoey spoke, the more pathetic her mom sounded, and she hated that. “She’s not a bad person,” she said urgently. “She’s…it’s just that her goal in life is stability, and she hasn’t been able to find that yet. So she moves from town to town, guy to guy, looking for it.”
“That’s why you moved to Juneau when you were in the tenth grade?” Mark asked.
Zoey nodded. “Yeah. Her latest boyfriend lived there and convinced her to move to be with him. When I was a senior, she broke up with him but stayed so I could graduate. The day after I walked across the stage, she headed to Kodiak with a new boyfriend.”
“Jesus,” Gumby muttered.
“And you stayed,” Mark said. He hadn’t taken his eyes from hers.
“Yeah. I liked it there, and I was tired of moving around. Besides, it was way easier for my mom. She didn’t have to worry about me then.”
“You mean the assholes she was hooking up with had one less person to worry about,” Rex said under his breath.
“Yeah, that too,” Zoey agreed. She knew she was a third wheel in her mom’s relationships. Some of the men had made that more than clear. Breaking up with her mom because she had a kid, or simply ignoring Zoey. “But seriously, she loves me, and I love her. I hope this guy is the one she’s been praying for her entire life.” She didn’t mention that she doubted it, but figured she didn’t have to.
“I’ll get these towels back to housekeeping,” Rocco said.
“I’ll help,” Ace chimed in.
“We’ll all help,” Gumby said.
One second, Zoey was surrounded by six hot, bearded men, and the next she was alone with Mark once more. “Thank you,” she told him. “I haven’t felt that spoiled since I was ten and my mom splurged and bought me breakfast at McDonald’s, lunch at Hardees, and dinner at Kentucky Fried Chicken.”
Mark smiled, but she could tell it was forced. “I’m sorry about you not getting to see your mom.”
Zoey shrugged. “Honestly, Mark, I’m used to it. And I got to see her for a while before I got on that stupid plane. It’s fine.”
She could tell he was struggling with her mom’s inattentiveness, but she relaxed when she realized he was going to let it drop. “I’ve got another surprise,” he told her.
Zoey shook her head. “You’ve done enough for me. I should be finding ways to spoil you. I wasn’t the one who took a header into a glacier-fed stream.”
Ignoring her as if she hadn’t spoken, he said, “Scoot over here and sit on the floor by the bed.” He took a pillow and placed it on the floor at the end of the bed.
Frowning, she got off the bed and went to where he’d indicated, sitting slowly on the pillow. He grabbed a bag from on top of the dresser, and then sat on the bed behind her. His legs were on either side of her body, and she could feel his heat radiating into her.
“I had Rex stop at the pharmacy. He got some detangling spray—I think that’s what it’s called—and different kinds of combs and brushes. I didn’t know what would work best on your hair and didn’t want to rip it out at the roots.”
Zoey stilled for a second, then turned to stare at him. “You did?”
“Yeah. I told you I’d help you brush your hair when we were rescued, and that’s what I’m doing…unless you’d prefer I didn’t.”
She shook her head. “No, I’d love that. But I just…” Her voice trailed off.
“You just what?” Mark asked.
“I thought you’d want to hang out with your friends. They’re obviously glad to see you. I’m just kinda confused.”
“I’m not leaving you, Zo. Maybe I’m the only one who’s feeling a little lost, but I don’t want to be away from you.”
“Do you think we’re still in danger?” Zoey asked.
“Maybe. But that’s not why I don’t want to be away from you. Something happened out there. I’ve always liked you, Zoey. Even when we were teenagers, I thought there was something special about you. But spending every day with you for a week made that ‘like’ morph into something more. Respect. Admiration. I want to see where things between us can go. Maybe being in the real world will make me realize what I was feeling wasn’t what I thought it was. But what if it makes me feel even closer to you? If I’m out of line here, now’s your time to speak up.”
Zoey swallowed hard. She was at a crossroads in her life right this second. She could choose the easy path. Go back to her boring and lonely life in Juneau by herself, now that Colin was gone. Or she could take the winding, bumpy path with Mark. She had no idea where that scary and unknown path would take her, but at least she’d be living.
For a second, she wondered if this was how her mom often felt. That the winding road might lead her to heartache, but it also might lead her to the life she’d always dreamed of. She understood her mom a little more at that moment, and felt a little guilty at the way she’d always judged her so harshly.
“You’re not out of line,” she told Mark. “I admired and respected you before we even crossed paths again because of your dad. He talked about you all the time. To be honest, I’ve always had a crush on you. But now that I know you?” She shook her head. “You’re so much more than the stories your dad told. And I’d like to see where things between us can go too, but I’m scared to death of being like my mom. Of moving to another city every time a man asks me to.”