“See, that hardly took you any time at all,” my mother said. “Now, come over here; I want you to meet Charlotte.”
She grabbed me by my forearm and pulled me over.
“Charlotte, this is my son Graham. Isn’t he as handsome as I told you? Graham, this is Charlotte.”
“Hey,” I said. Charlotte smiled. She was one of those women that might have been pretty, but it was hard to tell because she put so much makeup on.
“Your mom’s told me a lot about you.”
“I can just imagine,” I said. “I don’t really have time to chat, though; I’m just here to jump start that piece of shit car. Again.”
“I have to go get something inside, I’ll be right back!” my mother exclaimed. She turned and hurried off before I could say anything.
“So,” Charlotte said. “I guess this is where I’m supposed to ask what you out.”
I looked at her. “Huh?”
“Your mom said you were single, and she thought ... she thought we might hit it off. But we won’t know that if we don’t go out, right? I just got out of a relationship myself, actually. Well, we broke up a while ago, but this is the first time I’ve really felt like getting back out there on the dating scene. It’s because—”
“Hold up,” I said. “I think you might have the wrong idea here. I came down because my mother said her car needed a jump.”
Charlotte smiled and shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”
“Right. I get it. Listen, I’m sure you’re a very nice person, but you can’t listen to my mother, okay? I shouldn’t have listened to her—if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here right now, on my day off.”
“I think she was just trying to be helpful.”
“Oh, I’m sure she was. Just like I’m sure there’s nothing she actually needed to go get inside, but just wanted to give us a little alone time to arrange our date tonight.”
Charlotte laughed. “Janice has good intentions.”
“Well, I think I’m going to take off before she comes back out here. You can tell her I appreciate her efforts at playing matchmaker, but I’d prefer to let these things happen a little more naturally.”
“I completely understand.”
“Great.” I started to get into my truck. “Good luck, though,” I said. “And do yourself a favor—don’t listen to what my mother says anymore.”
Since I was already out, I decided I’d just drive over to Chloe’s. That would keep me from thinking about the fact that my mother was batshit crazy and that I’d never in a million years go out with someone from The Finery.
&n
bsp; I put Chloe’s address into the GPS and found it pretty easily. They stayed in a place that was right by the ocean, of course.
I knew Chloe came from a wealthy family, but I hadn’t been expecting this. The house was fucking huge. She lived here? My place must’ve seemed like a shoebox to her. I parked my truck at the end of the long driveway, which wasn’t paved but covered in crushed, white seashells. The lawn was a brilliant green and perfectly manicured, like it should’ve been a putting green. There were elegant flower beds and a brick walkway that led up to a Cape-style house. Except it was more like five or six houses that were combined all into one. Three people lived here? Insane.
I went up to the front door and knocked.
“Just a minute!” a woman’s voice called out from somewhere back in the house. She appeared a moment later, a tall woman with similar features to Chloe. The expression on her changed when she saw me though, from open friendliness to guarded skepticism.
“Who are you?” she asked. “This is a private residence.” She stood behind the door, as though using it for a shield.
Was she serious? Did she think I was about to pull out a knife or something and demand that she give me all of her money? I had to stifle a laugh.
“Does Chloe live here?” I asked.
The woman hesitated. “Why are you asking?”
“I just wanted to talk to her. I mean, I know she lives here because I see her car right over there.” I gestured behind me and the woman looked as though she didn’t believe me.