Mom stayed ramrod straight, her hands on her lap, though she clasped hers much more primly than I clasped mine. She threw Ollie a sideways look before aiming her disapproving gaze at me. "How long have you known this young man? A few days?"
"Yes. We met on the day I arrived here." The day I'd freaked out and fainted in Ollie's arms. Yeah, I didn't plan on telling my parents about that.
"Days?" Mom's eyes widened, but to her credit, she calmed down within seconds. "Mara, I'm trying to understand this, I honestly am. But it's difficult to reconcile my obedient daughter with the woman I see before me today. You have been keeping company with...nudists."
"Naturists," Ollie said. "Some of us prefer to be called naturists."
Mom veered her squinty gaze to him. "Some of us?"
Oh crap. If my mom figured out Ollie was a nudist, she would shanghai me back to Philly.
At the same moment I realized what he'd let slip, Ollie seemed to realize it too. He froze, not even blinking while he stared at me. After a couple seconds, he shook his head the tiniest bit and mouthed, "Sorry."
I shrugged, pretending to not panic about this even while my heart raced like an Olympic sprinter on speed.
And of course, Mom understood what was going on. She'd always had the uncanny ability to root out my secrets. Or in this case, Ollie's secret that had become mine too. We had kept the truth from only my parents.
Mom stared at Ollie. "You are a nudist. My daughter has been doing who knows what with a pervert who wears no clothes in public."
"This isn't a public place," Ollie said calmly. "It's a private resort. I wear clothes when I go into town, and also when I greet new guests."
"I see." Mom looked at me. "You are coming home with us, and that's that."
"No, I am not," I told her. "Ollie is a good man, not a pervert, and the fact he prefers to be naked has nothing to do with why you're mad at me. I screwed up again, didn't I? That's what you think. Stupid little Mara made another fuck-up."
She sat up even straighter. "Watch your language, Mara."
"No, I don't think I will." I jumped out of the chair. "And I am not going anywhere. I like Ollie, and I want to stay here with him to find out if we could have something together. He's helped me overcome some of my fears already. I plan to keep on doing that, getting past the things that used to make me a frazzled mess. I'm stronger than you think, Mom, and I don't need you to tell me how to live my life anymore."
Never had I spoken to my mom like that. I'd always cringed at the idea of telling my mom what I really wanted, what I needed. Standing up to her both invigorated and terrified me.
She opened her mouth, about to speak.
I held up a hand. "I'm not done yet."
My mother shut her mouth.
Dad's lips slid into a closed-mouth smile. He winked at me.
I rolled my shoulders back and forged ahead. "Mom, I know you love me. I know you're trying to look out for me, but you tend to forget I'm an adult now. I'm twenty-nine years old, and I can take care of myself. Please trust me to do that."
She wasn't staring at me anymore in that mother-knows-best way. Instead, she looked down at her hands and sighed. "I worry about you, Mara. You're my only child."
"Haven't I proved I can handle things on my own? You gave me an abandoned apartment building, and I made it a success. Doesn't that show I'm capable of running my own life?"
Mom fiddled with the cuff of her shirt, tugging it out from under her jacket sleeve.
Dad got up and hugged me. "Mara, I'm so proud of you."
"For what?" I asked.
"Everything. Standing up to your mother, turning the apartment complex into a real business, making your own decisions." He kissed my forehead. "You're a fine woman. And I already like Ollie Jackson more than I ever liked Nico."
"Really?"
"Yes. I never cared for Nico, actually." He rolled his eyes to indicate my mom. "I let your mother have her way most of the time, and she thought Nico was a catch. He acted like a decent guy, but something about him always bothered me. Maybe I should've spoken up about that. I'm sorry."
"Not your fault. I'm the one who married him."
I glanced at Ollie, maybe expecting him to look annoyed or disgusted or something, but he just smiled at me.
Mom cleared her throat. "It's possible I've been wrong about a few things."
"A few?" Dad said with a slight smile and a twinkle in his eyes.
"Possibly more than a few." Mom slumped into the sofa. "What do you think we should do, Peter?"
My father stared at my mother blankly for several seconds, then a broad smile broke across his face. "You know, Sher, I think that's the first time you've ever asked me that."
"I always ask for your opinion."
"No, I always give you my opinion. But then we do whatever you want." He settled onto the sofa again, taking Mom's hands in his. "I'm proud of you too. Mara's a grown woman, and we need to stop treating her like she can't do things herself. It's time we show her that we do trust her judgment."
"How do you suggest we do that?"
"It's simple." He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. "We stay here with Mara for a while."
"What?" Mom gaped at Dad like he'd suggested she sign up for a nude mud wrestling contest. "You expect me to stay here with all those...nude people?"
"That's right. Maybe it'll be good for you to be exposed to a different way of
