“How are you doing?” His voice was soft. “You’ve had quite the day.”
Goldie chewed her lip. “I—I have at that. Nothing has gone how I planned.”
“And you’re rolling with the punches?”
“Trying to,” she said. How could he look so fixedly at her? It was as though he cared—genuinely cared—about the answer to his question. About her and how she was faring. That couldn’t be possible, they’d met not more than twenty-four hours ago.
His warm hand stroked the skin of her arm. “I’m sorry your aunt wasn’t there.”
She dipped her head. Her exhaustion mingled with disappointment, and yet with something delicious and bashful too. Something that made her want to give in to his attention.
The screen door crashed open behind them. Goldie jerked at the sound, pulling free of Adrian’s touch. Mrs. Bear stared at them.
Adrian seemed to handle the interruption much better than she did. “Hey, Mom,” he said. “Nice job tonight, you had a great turnout.”
She sniffed and inspected the porch’s roof with pride. “It was, wasn’t it?”
Goldie didn’t wait any longer. This was her chance to slip away. “Thanks again for inviting me,” she said, giving Adrian a complacent, overdone smile. She directed one at his mom as well before dashing inside.
A middle-aged man with glasses was sitting behind the reception desk. He greeted Goldie with a friendly smile. “Good evening.”
“Hi,” Goldie said, eager to skip past him and make for the stairs.
The screen door slammed in her wake, and moments later, Adrian’s mom was making her way up the stairs behind her. “Goldie,” she called softly.
Goldie’s eyes closed. She wasn’t ready for any more curveballs today, but she rotated on the steps and faced Adrian’s mom.
“Brr, that was a cold goodbye if I ever saw one,” Mrs. Bear said, adding a fake shiver to her shoulders and an even more forced smile. “Everything okay between you two?”
Goldie’s brow furrowed. She called her goodbye with Adrian cold? From where Goldie had been standing, things had been a little too warm. Why did Goldie get the sense that she was being baited?
“Do you always accompany your guests to their rooms?” Goldie asked. She wasn’t sure how else to politely let her know she was in no mood for any more conversation. Adrian was right; she’d had a long day.
Mrs. Bear glanced at the wooden sign in Goldie’s hand. “It really was nice to have you at the fundraiser. And you even won a prize! You know, our Danica Foster painted that sign.”
Perfect. Goldie really wished she’d never won it. She wished she’d never allowed Adrian to talk her into getting in the middle of whatever this was. Clearly, his mom was playing some kind of game here, and she’d walked into it willingly.
“She’s your Danica?”
Mrs. Bear shrugged and scraped along the banister with a pointed fingernail. “She was going to be, but not anymore. Not now that Adrian has you. I never told you how happy I am he brought you home.”
Goldie had the impression she was a mouse being cornered by a cat. “Oh? That’s sweet of you to say, but I hope you don’t mind. It’s just that it seems like the opposite. I get the feeling you don’t like me very much, Mrs. Bear.” Goldie was too tired to beat around any more bushes.
Adrian’s mom angled her head and conferred a would-be loving expression on her. “Not at all. I keep bugging that boy to settle down, so the fact that he has a steady girl is so heartwarming. I do wish he’d mentioned you before though. He never told me how you met.”
Goldie glanced up the rest of the stairs. She could see the door to her room. She was so close. If only she’d made it inside before this uncomfortable confrontation. If only she’d agreed for Adrian to walk her inside, then she wouldn’t have left herself open for the pouncing.
She and Adrian hadn’t gone over this, other than noting it wouldn’t be wise to tell Mrs. Bear exactly how they’d met. She hated lying to his mother, but she wasn’t sure what to say.
“Maybe you should ask Adrian. Sorry, I’m pretty tired. Travel, and all that.” Which was entirely true.
Mrs. Bear’s lips lifted into a plastic smile. “Of course, you poor thing. Go on up and get some rest. We can get to know one another better tomorrow.” She pulled Goldie in for a side-hug and trotted down the stairs.
Goldie stared after her, stunned. What was that all about? While Mrs. Bear had faked smiles and attempted civility, it was almost like some kind of sugary interrogation. Her actions were too cold for the warmth she’d attempted to give them.
She recalled seeing Mrs. Bear speaking with Danica and had the sneaking suspicion they were up to something. Whenever her own mother acted fake-nice like this, it was because she wanted something from her.
Goldie had the sense she’d just been plunked onto a sofa with too many cushions, the kind that was hard to work her way out of once she sat down.
Anything that made Mama Bear this mischievously soft couldn’t be good.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
NO MATTER WHICH WAY SHE lay, Goldie could never get quite comfortable enough for a good night’s sleep. The mattress had a bit too much pillow top for her tastes. Not like Adrian’s bed back at the cabin. That had been the perfect in-between of hard and soft, just the way she liked it. Still, she managed to snare a few decent hours of rest.
She rose early and read through a few of her students’ term papers. Thoughts of Adrian and her missing aunt made it difficult to concentrate, though. She also wondered how the sub she’d managed to secure on such short notice was faring with her rambunctious bunch of teenagers. While Goldie missed teaching those kids, she had to admit, it was nice to have a break from them.
Her stomach rumbled,
