“I know how to clean up when necessary, thank you very much.” Colby pressed her lips together as if she were offended.
“I don’t know,” Lila said with laughter in her eyes. “You seem to forget how when you come home. If you spruce up a little, you might actually meet somebody not named Derrick.”
An image of Liam Lockwood flashed through her mind. Where did that come from? Colby was caught between laughing and choking. She pushed the thought away. “Girl, please! There are only about twenty guys in our entire little town that are close to our age. We grew up with all of them. I can’t imagine.”
Lila couldn’t deny that. “True. Still, a woman can hope. Have you been dating much?”
Dating was a really uncomfortable subject for Colby. “Not really. Work kept me pretty busy.”
“Kept?”
“Yep. I took a leave of absence. I plan to be home awhile.”
Lila’s brows raised in surprise. “I know you claim y’all broke up, but you left Derrick in Washington? By himself?”
“Yep.” Colby exaggerated the p at the end.
“So, you two are really finished for good?”
“I should have left his ass at MIT.” Colby’s face turned stone cold. “Please don’t ever mention that man’s name to me.”
“Okay, okay. I just . . . well.” Lila attempted to change the subject, at least a little. “You and I can’t stay single forever. We have too much going on for that nonsense.”
“I’m happy being single,” Colby lied.
“I’m not.” Lila pretended as if she were crying. “I want a maaaaaaaaaan.” She wiped away imaginary tears.
“You came to the wrong place. This is East Moline, Illinois. Where do you think you’re going to find a rich man in this town?”
Lila shrugged nonchalantly. “They don’t have to be rich. They just need to be kind.”
Colby’s eyebrows rose almost to her hairline. “Since when?”
Lila’s voice softened. “I admit that I’ve had certain standards in the past.”
Colby twisted her lips to the side as if to sarcastically say, really?
“I agree that I’ve made some terrible choices when it comes to men. My priorities might have been a bit off. But it’s not entirely my fault. Among other things, my parents sucked at the job of parenting.”
Whoa. Lila admitting that was a big deal, Colby thought. It was true, though. Lila’s dad hadn’t wanted her. He was married to someone else when Lila was conceived and all but denied she was his daughter. Her mom, who was Colby’s Aunt Faye, was a lot like Lila. She chased men and money. At the hands of time, her beauty was fading. Lately, she had been borrowing large sums of money from Colby’s father. So, she was probably broke too. Lila had certainly been following in her mother’s footsteps. Colby didn’t want her to beat up on herself too much. “You don’t think the man who shall not be named wasn’t a mistake?”
“No. Not really. It just didn’t work out. You always make good decisions. It must be because Uncle Cyrus and Aunt Lauren were the perfect role models. They were relationship and family goals.”
“I won’t lie. I did hit the lottery with them. I just wish I had a little more time before my family was reduced to just Dad and me. We’ve all made some bad decisions, Lila. I followed that fool of a boyfriend to Washington after college. We all know how that turned out.”
“Actually, we don’t know the specifics. You never told us.” Lila smirked. “Regardless, I admire how passionate you are about the things you care about. You follow your heart. I’ve only been in love once, and I screwed it up so badly. Sometimes, I wonder what would have happened if things had been different back then.”
Lila sounded like a whole other person. “Um, Lila?” Colby paused. “Is everything okay?”
Lila looked up with glassy eyes and smiled. “I just want to make some changes. I don’t want to end up old, bitter, and alone.”
Colby wondered if Lila were talking about her mom.
“This house always felt like home, so that’s why I came to visit. I just need to catch my breath.”
Colby reached for Lila’s hand and squeezed. “You came to the right place.” She wanted to lighten the mood as they walked down the hallway to her bedroom. “Looks like both of our choices led back to my closet-sized bedroom. Just know this little cousin, I’m not giving up my bed while you’re here. And we’re too old for you to sleep at the foot. Your ass is sleeping on the floor or the couch.” Colby laughed, but she was not joking.
“Why can’t I sleep in the other room? It’s empty.”
The smile on Colby’s face faded. Such a simple question should not have caused a lump to form in her throat, but it did. Colby swallowed hard to clear it. She spoke softly. “You know why.”
*****
Lila got out of Colby’s car, wearing five-inch heels and a little black dress. She also wore a full face of makeup. She was certainly ready for her close-up. The second her heels touched the gravel of the parking lot, reality sunk in. “Remind me why I came to this podunk town?” It was hard for her to walk on the surface.
Colby couldn’t help but laugh. “Because this is where all the party people come, remember?” She wasn’t dressed as fancy as Lila, but Colby had been talked into wearing a cute little sundress that came down mid-thigh, showing off shapely legs. It didn’t take much convincing. For some reason, Colby wanted to look sexy. However, she was smart enough not to wear high heels but a cute pair of strappy flat sandals. “Okay, Lila. Before we go inside, don’t forget our agreement. One hour. That’s it. I promised I would come only if we left after one hour.”
“You also promised that we would have fun for this one hour,” Lila reminded her.
Colby
