Page 74 of The Hermit on the Hill

I chuckled. "How about 'my feet hurt' or 'I'm exhausted' or 'the baby needs a nap'? I've got plenty of reasons to leave."

Jared's grunt sounded doubtful.

I pulled in a deep breath and pasted on my biggest smile as Jared opened the front door and we walked inside.

Every person in the room turned and stared at us with expressions ranging from surprise to amusement to annoyance.

"Surprise!" a few people yelled halfheartedly.

I didn't even bother pretending to be surprised.

"Jared," Cody said, his voice booming over the murmur. "You were supposed to text us when you were close."

"I hate surprises," I said.

"Aw, I know." May hurried over. "But Mom's been looking forward to this all week. She's out back with the kids. Would you mind going back out and coming in again in, like, ten minutes?"

I stared at May, betrayed. She'd had as much trouble with Mom's meddling as I'd had, possibly more.

"I get it," May said. "But she's really trying, Jenna. She wants to feel that she's doing something for you and, as annoying as it is, this is how she shows her love."

"Fine." I didn't have the energy to hide my annoyance, childish as it might be. "But she should understand by now that I hate surprises."

May winced. "I told her, but she was too set on this idea to let it go. She thought you'd only come if we surprised you, because you've been avoiding her calls and every time she asks what you need for the baby, you tell her not to buy you anything. She just wants to be involved."

Crap, I had been doing those things. Maybe I was as much to blame as my mother. "All right, Jared. Drive me around the block a few times."

Jared didn't even complain. He took me back out and drove me around.

"Am I a terrible daughter?" I asked.

"Nope. Not doing this. I work with animals for a reason."

I couldn't help but laugh at his outraged expression. "Come on, Jared. This is what family is all about. You listen to me whine about my feelings of guilt and you listen to me vent about how much Mom annoys me and then you hug me when I break down and cry about it all."

"I'll listen all day long." He glanced at me. "I'll listen for an hour, max. But I'm offering no opinions. I know where that leads, and I don't want to go there."

"Fair enough. I know that about you. I had a moment of weakness."

He sighed heavily. "You're not a terrible daughter. I think you've always been incredibly independent, and that's made Mom feel like you don't need her. She loves to be needed and, when you tell her you need nothing from her, she takes that to mean you don't love her. Let her fuss over you, but don't forget your boundaries. Just do what I do. When it gets to be too much, pretend you just got a call for a barnyard emergency."

I stared at the side of my brother's face. I thought I knew him better than anyone else in the world, but he had just shocked the hell out of me.

"You're very perceptive, Jared."

"I'm not perceptive. I just pay attention and listen."

"I'm ignoring the implied insult," I said. "Because one thing doesn't make sense. If she wanted to be needed so much, why didn't she pay for me to get my degree? I needed her then."

He snorted. "She thinks she knows best for all of us, and is willing to use manipulation and force to get her way. She's gotten better about that, though. You should give her another chance."

"Is that what you've done?"

"It is," he said. "The difference is, I've told her I don't want her to put down or insult my profession or my personal life. If she steps over the line, I remind her. If she still doesn't listen, I step away for a bit. I respect myself enough to protect myself from a situation that is inevitably going to upset me and toxify my relationship with her."

"Can you teach me?"

He stared out the windshield for a long time. "I can try. If you teach me how to flirt with a woman."

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